Easter in the Bible

2022-04-17

And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. (Acts 12:4)

This is the lone time the word Easter appears in the Bible. It clearly refers to the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread (cf. Acts 12:3). The original context is Peter’s arrest; Herod had just killed James, and when he saw that the Jews were pleased, he was going to do the same to Peter after the feast.

In older English Bibles, the Passover was often translated as “Easter” because people of the times associated Easter with the Passover. Consider these verses from other English translations which used “Easter” for “Passover”:

Tyndale Bible, 1534: Ye knowe that after ii. dayes shalbe ester and the sonne of man shalbe delyvered to be crucified. (Matthew 26:2)

Coverdale Bible, 1535: Obserue the moneth Abib, yt thou offre Easter vnto the LORDE yi God: for in the moneth Abib the LORDE thy God broughte ye out of Egipte by nighte. (Deuteronomy 16:1)

Matthew’s Bible, 1537: And we sayled awaye from Philippus after the easter holy daies, and came vnto them do Troas in .v. dayes where we abode seuen dayes. (Acts 20:6)

The Great Bible, 1539: Before the feaste of Easter, when Iesus knewe that hys houre was come, that he shuld depart out of this world vnto the father. When he loued his which were in the worlde, vnto the ende he loued them. (John 13:1)

The Bishops Bible, 1568: And the Iewes Easter was nye at hande, and many went out of the countrey vp to Hierusale before the Easter, to purifie them selues. (John 11:55)

In fact, the English word “Passover” was invented by William Tyndale for his translation of the Bible. “Easter” was gradually replaced by “Passover” in subsequent English translations of the Bible until the last vestige of it in the King James Bible is here in Acts 12:4. If you have a newer translation, you will not see “Easter” anywhere. Even the Geneva Bible of 1599 has Passover in lieu of Easter there.

When Christians celebrate this new “Passover” (or “Easter”), they are celebrating the Passover in its ultimate fulfillment. “Christ our passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7). However, the original Passover was a sacrificed animal for the deliverance from Egypt. The New Passover focuses not on the death of an animal, but rather the rising of the Savior from the dead. While the first Passover lambs delivered one nation from a human oppressor, the last Passover Lamb delivered the world from the bondage of sin forevermore.

Don’t celebrate this annually on some Spring afternoon only. Rejoice now and forevermore that Jesus Christ has truly risen from the dead.