Saturday, April 13, 2024

Are Passover & Unleavened Bread Celebrated on the Same Night?

By Maria Merola אריאל 
© Copyright Double Portion Inheritance, April 13th 2024
www.venmo.com@Maria-Merola

The English translators have caused great confusion, which is why so many of you seem to think that Passover & Unleavened Bread are the same feast on the same night.

As an example, Matthew 26:17 italicizes words in the King James Version, which changes the entire meaning of the text. Additionally, the Greek word for “FIRST” is “PROTOS,” which means “BEFORE.”

Matthew 26:17 Now the FIRST (PROTOS, BEFORE) [day of the feast] UNLEAVENED BREAD the disciples came to Yahuwshuwa, saying unto him, Where will you that we prepare for you to eat the Passover? 

In addition to the Greek word “FIRST” being defined as “BEFORE,” the context of the sentence tells us that Passover comes BEFORE Unleavened Bread (see Leviticus 23:4-7).

In Exodus 12:6, the phrase “Between the two evenings” had a different meaning in Egypt (before the Temple was established). It meant “Between the two sunsets” on the 14th of Abib.

If you dont believe me, just look up the meaning of the Hebrew word for “evening” (ereb), and you will see that it also means “to grow dusky at sundown.” 

In other words, there were TWO SUNSETS sandwiched in between the 13th & 15th of Abib (which was the 14th of Abib). 

Exodus 12:6 And you shall keep it [the lamb] UP UNTIL the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Yisra’el shall kill it BETWEEN THE TWO EVENINGS [Beyn ha’abariym].

The phrase “UP UNTIL” in Hebrew means “AS FAR AS.” This means that Yisra’el was instructed to keep the lamb right up until the sun went down on the 13th of Abib, and that’s when the date changed to the 14th of Abib! 

After the Temple in Jerusalem was established, the phrase “Between the two evenings” meant “Between 12 noon and sundown.” Our Messiah died at 3:00 p.m. which was “Between the two evenings” according to Temple protocol.

Thus, our Messiah fulfilled both meanings of “Between the two evenings!” 

At the beginning of the 14th of Abib, he ATE THE PASSOVER with his disciples, which was the same time that Ancient Yisra’el ATE THE PASSOVER in Egypt! 

At the end of the 14th of Abib, his spirit DEPARTED, and his body was BURIED before sundown, (before the 15th of Abib), which was the Feast of Unleavened Bread (John 19:31). 

At the end of the 14th of Abib (going into the 15th of Abib), Yisra’el DEPARTED from Egypt “BY NIGHT,” as the Egyptians BURIED their dead (Exodus 12:42; Numbers 33:3; Deuteronomy 16:1). 

All four Gospels also corroborate this. 

Mark 14:1 After (Meta, in the midst of or in between) two days was [THE FEAST OF] PASSOVER AND [OFUNLEAVENED BREAD: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death. 

*Explanation: In Mark 14:1, the Greek word for AFTER” is is “META,” which means the following: “Amid, intermediate position in between; in the middle of.” 

In other words, the chief priests and scribes were expecting to arrest our Messiah IN THE MIDDLE OF THESE TWO DAYS OF PASSOVER & UNLEAVENED BREAD! 

You will also notice that the words The feast ofare italicized in the KJV,  which means the English translators added them into the text. Therefore, Mark 14:1 should read as follows:

Mark 14:1 In the midst of two days was Passover and Unleavened Bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.

 *Explanation: At some point during those two days of Passover & Unleavened Bread, the chief priests and scribes had planned on arresting him. However, in Mark 14:2, they decided not to do it on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, since this was a High Sabbath.

Mark 14:2 But they said, Not on the feast [day], lest there be an uproar of the people. 

Mark also makes a point of separating Passover & Unleavened Bread, by using the word “AND” in between the words “Passover & Unleavened Bread,” indicating that these were two different days.

Additionally, Mark 14:2 says they decided not to arrest him on “the feast,” which means they did not want to arrest him on the Feast of Unleavened Bread (on the 15th of Abib). Therefore, they arrested him on Passover, which was the Preparation day (the 14th of Abib). 
 
Luke 22:1 Now THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD drew near, which is called THE PASSOVER. 

*Explanation: Luke tells us that “The Feast of Unleavened Bread” is also called “Passover,” because there is “The Day of Passover” (on the 14th of Abib), and there is also “The Week of Passover,” which lasts for seven days, from the 15th – 21st day of the first month of Abib (Leviticus 23:4-8). 

John 13:1 Now BEFORE THE FEAST OF PASSOVER, when Yahuwshuwa knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. 

*Explanation: The Apostle John uses the phrase “The Feast of Passover” rather than “The Day of Passover.” He was telling us that Messiah and his disciples ATE THE PASSOVER MEAL BEFORE the SEVEN-DAY FEAST of Unleavened Bread (also called the Feast of Passover). 

Thus, John 13:1 was describing “THE NIGHT OF PASSOVER” (on the 14th of Abib), rather than the “THE WEEK OF PASSOVER” aka “THE WEEK OF UNLEAVENED BREAD.”

Two Passovers?


The gospels appear to say that the Messiah ate a Passover meal with the twelve on the evening beginning Nisan 14, and John appears to say Jews were having their Passover meal one day later. There are different theories to explain this. The Sadducees and Pharisees disagreed on the day of Passover. The Sadducees (the more conservative group) believed the Feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread were separate feast days. They held Passover on the fourteenth as Elohiym decreed in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. 

Those of the majority opinion, including the Pharisees, held Passover on the fifteenth…Thousands of people would come to Jerusalem to have their lambs ritually slain in the Temple. If they only had one day in which to prepare for the Passover, it would have been extremely difficult to have slaughtered all the lambs brought in to be sacrificed. Therefore, they worked on two different time scales. 

The northern part of the kingdom slaughtered the Passover lambs at the beginning of the 14th of Abib. The southern part of the kingdom slaughtered the Passover lambs between 12 noon and 6:00 p.m., (late in the afternoon of the 14th of Abib). 

Thus, there were two times when lambs were being killed in the Temple for sacrifice----Sampson R & Pierce L. A Family Guide to the Biblical Holidays. Heart of Wisdom Publishing June 2001, p. 112. 

“The feast of Passover consists of two parts: The Passover ceremony and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Originally, both parts existed separately; but at the beginning of the [Babylonian] exile they were combined” (vol. 13, p. 169).



In 1st Century Jerusalem, there were TWO EVENINGS for slaughtering lambs. But why? Some of you might think this is a violation of the Torah. However, consider this:

I believe YaHuWaH purposely designed Passover to be “Between the two evenings,” because he knew that in 1st Century Jerusalem, the two kingdoms would be divided, and thus, would've needed two evenings for slaughtering lambs. 

Also, YaHuWaH knew that our Messiah had to eat the Passover out of obedience to the Torah, so as not be “cut off from his people” (Exodus 12:15). He had to obey the Torah in every way, in order to be the spotless lamb without blemish (Exodus 12:5 & 1st Peter 1:19).

Please see these other blogs for a more in-depth understanding of the Two Evenings of Passover & Unleavened Bread:





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