Pascua

Question

How do you know which meaning "Pascua" refers to ---| Easter, Passover, Sabbath (Saturday), Sunday ---| when used in a sentence? The English Bible refers to Jesus being taken off the Cross before the "Sabbath" which would normally be a Saturday - but the Spanish Bible say He was taken before the Pascua. What tells us which meaning is indicated in the Spanish version ?

Thanks for the help ---|

Travis

Answer 1

You're OK. No offense taken.

Answer 2

Thanks Motley !

The article answered my question. I guess I didn't phrase it properly but I did received several replies with great info regarding my question. I'm glad I found this site because I do get questions like this and not many people I know have enough of a background in Spanish to help.

Thanks again to you ---|---|--and to all who've replied.

So, did the Church rename Passover, (Pascua), -- Easter, (Pascua) ? I've noticed they're usually celebrated at the same time of the year---| but if Passover is about the Jewish people leaving Egypt, how, (or why), does Pascua transfer over to Easter as the day of Ressurection ? I wonder how that may have started and when? And by who'

Answer 3

I hope that I did not offend anyone by not writing His side or His death. Whether Jesus is God incarnate or soley His son is somewhat controversial. I meant no offense.

Answer 4

I'm not Jewish, but I believe that the Sabbath is commonly held to be from sundown Friday to nightfall on Saturday (see Wikkopedia link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbath ), therefore, Jesus' body would have had to be removed before that Friday evening. The fact that everything was being done to expedite matters before the start of the Sabbath is evidenced by the piercing of his side with a lance to hasten his death (as well as the intent to break his legs if he had not, in fact, already died). The necessity of remaining ceremonious clean for the Sabbath also explains why preparations of the body for burial were postponed until after the Sabbath had ended, Sunday morning, when the women came to prepare the body.

Answer 5

Here's some more reading for you

http://spanish.about.com/b/2008/03/23/feliz-pascua-de-resurrecin.htm

Answer 6

I think in this case, it's a double meaning: Jesus was taken off the cross before the Sabbath, which was a "high day" (I'm using the KJV), that is, the Sabbath following the crucificion was the Passover according to the calendar of the Jews in Jerusalem (the Galileeans, apparently, celebrated the Passover the night before the crucificion--that was when the Last Supper took place). The victims of the crucificion had to be dead and removed from the cross before the Passover, or before the Sabbath. The Jewish leaders didn't want to have anything to do with a dead body on the day before the the Passover, because that would make them ceremonially unclean and they wouldn't be allowed to participate in one of the most important feasts of the Jewish calendar.

Answer 7

"Pascua" is supposed to be a celebration for the resurrection of Christ. It comes from Latin "Pascha", from Greek "Paskha", and this from Hebrew "pesah" (meaning "passover"); see the usual explanation about the plagues in Egypt, and the killing angels passing over because of the blood on the door, among others less popular.

The Catholic Church supposedly celebrates it the fist Sunday after first full moon following the 20th of March.
It also refers to the time between Christmas and the three Wise Men (6th of January).
Also, but less common, the Jewish celebration based on the Egypt story.