When is Passover? It doesn’t seem like a hard question to answer:

In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the LORD’S Passover.
(Leviticus 23:5)

But alas, there will be those who disagree over when it is the first month, when it is the fourteenth day, what twilight means and which twilight is meant. Not to mention I have quoted this passage from my preferred translation, the New American Standard Bible, which uses “LORD” instead of “_____” (insert your opinion of how to pronounce it).

Most of those issues I don’t intend to address here. A little farther down, I will explain my view on the evening, or twilight, of Passover.

What Do We Mean By “Passover?”

Scripture describes two occasions as Passover. First is the original historical story, described in Exodus 12, a one-time event. For that, timing was absolutely crucial. If you missed it, you might meet the death angel, leave too early or get left behind. The second is the memorial Passover observance, an annual event. I believe the Bible shows that keeping this memorial Passover is more important than getting everything exactly right, including the timing. That isn’t a license to do whatever we want.

Most Christians don’t really know much about observing Passover, though I think this is changing. Perhaps technology and social media have played a part in that. Growing up in church and in a Christian home I can’t say I ever heard much about Passover, other than the original story. But “The Lord’s Supper,” a phrase found in 1 Corinthians 11, was pretty important. It wasn’t a Passover meal. It consisted of about 1/2-oz of grape juice and a half-inch square piece of unleavened bread. In the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) we did “communion” every Sunday. Other churches I attended later did it once per quarter, four times a year. And still others did randomly, whenever the pastor decided it was time. All this is from the perspective of a protestant (“protesting Catholic”) – I can’t speak to the Catholic mass.

My first encounter with an actual Passover Seder was at a Presbyterian church on “Maundy Thursday,” the day before Good Friday. This Passover Seder was led by a Jewish person during “Holy Week,” which a few days later featured an Easter sunrise breakfast including ham and doughnuts. I didn’t know any better. Although Christian Passovers are on Maundy Thursday in order to fit the Good Friday-Easter Sunday scenario, I find it interesting now that on the Jewish Hillel calendar Passover will never fall on Thursday.

Biblical Timing

What does Scripture specifically say about the timing? Let’s assume just for the moment that we all know when the first month of the year starts. With that settled:

In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the LORD’S Passover.
(Leviticus 23:5)

“Now, let the sons of Israel observe the Passover at its appointed time. On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall observe it at its appointed time; you shall observe it according to all its statutes and according to all its ordinances.” So Moses told the sons of Israel to observe the Passover. They observed the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the LORD had commanded Moses, so the sons of Israel did.
(Numbers 9:2-5)

‘Then on the fourteenth day of the first month shall be the LORD’S Passover.
(Numbers 28:16)

While the sons of Israel camped at Gilgal they observed the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho.
(Joshua 5:10)

Then Josiah celebrated the Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem, and they slaughtered the Passover animals on the fourteenth day of the first month.
(2 Chronicles 35:1)

The exiles observed the Passover on the fourteenth of the first month.
(Ezra 6:19)

“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten.
(Ezekiel 45:21)

On the fourteenth day of the month at evening.

So When Is The Evening?

It’s one of those contentious debates: When does the day begin? If you are looking for my answer to that question, you won’t find it here. Like most of these things, people offer proof texts from Scripture to support their position, whatever it is. I have my opinion, but it isn’t important right now.

For the majority who believe that the day begins in the evening and ends the following evening (I might be in that group), reading “on the fourteenth at evening” could be ambiguous. Is it the evening that begins the fourteenth day, or the evening that ends the fourteenth day? Irrespective of when a day begins, I think Scripture leaves no question that Passover is in the evening at the end of the fourteenth day.

‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.
(Exodus 12:18)

Passover is the day before the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread, which according to Leviticus 23:6 and Numbers 28:17 begins on the fifteenth day of the month . The Passover lamb is eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs on the evening of the fourteenth, and for seven days – until the end of the twenty-first day – unleavened bead is eaten. If we were to begin eating unleavened bread at the start of the fourteenth day, that would be eight days.

After Genesis chapter 1, which could be understood a few different ways, there is actually no instance in Scripture where the evening refers to the beginning of the day. Notice that Exodus 12:18, discussing the Feast of Unleavened Bread, does not say it begins with the first evening of the fifteenth day. It says it begins on the evening of the fourteenth day. Even when describing Yom Kippur on the tenth day of the seventh month, when it details the beginning of that particular Sabbath it calls it the evening of the ninth day, not the evening beginning the tenth day.

“It is to be a sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall humble your souls; on the ninth of the month at evening, from evening until evening you shall keep your sabbath.”
(Leviticus 23:32)

Evening is the end of the day. It makes no sense to eat the Passover with unleavened bread, get up the next morning and have cinnamon rolls for breakfast, then begin the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread when the sun goes down.

When Did Yeshua Celebrate Passover?

There are almost as many timelines for the final week before Yeshua’s crucifixion as there are people making them. Again, I have an opinion on that timeline, but it isn’t important now. For those who believe prophetic fulfillment for any of the feasts must equate exactly to the dates given in Leviticus 23 and other places in Torah, you are immediately faced with a problem: Yeshua could not have eaten the Passover lamb at the proper time and also been the Passover lamb at exactly the same time.

Proponents will get around that problem by explaining away what we read in the Gospels. Yeshua was performing a teaching Seder … Yeshua was following a different calendar because the Jews had it wrong … Yeshua ate his last Passover early in order to be crucified along with the Passover lambs … the “last supper” wasn’t really a Passover … the list goes on. None of those things are written in the Gospels; they are only speculation and, more importantly, rationalization.

It is interesting to note that no calendar dates are ever mentioned in the New Testament. That is true not only for the week before Yeshua’s crucifixion, but for anything else in the New Testament. No month or day of the month is recorded. We can only interpolate dates because we know – or think we know – when Feasts were observed. All through the Tanach (Hebrew Bible, Old Testament) the years and months and days are pointed out. But not in the New Testament.

Perhaps that isn’t the most important issue.

So there you have it. My opinion. If you live in the Midwest United States, you can put a dollar with that buy a small coffee at Speedway.

Celebrate the Feast. It’s much more important that you observe it than that you get the timing exactly right. Study it out, and do your best.

Unless marked otherwise, Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) © The Lockman Foundation