Quick Definition
πάσχα, τό Aram. the feast of Passover, the Passover lamb
Strong's Definition
of Chaldee origin (compare 6453); the Passover (the meal, the day, the festival or the special sacrifices connected with it)
KJV Usage: Easter, Passover
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
noun, n.
51.6 · Festivals
Passover festival, Passover the Jewish festival commemorating the deliverance of Jews from Egypt In some languages the term πάσχα has been borrowed in one form or another, but frequently it is necessary to have some qualifying statement to identify this festival, for example, ‘a festival to celebrate the passing over of the angel’ or ‘a festival to celebrate deliverance from Egypt.’
MAT 26:2 · MRK 14:1 · MRK 14:12 · LUK 2:41 · LUK 22:1 · JHN 2:13 · JHN 2:23 · JHN 6:4 · JHN 11:55 · JHN 11:55 · JHN 12:1 · JHN 13:1 · JHN 18:39 · JHN 19:14 · ACT 12:4 · HEB 11:28
51.7 · Festivals
Passover meal a Passover meal eaten in connection with the Passover festival (see 51.6)
MAT 26:18 · MAT 26:19 · MRK 14:14 · MRK 14:16 · LUK 22:8 · LUK 22:13 · JHN 18:28
4.27 · Animals · Animals
Passover lamb a specially selected lamb (or a collective for all such lambs) killed and eaten during the festival commemorating the departure of Israel from Egypt The term πάσχα (a borrowing from Hebrew) has three different meanings which refer to three different aspects of the Passover. In a context which speaks of ‘the Passover taking place’ (MAT 26:2), the meaning is the festival (51.6). With a term such as ἑτοιμάζειν ‘to prepare’ (MAT 26:19), the term πάσχα means ‘the Passover meal,’ that is to say, ‘to prepare the Passover meal’ (51.7). But with a term meaning ‘to kill’ or ‘to sacrifice’ (LUK 22:7), the meaning is ‘the Passover lamb.’ These different meanings in Greek reflect similar uses in Hebrew.
It is often impossible, however, to use a phrase such as ‘Passover lamb,’ since a literal rendering may suggest ‘a lamb that passes over’ or ‘a lamb that someone has passed over,’ either in the sense of ‘ridden over’ or ‘neglected.’ It is therefore necessary in many languages to expand the phrase ‘the Passover lamb’ to read ‘the lamb that is eaten at the Passover Festival’ or ‘the lamb associated with the Festival that celebrates the passing over.’ It may even be necessary to expand the phrase ‘passing over’ to refer specifically to the passing over of the angel of death, and in certain instances one cannot even employ a literal rendering such as ‘passing over,’ since this might mean merely ‘flying above.’ Therefore, it may be necessary to use an expression roughly equivalent to ‘passing by.’ It may, however, be better to use a short, though somewhat obscure, expression in the text and provide a full explanation in a marginal note or glossary.
MAT 26:17 · MRK 14:12 · LUK 22:7 · LUK 22:11 · LUK 22:15 · 1CO 5:7
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
πάσχα, τό, (Chald. 8nD3, Heb. n03, fr. ND3 to pass over, to pass over by sparing; the Sept. also constantly use the Chald. form πάσχα, except in 2 Chron. [and Jer. xxxviii. (xxxi.) 8] where it is φασέκ ; Josephus has φάσκα, antt. 5,1,4; 14, 2,1; 17,9, 3; b.j. 2, 1,3), anindeclinable noun [W. § 10, 2]; prop. a passing over ; 1. the paschal sacrifice (which was accustomed to be offered for the people’s deliverance of old from Egypt), or 2. the paschal lamb, i.e. the lamb which the Israelites were accustomed to slay and eat on the fourteenth day of the month Nisan (the first month of their year) in memory of that day on which their fathers, preparing to depart from Egypt, were bidden by God to slay and eat a lamb, and to sprinkle their door-posts with its blood, that the destroying angel, seeing the blood, might pass over their dwellings (Ex. xii. sq.; Num.ix.; Deut. xvi.) : θύειν τὸ 7. (n230 ὅπ), Mk. xiv. 12; Lk. xxii. 7, (Ex. xii. 21); Christ crucified is likened to the slain paschal lamb, 1 Co. v.73; φαγεῖν τὸ π., Mt. xxvi. 17; Mk. xiv. 12, 14; Lk. xxii. 11, 15; Jn. xviii. 28; ΠΟΞΙῚ ODN, 2 Chr. xxx. 17 86. 3. the paschal supper: ἑτοιμάζειν τὸ π., Mt. xxvi. 19; Mk. xiv. 16; Lk. xxii. 8,13; ποιεῖν τὸ π. to celebrate the paschal meal, Mt. xxvi. 18. 4. the paschal festival, the feast of Passover, extending from the fourteenth to the twentieth day of the month Nisan: Mt. xxvi. 2; Mk. xiv. 1; Lk. ii. 41; xxii. 1; Jn. ii. 13, 23; vi. 4; xi.55; xii. 1: ΧΙ, 1; xviii. 39; xix.14; Acts xii. 4; πεποίηκε τὸ π. he instituted the Passover (of Moses), Heb. xi. 28 [ef. W. 272 (256); B. 197 (170)]; γίνεται τὸ mr. the Passover is celebrated [R. V. cometh], Mt. xxvi. 2. [See BB.DD. s. v. Passover; Dillmann in Schenkel iv. Ρ. 392sqq.; andon the question of the relation of the “Last Supper” to the Jewish Passover, see (in addition to reff. in BB.DD. u.s.) Kirchner, die Jiidische Passahfeier u. Jesu letztes Mahl. Gotha, 1870; Keil, Com. iiber Matth. pp. 513-528; J. B. McClellan, The N. T. ete. i. pp. 473-494 ; but esp. Schiirer, Ueber φαγεῖν τὸ πάσχα, akademische Festschrift (Giessen, 1883). ]
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
πάσχα pascha 29x
the passover, the paschal lamb, Mt. 26:17; Mk. 14:12; met. used of Christ, the true paschal lamb, 1 Cor. 5:7; the feast of the passover, the day on which the paschal lamb was slain and eaten, the 14th of Nisan, Mt. 26:18; Mk. 14:1; Heb. 11:28; more genr. the whole paschal festival, including the seven days of the feast of unleavened bread, Mt. 26:2; Lk. 2:41; Jn. 2:13
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
† πάσχα, τό, indecl. (Aram. טַּסְחָא),
[in LXX for פֶּסַח;]
the festival of the Passover: Mt 26:2, Mk 14:1, Lk 22:1, Jo 2:13, 23 6:4 11:55 12:1 18:39 19:14, Ac 12:4, He 11:28; .ἡ ἐορτὴ τοῦ π., Lk 2:41, Jo 13:1.
By meton., the paschal supper: ἑτοιμάζειν τὸ π., Mt 26:19, Mk 14:16, Lk 22:8, 13; ποιεῖν τό π., Mt 26:18;
the pasohal lamb: θύειν τό π. (Ex 12:21), Mk 14:12, Lk 22:7; of Christ, I Co 5:7; φαγεῖν τὸ π. (lamb or supper), Mt 26:17, Mk 14:12, 14, Lk 22:11, 15, Jo 18:28 (cf. II Ch 30:17).†
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
πάσχα, the general transliteration in the LXX of MD8, is applied in the NT to (a) the paschal lamb (Mk 141%, 1 Cor 57), or (b) the paschal supper (Mk 14), or (c) the paschal festival as a whole (Lk 221). For the form of the word see a note by Nestle in Axp 7 xxi. p. 521 f.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
πάσχα (pascha) — Passover lamb. πάσχα, τό, indeclinable, the Hebrew “Passover” (from pāsa[hudot] 'pass over') or Paschal feast, [LXX]
2. paschal supper, [NT]
3. paschal lamb, θύειν τὸ π. [LXX+NT]