D16-4: The Hebrew Word PESACH (usually translated as 'Passover') Does NOT Mean To 'Pass Over'

“Sacrifice as the Passover to the Lord your God an animal from your flock or herd at the place the Lord will choose as a dwelling for his Name.”-Deuteronomy 16:2

We’re in the midst of studying about the Passover, the one event which solidified the identity of the Hebrew people for all time and forever.

Why is the Passover called “Passover”?

The reason is because this was the night the Almighty Himself passed through the whole land of Egypt and killed every firstborn male whether animal or human.

However, for those who trusted God and obeyed His careful instructions to slaughter and sacrifice a yearling lamb and then paint its blood on the doorposts of their homes, the Angel of Death literally “passed over” them and thus death did not visit their firstborns on that awful and dreadful night.

A couple of points here.

FIRST, the yearling lambs that the Israelites slaughtered were considered as deities in the Egyptian culture.

Hence, this was also an act of HASHEM humiliating the gods of the Egyptians and letting them know in no uncertain terms who the real God of the universe was.

SECOND, the reason God passed over the Israelites (and the Egyptians also by the way) was NOT literally so much because of the blood they painted on their doorposts but more because they had obeyed and submitted to the Lord’s commands.

This first passover was the final straw that broke Pharaoh’s back.

When Pharaoh was leaning over his dead firstborn son, the terrifying realization came over him that he no longer had the power to maintain his grip on God’s Chosen People and had to let them go.

As a result, the very next morning, Israel grouped together in the land of Goshen and finally, finally, after hundreds of years of slavery and oppression they marched out of Egypt as a freed people.

FINALLY, and this one may come as a surprise to you but the Hebrew word PESACH ( פֶּסַח )from which we get the word “passover” does NOT actually mean to “pass over”.

You read that right.

In verse 2 where it says “Sacrifice as the Passover to the Lord your God”, the original Hebrew says Israel is to slaughter the ZEVAH PESACH.

ZEVAH literally means “gratitude” or “thanks”.

PESACH literally means “lame” as in to be immobile.

In other words, the Lord stood IMMOBILE over the doorway as if He was lame in order to protect those who had trusted in Him by painting the blood of the lamb on the doorposts.

Hence, the REAL MEANING of PESACH is a “protective sacrifice” because the Lord protected those who trusted in Him from His final deathblow to the land of Egypt.

It was because of this PESACH or “protection” that the Angel of Death “passed over”.

The only reason we render PESACH as “passover” today is because that’s how Jerome rendered it when he retranslated the Latin Vulgate version of the Bible in the 5th century AD.

Ever since, the term “Passover” has stuck with us even though technically speaking it is an incorrect translation.