Created: 24th May 2008

Passover or Easter in Acts 12:4 Many people reason that the Greek word “Pascah” should be translated Passover for the Jewish festival for Peter’s arrest and that the word “Easter” is wrong. It is true that all the usage of the word “Pascha” in Greek referred to was for the Biblical festival of Passover, in fact twenty eight of them in the Renewed Covenant (NT) writings was referred to as Pascha so why this twenty ninth time should be any different by William Tyndale? Note this is a biblical feast of YHWH the God of Israel. For further clarification on the feasts I recommend my book Feasts of YHWH, The Elohim of Israel. The King James Version was not alone in doing this but this word was translated as Easter by several other translators. William Tyndale 1534, Bishop’s Bible 1568, Coverdale 1535, Matthew’s, Cranmer, the Great Bible etc, etc. Let us examine the text

Acts 12:4 So when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Easter.

Easter or Passover? Firs of All Herod was not Jewish but an Edomite and an enemy of Israel and the Jewish people. This hatred was not new but was very old. All of the Herodians had blood on their hands for innocent Israelite people. Remember Herod the Great who tried to have Yahushua killed as a baby. He was the forefather of this Herod. What did Yahuweh say about these Edomites as a future judgment?

Malachi 1:2-3 "I have loved you,'' says YHWH. "Yet you say, `In what way have You loved us?' "Was not Esau Jacob's brother?'' says YHWH. "Yet Jacob I have loved; (3) but Esau I have hated, and laid waste his mountains and his heritage for the jackals of the wilderness.''

The reason for the hatred is evident because Esau hated his brothers and wanted to rid them so this is carried through the line all the way including Herod who was a puppet of the Romans. All the Herods including Herod Antipas did not believe the Torah neither cared about the true feasts of YHWH but they quite happily celebrated the pagan counterpart feasts and this is what scripture states when we are told that he was living with his brother’s wife illegally, according to Torah he was a Torah breaker. It is true we do not have any evidence that Herod kept the feast of Easter according to the Roman theology of the fertility cult. However the Bible is clear that the returning Jewish people from Babylon had stopped committing this type of idolatry at least in Israel so the reference for “Easter” could never be for the Jewish people but to show Romans still celebrated it.

Leviticus 18:16 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife; it is your brother's nakedness.

For this John was out spoken and he paid for it by having his head cut off. How many people in our society today are even willing to speak out over wrongs at the loss of their life? Easter or Astarte was not new but mentioned numerous times in the Bible so this was not new but an old cultic feast.

Ezekiel 8:14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of YHWH’s house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.

Worship for Astarte was endemic even in Israel in the past and God condemned it. If He condemned it then why would He approve of this abomination now in the Western churches? All the Pastors that tell you its OK to call it Easter will have to answer for their error and leading others into error is a grave sin. The House of Israel (Ten tribes) paid for this sin by being cast out of the land of Israel for 2700 years and are still waiting for their return back to the land which is about to occur soon.

Jeremiah 7:18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.

Astarte was also known as the “Queen of heaven”.

She was the mother and wife of Tammuz, what a horrible mix no wonder Tammuz was killed by a swine and Christians need to learn this fact rather than making the swine a common food as its unclean according to the Bible!!! It is also true that the Passover occurs on Nissan 14 round about March or Mid April depending on several factors too detailed to discuss in this article. Scripture in Acts 12:4 tells us that Herod was waiting for “Easter” and what we have to look at is why a noted scholar like Tyndale used this terminology instead of Passover? He gave us the word for Passover, in fact he invented the translation of the word Pesach to the English Passover which everybody uses so freely today. Is there a fundamental reason why this error occurred? The word “Easter” was used to convert the church into more paganism then it already was as is true of many Christians today because for them the word “Easter” bunnies and rabbits are related to the birth of Messiah and they are not taught to differentiate the true Biblical feasts. Even sometimes I have told Christians about this feast but many continue to celebrate it. Yahuweh does indeed call them the pagan feasts of the house of Israel (spiritual and biological Ephraim)

Amos 8:10 I will turn YOUR FEASTS INTO MOURNING, and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist, and baldness on every head; I will make it like mourning for an only son, and its end like a bitter day.

Why would God turn His “feasts” into mourning when He commanded us to rejoice and be glad? The Hebrew words used in the above passage have been applied to the true feasts of God by some people in churches but they actually apply to the unscriptural ones like Christmas and Easter and other man made days that replace His holy days… Passover was only one day scripturally speaking and the next seven days were the Feast of Unleavened Bread (this is the second feast in that same week) so here Scripture interprets Scripture.

William Tyndale was right and his usage was fundamentally correct.

Acts 12:3 And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread.

Passover has been used for the whole week by the Jewish people at the time of Yahushua. Now what does this mean? Well if Herod an “Easter” celebrating man was waiting for “Passover” to come then it either had to be next year’s “Passover” or the logical and sensible conclusion is that he was waiting for the Roman festival called “Easter,” which occurs after Passover. Many people forget that the Roman’s did not stop celebrating “Easter” and this is how the Roman Catholic Church was cleverly able to introduce these into the western assemblies. One argument is that we do not have any evidence for Herod celebrating Easter but that does not mean he was not keeping “Easter” as I have shown above that he clearly was a Torah breaker. The evidence is implied in the text. Question for the sceptics If the “Feast” of “Easter” did not occur each time shortly after Passover then how was Roman Catholicism able to introduce this into the calendar? Remember the term “during the days of Unleavened Bread” strictly meant that it was AFTER Passover and never before so Passover had come and gone. Oh dear. The term in Acts 12:3 that states during the “days of Unleavened Bread” would mean the whole eight days so clearly Peter was arrested and waiting in prison to die as he did not think he would ever be released. Moreover friends the evidence leaves us no choice but to believe that this was “Easter” even though Pascha has been used to translate Passover in the Bible but here the usage could not justify the fact that the feast of Unleavened Bread had come and gone. Argument Didn’t the Jewish people in Yahushua’s time call the two feasts just Passover therefore the word must be Passover in Acts 12:4?

The following passage is quoted as proof.

Ezekiel 45:21 (KJV)"In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten."

Rabbi Simon responds: The evidence overwhelmingly agrees with this idea as Josephus also states that this was the case in the first century.

"Now, upon the approach of that feast of unleavened bread, which the law of their fathers had appointed for the Jews at this time, which feast is called the Passover, and is memorial of their deliverance out of Egypt." (Josephus, in "Antiquities of the Jews," Book 17, ch. 9, #3. (Bold Mine)

Both are true! What do I mean? I am now going to present something which probably many scholars didn’t even think about. The question remains why would such a highly acclaimed scholar like William Tyndale make such a glaring error? Why would he give over to Roman Catholic doctrines or Anglican catechisms if he was fighting against all this evil? On top of this William gave his life because of what he believed in so we must take him seriously. Often times we are told that the eleven disciples all died horrible deaths and they gave their lives because of what they believed and so it is here. I got the solution to the puzzle when I looked at it because William Tyndale was not wrong, he would be considered foolish by all scholars who read Greek and understood Hebrew culture that’s why to translate Pascha as “Easter” when it should be translated as the “Passover”. Here lies the solution to this dilemma! If a Muslim says to a Christian “God bless you” which God is he talking about? Certainly he is not referring to YHWH but Allah only even if Christians believe Allah is YHWH they would be wrong.

If a Hindu says to a Christian “God bless you” then which God is the Hindu referring to? William Tyndale was faced with a dilemma how best to translate the word Pascha. Remember this is the same man who gave us the word “Passover” for the feast of Pesach so now it would be hard to believe that somehow the man who invented the word “Passover” was right in all the other occurrences for that word but was wrong for the word Pascha in the Greek? William Tyndale knew something we didn’t. Let us look further. William Tyndale had access to all the manuscripts that were there and he had access to the other Bibles that had translated this word to “Easter” before him. One such fine example is the Wycliffe Bible which was translated in 1382 and called all the Passover references as “Easter”. William by the way fixed all these but only left Acts 12:4 as “Easter” because that is what it was meant to be a Roman feast. Now I am going to ask a question. Why it is that Hebrew roots Bible translators call the Ruach Ha Kodesh (Holy Spirit) a He? Don’t they know that it is the feminine side of God so technically should be a “She?” If you don’t believe me then please go and check John 14:16 out in any of your Hebrew roots Bibles. This is a blatant error and most of them know this but not to offend Christians they continue in this error. The work for the Hebrew roots Bibles is commendable but it is not mature by any standard yet as this is on going to root out all errors introduced thanks to Roman Catholicism and Masoretic text errors in translations and I dare say in some of the Hebrew text passed down to us had it not been for the Dead Sea scrolls we would only find out when the Messiah returns. Whether the Jewish people call the whole eight days Passover or not we always need to determine what God was trying to teach us in the scriptures for us that the Holy Spirit could not make a mistake even if others did. Only the 14th Nissan (Aviv) was called the Passover and never the whole eight days by the one holding authority in heaven, see Ezra 6:19. One might not know that there are three feasts in those eight days so calling them just Passover for us would be problematic. Citing Ezekiel 45:21 is one witness in Scripture so where is the second prophetic witness? We know none exists unless you want to make Josephus your prophetic witness which wouldn’t count by the way

because he is a historical witness and we do know different Jewish groups celebrated Passover differently!!!

Ezra 6:19 And the children of the captivity kept the Passover upon the fourteenth day of the first month.

Also Ezra 6:22 is clear that the Feast of Unleavened Bread was a separate feast and this custom was kept after the release of the captives from Babylon and for this we do have plenty of evidence from the Jewish Talmud.

Ezra 6:22 And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy; for this YHWH made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of Elohim, the Elohim of Israel.

Now I know what you may tell me that it could be scribal error? Smiling, No, there is a purpose for each Feast but let’s move on as my train is moving and London is close☺. Sadly this is where Jewish people can make mistakes when they think they have a Hebrew or Greek word nailed but in YHWH’s providence He can show something completely different to what one thinks. Did not YHWH use a heathen word for “God” to enlighten the people in Iraq? Please do go and search where that is if you do not find it I will tell you just ask. Scripture puts this detail there about the disciples that they were afraid in their flesh, a natural reaction but when they met the risen Saviour things took a drastic turn and all of them except one lost their lives by martyrdom for teaching and living the truth. It took me one afternoon to instantly recognise the Messiah without any Scriptures in my hand. I also have Jewish blood straight from the Middle-East but this was not the work of the flesh and my Jewish blood did not help me grasp this truth. How did I recognise Him without the Bible? Providence from YHWH through the Ruach Ha Kodesh and no cleverness of mine I can honestly tell you. Argument The custom of the Romans was to release a prisoner on the feasts that is why Herod was waiting to release Peter after the Passover?

Rabbi Simon responds The custom was to release a prisoner on the feast of the Romans not Biblical ones as we see in Matthew chapter 14. However it is probable that the same could be done on a Biblical feast since the case of Yahushua with Barabbas and Pontius Pilate willing to release a prisoner but that does not mean this was why Peter was waiting.

Matthew 14:6-8 But when Herod's birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod. (7) Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. (8) So she, having been prompted by her mother, said, "Give me John the Baptist's head here on a platter.''

Clearly Herod fulfilled the wish of Herodias by cutting John’s head! A custom on his day not the Scriptural feast day. The custom was to wait to kill after their feast since Herod’s feast “Easter” had not come therefore he waited to act to depose Peter but God acted before that time came. William Tyndale was right Before you go and throw away your King James Bible hold on to it a moment. I think after this hopefully it makes it clear why he chose to translate Pascha to “Easter” and subsequently in 1611 the KJV translators did the same. The same way as Kurios a pagan name has been applied to YHWH throughout the New Testament and not once written as YHWH. So the King James Version is actually right and not wrong at this juncture sorry for KJV haters. If we took the Pascha argument to its logical conclusion then one could argue that if that could never translate into Easter then why would anyone ever believe that Kurios can ever be translated back to YHWH since it is always used for false gods outside of the Bible? For groundbreaking articles… www.abrahamic-faith.com Simon Altaf was chosen by G-d for the special End-Times prophetic calling. A lone voice in the wilderness, one taught by G-d (Ps 119:120-121), a Messianic Rabbi and a writer. He is an ex-Muslim, called out of Islam to rejoin His people after his long exile. Praise Ha Shem. We hope this article has been a blessing to you. Please write to us and let us know if this has been a help and if you have any other questions or wish to receive our ground shattering quarterly Newsletter. Send the mail to

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