The Passover to the LORDThe Passover is a significant event in the biblical narrative, commemorating the Israelites' deliverance from slavery in Egypt. It is a divinely instituted feast, commanded by God as a perpetual ordinance. The term "to the LORD" emphasizes that this observance is dedicated to God, highlighting its sacred nature. The Passover is a type of Christ, as Jesus is referred to as the "Lamb of God" (
John 1:29), whose sacrifice brings deliverance from sin.
begins at twilight
Twilight marks the transition from day to night, symbolizing a time of change and new beginnings. In the context of Passover, it signifies the moment when the Israelites were to prepare for their departure from Egypt. The timing is precise, indicating the importance of obedience to God's instructions. This time of day also foreshadows the death of Christ, who was crucified and died as darkness fell (Matthew 27:45-46).
on the fourteenth day
The fourteenth day of the month is significant as it marks the exact time God appointed for the Passover. This specificity underscores the importance of God's timing and order. The number fourteen can symbolize deliverance or salvation, aligning with the theme of the Israelites' liberation. It also connects to the genealogy of Jesus inMatthew 1, where the generations are grouped in sets of fourteen, emphasizing His role as the promised deliverer.
of the first month
The first month, known as Nisan or Abib in the Hebrew calendar, is a time of new beginnings, as it coincides with spring. This period is agriculturally significant, marking the start of the barley harvest. Spiritually, it represents renewal and redemption, as the Israelites' journey to freedom began. The timing of Passover in the first month aligns with the resurrection of Christ, who rose from the dead during this season, offering new life to believers (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).
Persons / Places / Events
1.
The LORD (Yahweh)The covenant God of Israel, who instituted the Passover as a perpetual ordinance for His people.
2.
Passover (Pesach)A significant Jewish festival commemorating the Israelites' deliverance from slavery in Egypt, marked by the sacrifice of a lamb.
3.
The IsraelitesThe chosen people of God, who were commanded to observe the Passover as a remembrance of their liberation.
4.
EgyptThe land of bondage from which the Israelites were delivered, symbolizing sin and oppression.
5.
The First Month (Nisan/Abib)The beginning of the Jewish religious calendar, marking the time of the Passover celebration.
Teaching Points
Understanding God's DeliveranceThe Passover is a powerful reminder of God's deliverance from bondage. Just as the Israelites were freed from Egypt, believers are delivered from sin through Christ.
The Significance of ObedienceThe precise timing and manner of the Passover observance underscore the importance of obedience to God's commands. Our faith is demonstrated through our willingness to follow God's instructions.
Christ as Our Passover LambThe Passover lamb foreshadows Jesus Christ, whose sacrifice brings ultimate deliverance from sin. Reflect on the depth of God's love and the cost of our redemption.
The Importance of RemembranceJust as the Israelites were to remember their deliverance annually, Christians are called to remember Christ's sacrifice through communion, keeping the significance of His death and resurrection central in our lives.
Living in the Light of RedemptionThe Passover marks a new beginning for the Israelites. Similarly, believers are called to live as new creations, leaving behind the old life of sin and embracing the freedom found in Christ.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1.What is the meaning of Leviticus 23:5?
2.What is the significance of the Passover as described in Leviticus 23:5?
3.How does Leviticus 23:5 connect to the New Testament understanding of Jesus?
4.Why is the timing of Passover important for understanding God's appointed times?
5.How can Christians today honor the principles of Passover in their spiritual lives?
6.What does Leviticus 23:5 teach about God's faithfulness to His promises?
7.What is the significance of Passover in Leviticus 23:5 for Christians today?
8.How does Leviticus 23:5 relate to the concept of Jesus as the Passover Lamb?
9.Why is the timing of Passover important in Leviticus 23:5?
10.What are the top 10 Lessons from Leviticus 23?
11.What does Easter signify?
12.Is it appropriate for Christians to celebrate Passover?
13.What is the significance of the Passover Lamb?
14.What are the Jewish feasts and festivals in the Bible?What Does Leviticus 23:5 Mean
The Passover“The Passover” recalls the night God spared Israel’s firstborn and delivered the nation from Egypt (Exodus 12:11-14).
• It is a yearly memorial that keeps redemption fresh in every generation (Deuteronomy 16:1,Exodus 13:8).
• In the New Testament, Jesus applies the feast to Himself—“I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you” (Luke 22:15-16), and Paul teaches, “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7).
• The text assumes the event’s historicity; God really did pass over believing households, and the ongoing feast looks back to that literal rescue.
to the LORDThe celebration is “to the LORD,” emphasizing ownership and worship.
• The sacrifice belongs to Him (Exodus 12:27;Numbers 28:16).
• By presenting the lamb, families declare their allegiance to the covenant-keeping God who saves.
• Even when Israel was in the land, the feast reminded them that true liberty comes only under God’s authority (Deuteronomy 16:2).
begins at twilightGod sets the precise moment—twilight, the fading light between afternoon and darkness (Exodus 12:6).
• Scripture often marks days “from evening to evening” (Leviticus 23:32), so twilight ushers in the sacred day.
• The timing foreshadows the crucifixion: “About the ninth hour Jesus cried out…” (Matthew 27:46). He gave His life just as Passover lambs were slain.
• God’s detailed schedule shows His sovereignty over time and salvation history.
on the fourteenth day• The date is fixed: the fourteenth of the month (Numbers 9:2-3).
• Israel crossed the Jordan and kept Passover on the very same day (Joshua 5:10), linking conquest to redemption.
• Jesus’ final Passover meal and His death fell on this date (Matthew 26:17-19,John 19:14), underscoring prophetic fulfillment.
• Exactness matters; God engineers deliverance down to the calendar day.
of the first month• God re-sets Israel’s calendar: “This month is to be the beginning of months for you” (Exodus 12:2). Redemption marks a fresh start.
• Called Abib/Nisan (Ezra 6:19), it anchors the nation’s year in divine grace, not agricultural cycles alone.
• Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived in Bethany (John 12:1), moving deliberately toward the appointed hour.
summaryLeviticus 23:5 lays out God’s sacred schedule: Passover belongs to the LORD, commemorates literal deliverance, and occurs precisely at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. Every detail—ownership, timing, and date—highlights God’s authority and points ahead to Christ, the true Passover Lamb, whose sacrifice perfectly fulfilled the feast and secured eternal redemption.
(5)
In the fourteenth day of the first month.--This month is called
Abibin the Pentateuch (
Exodus 13:4;
Exodus 23:15;
Deuteronomy 16:1), and
Nisanin the later books of Scripture (
Nehemiah 2:1;
Esther 3:7). The fourteenth day of this month is about the beginning of April. On this day, which was called both "the preparation for the Passover" (
John 19:14), and "the first day of Passover," all handicraftsmen, with the exception of tailors, barbers, and laundresses, were obliged to relinquish work either from morning or from noon, according to the custom of the different places in Palestine. Leaven was only eaten till midday, and it had to be burned in the afternoon. The time for desisting from and burning the leaven was thus indicated: "Two desecrated cakes of thanksgiving offerings were placed on a bench in the Temple; as long as they were thus exposed all the people ate leaven. When one of them was removed they abstained from eating, but did not burn it; but when the other was taken away all the people began burning the leaven." It was on this day that every Israelite who was not infirm, ceremonially defiled, uncircumcised, or beyond fifteen miles from the walls of Jerusalem, had to appear before the Lord in the holy city, with an offering in proportion to his means (
Exodus 23:5;
Deuteronomy 16:16-17). Those who came from the country were gratuitously accommodated by the inhabitants with the necessary apartments (
Luke 22:10-12;
Matthew 26:18), and the guests in acknowledgment of the hospitality they received left to their hosts the skins of the paschal lambs, and the vessels which they used in their religious ceremonies. Josephus, who was an eye-witness to the fact, tells us that at the Passover, in the reign of Nero, there were 2,700,000 people, when 256,500 lambs were sacrificed. Most of the Jews must therefore have encamped in tents without the walls of the city, as the Mohammedan pilgrims now do at Mecca. It was for this reason that the Romans took great precaution, using both force and conciliatory measures, during the festivals (
Matthew 26:5;
Luke 13:1). . . .
Verse 5. -
In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord's passover. The month of Nisan was made the first month of the religious year in consequence of the original Passover having taken place in it (
Exodus 12:2). On the occasion of the first, or Egyptian, Passover, all heads of a family, either singly or two or three heads of families in conjunction, provided themselves with a lamb or a kid on the 10th day of Nisan, killed it in the evening of the 14th, and, taking a bunch of hyssop, dipped it in the blood and struck the lintel and two side posts of the doors of their houses with the blood. They then roasted the animal whole for eating, added to it unleavened bread, and garnished it with bitter herbs. They made themselves ready to eat it by dressing themselves for a journey, "with their loins girded, their shoes on their feet, and their staff in their hands" (
Exodus 12:11), and thus they ate it in haste, in a standing position. The meaning of the ceremony is explained by what was taking place at the same time. On the same night, after the blood had been sprinkled upon the lintel and side posts, God slew the firstborn of all who had not exhibited this symbol of their having been brought into covenant with himself, and the Israelites set off hurriedly on their departure from Egypt. It was commanded that the day should be kept hereafter in like manner as a memorial, and that the following seven days should be kept as a Feast of Unleavened Bread (
Exodus 12:14, 15). This command is here concisely repeated, as it is again repeated in
Deuteronomy 16:1-8. One very considerable change was, however, necessarily made in the method of its observance. Originally, each head of a household or combination of households sacrificed the lamb himself, and sprinkled the blood upon the doorposts and lintel. But after the establishment of the Aaronic priesthood and the withdrawal of the priestly authority previously vested in each head of a house (chapters 8, 9), and after the stringent prohibition of sacrificing elsewhere than in the court of the tabernacle had been issued (chapter 17), this could not continue. Accordingly, we find in the Book of Deuteronomy the direct injunction, "Thou mayest not sacrifice the Passover within any of thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee: but at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his Name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the Passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt" (
Deuteronomy 16:5, 6). A result from this rule was that every male Israelite had to present himself at Jerusalem, and there slay his lamb on the day of the Passover, which in the time of Nero, brought between two and three million pilgrims to Jerusalem each year. The crowd of pilgrims took their way to the temple, and were admitted into the court in three divisions. There they slew each man his lamb, while the priests offered the blood on the altar, and the Levites sang the Hallel (
Psalm 113-118). Then they bore away the lambs, roasted them whole on a spit of pomegranate wood, taking care that no bone should be broken, and prepared the Paschal supper. At the supper, as well as at the sacrifice, a change of manner was introduced. "As the guests gathered round the Paschal table, they came no longer, as at the first celebration, with their loins girded, with shoes on their feet, and a staff in their hands; that is, as travelers waiting to take their departure. On the contrary, they were arrayed in their best festive garments, joyous and at rest, as became the children of a king. To express this idea, the rabbis also insisted that the Paschal supper, or at least part of it, must be eaten in that recumbent position with which we are familiar from the New Testament. 'For,' say they, 'they use this leaning posture, as free men do, in memorial of their freedom.' And again, 'Because it is the manner of slaves to eat standing, therefore now they eat sitting and leaning, in order to show that they have been delivered from bondage into freedom.' And finally, 'No, not the poorest in Israel may eat till he has sat down, leaning.' But though it was deemed desirable to sit leaning during the whole Paschal supper, it was only absolutely enjoined while partaking of the bread and the wine" (Edersheim, 'Temple Service'). The essentials of the Paschal feast were the Paschal lamb, the unleavened bread, and the bitter herbs (
Exodus 12:8). To these were afterwards added a dish formed from an animal sacrificed on the Passover day, a composition of dates and other dried fruits, and four cups of red wine mixed with water, the last of which came to be regarded as essential as that which had been commanded in the Law. The Rabbi Gamaliel is reported by the Mishna to have said, "Whoever fails to explain three things in the Passover fails to fulfill his duty. These are the Paschal lamb, the unleavened bread, and the bitter herbs. The Paschal lamb means that God passed over the houses of our fathers in Egypt, which were sprinkled with blood; the unleavened bread, that our fathers were hurried out of Egypt; the bitter herbs, that the Egyptians made the lives of our fathers in Egypt bitter" (Pes. 10:15). The wine was regarded so necessary an adjunct, that it is ordered that every householder must provide himself with four cups, even if he had to sell or pawn his coat, or hire himself out for a servant, or receive money from the poor's box, in order to do so (Pes. 1). The supper began with drinking the first cup of wine, before which a grace, or thanksgiving, of the following character was said: - "Blessed art thou, Jehovah our God, who hast created the fruit of the vine! Blessed art thou, Jehovah our God, King of the universe, who hast chosen us from among all people, and exalted us from among all languages, and sanctified us with thy commandments! And thou hast given us, in love, the solemn days for joy, and the festivals and appointed seasons for gladness, and this, the day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the season of our freedom, a holy convocation, the memorial of our departure from Egypt. For us hast thou chosen; and us hast thou sanctified from among all nations, and thy holy festivals with joy and with gladness hast thou caused us to inherit. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who sanctifiest Israel and the appointed seasons! Blessed art thou, Lord, King of the universe, who hast preserved us alive, and sustained us, and brought us to this season" (Edersheim, 'Temple Service'). After drinking the first cup, there followed a general washing of hands, after which the company ate some of the bitter herbs. Then the second cup was filled, and in order to carry out the injunction of
Exodus 12:26, 27, the youngest member of the company inquired, "What mean ye by this service?" And the president of the feast replied, "It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses." At the same time, he explained the purport of the unleavened bread and the bitter herbs, and called upon the company to give thanks for what God had wrought for them and for their fathers, ending with
Psalm 113, 114, sung by all present. The second cup was then drunk, and after second washing of hands, the unleavened bread was broken, and thanks again given, after which the pieces of bread, the bitter herbs, the other sacrificial dish (if any), and the Paschal lamb were partaken of in turn. The third cup was then filled, thanks were again given, and the cup was drunk. This cup had the name of the "cup of blessing," owing to the blessing said over it, and it was succeeded after an interval by the fourth cup, when
Psalm 115-118 (which, with
Psalm 113, 114, made up the Hallel) were sung, followed by a prayer of thanksgiving.
CHAPTER 23:6-44
Parallel Commentaries ...
Hebrew
The Passoverפֶּ֖סַח(pe·saḥ)Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6453:A pretermission, exemption, Passoverto the LORDלַיהוָֽה׃(Yah·weh)Preposition-l | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3069:YHWHbegins atבֵּ֣ין(bên)Preposition
Strong's 996:An interval, space betweentwilightהָעַרְבָּ֑יִם(hā·‘ar·bā·yim)Article | Noun - md
Strong's 6153:Eveningon the fourteenthבְּאַרְבָּעָ֥ה(bə·’ar·bā·‘āh)Preposition-b | Number - masculine singular
Strong's 702:Fourdayלַחֹ֖דֶשׁ(la·ḥō·ḏeš)Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2320:The new moon, a monthof the firstהָרִאשׁ֗וֹן(hā·ri·šō·wn)Article | Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 7223:First, in place, time, rankmonth.בַּחֹ֣דֶשׁ(ba·ḥō·ḏeš)Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2320:The new moon, a month
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OT Law: Leviticus 23:5 In the first month on the fourteenth (Le Lv Lev.) 
