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The Ancient World Behind the Text: Ideas

The customs, offices and ideas a first reader knew without being told, what each meant then, and the nearest thing you already know.

Passover and the pilgrim crowds

The spring festival that retold God's rescue of Israel from Egypt. Jerusalem filled with pilgrims, and hopes of freedom ran high.

Jewish life and lawTemple, synagogue and festivals

First, in plain English

The whole country came to the capital for the independence holiday, and the police were nervous. Passover remembered the night God freed Israel from slavery in Egypt. Pilgrims poured into Jerusalem, lambs were sacrificed at the temple, and families ate the meal and told the story.

What it meant then

Jerusalem's population grew fivefold at Passover, and the crowds sometimes led to riots with many deaths (Keener). By this time the Festival of Unleavened Bread and Passover were often treated as one festival, as in Josephus. Priests slaughtered the lambs brought by the people during the day. The city was packed, so those who knew people nearby lodged outside the walls, as Jesus did at Bethany. Passover custom had people stay up late retelling God's acts of rescue. The Sadducean chief priests, who were responsible for the temple, could not afford unrest at the festival. Wright calls Passover freedom time. The meal said that, despite appearances, Israel was God's free people, and the head of the family told the story. The ESV Study Bible says the pilgrims at the entry were looking for messianic liberation from Rome. The Passover lamb had to be eaten inside the walls of Jerusalem. Keener puts the Passover crowd at perhaps as many as 500,000. The Roman governor came up from Caesarea at the feasts, with more troops, to forestall trouble. The Hallel (Psalms 113 to 118) was sung through the season and would be fresh on everyone's mind. Josephus, counting the lambs at one later Passover, gives 256,500, at no fewer than ten people to a lamb. He also tells how in a riot at the feast under the governor Cumanus the crowd crushed itself "till ten thousand of them were killed." Paul applies the feast to the church. Passover bread was unleavened, and leaven as a picture almost always meant a corrupting influence. Jews expected a new redemption like the exodus.

The bridge to today

An analogy: an independence day held under foreign occupation, with huge crowds in the capital. Everyone celebrates freedom, and the occupiers double the guard.

What it changes in the reading

Passover filled Jerusalem with pilgrims and with hopes of freedom, so a royal welcome at the gates, as in Mark 11:9-10, and a plot to arrest a popular teacher away from the crowds, as in Matthew 26:4-5, both take their shape from the feast. The meal retold the rescue from Egypt, which frames the Last Supper. In John 2:13 Jesus goes up to Jerusalem as the Passover draws near.

Where the analogy breaks

Not a civic holiday for a nation's own heroes. Passover retold how God rescued Israel from Egypt, and it centered on worship: lambs slaughtered at the temple by priests and eaten inside the city walls. The hope it stirred was for God to act again. It had family meals, but the sources also describe riots and a doubled guard.

Where scholars disagree

Two points. First, when did the Passover meal fall in John? Matthew, Mark and Luke have Jesus eat the Passover with his disciples before his arrest. In John the priests have not yet eaten it the next morning, and Jesus dies on the day of Preparation, as the lambs were being slaughtered. Keener sees either a calendar difference among Jewish groups or a symbolic point by John. He calls reading eat the Passover as keeping the rest of the festival a very odd way to put it. The ESV and CSB Study Bibles take Preparation as the day before the Sabbath of Passover week, and the phrase as observing the festival. On that view all four Gospels put the meal on Thursday evening. The cultural backgrounds article allows a meal held a night early, or John telling the death as the Passover lamb's. Second, how far does later evidence describe Jesus' day? Keener puts the Passover crowd at perhaps as many as 500,000. Garland estimates 85,000 to 300,000 pilgrims in a city of 25,000 to 30,000. He cautions that the Passover rites known from the Mishnah developed after the temple fell and may not match Jesus' time.

Passages where it appears

{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-21-1-11\/","n":"Matthew 21:1-11, A donkey, a colt and the Hallel","s":"Jesus sends for a donkey and her colt, rides into Jerusalem as Zechariah foretold, and the pilgrim crowds spread cloaks and branches, crying Hosanna to the Son of David.","r":"Matthew 21:1-11"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-21-12-22\/","n":"Matthew 21:12-22, Tables, the blind and the lame, and a fig tree","s":"Jesus drives out the sellers and overturns the money changers' tables, heals the blind and the lame in the temple courts, and the next morning curses a leafy fig tree that withers at once.","r":"Matthew 21:12-22"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-26-1-16\/","n":"Matthew 26:1-16, Perfume at Bethany and thirty pieces of silver","s":"The chief priests meet at Caiaphas's house to plot Jesus' arrest away from the festival crowds. At Bethany a woman pours costly perfume on his head, and Judas sells him for thirty pieces of silver.","r":"Matthew 26:1-16"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-26-17-30\/","n":"Matthew 26:17-30, The Passover and the cup","s":"Jesus eats the Passover with the Twelve in the city, names the one who dips with him as his betrayer, gives the bread and the cup new meaning, and vows not to drink wine again until the kingdom.","r":"Matthew 26:17-30"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-27-1-26\/","n":"Matthew 27:1-26, Blood money, Pilate and Barabbas","s":"At dawn the council hands Jesus to Pilate. Judas returns the silver and hangs himself, the priests buy a potter's field, and Pilate, warned by his wife's dream, releases Barabbas and washes his hands.","r":"Matthew 27:1-26"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/mark-11-1-11\/","n":"Mark 11:1-11, The ride into Jerusalem","s":"Jesus sends for a colt no one has ridden and rides into Jerusalem over cloaks and branches while the crowd shouts Hosanna.","r":"Mark 11:1-11"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/mark-11-12-25\/","n":"Mark 11:12-25, The fig tree and the temple","s":"Jesus curses a leafy fig tree with no fruit, overturns the tables in the temple, and the next morning the tree has withered.","r":"Mark 11:12-25"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/mark-14-1-11\/","n":"Mark 14:1-11, Perfume at Bethany","s":"Two days before Passover, at dinner in Bethany, a woman pours costly perfume on Jesus' head. He says she has anointed him for burial, and Judas goes to the chief priests.","r":"Mark 14:1-11"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/mark-14-12-31\/","n":"Mark 14:12-31, The Passover meal","s":"Jesus eats the Passover with the Twelve, names a betrayer at the table, gives the bread and the cup new meaning, and warns that all will scatter.","r":"Mark 14:12-31"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/mark-14-32-52\/","n":"Mark 14:32-52, Gethsemane and the arrest","s":"At a place called Gethsemane Jesus prays in anguish while three disciples sleep. Judas arrives with an armed crowd from the chief priests, greets him with a kiss, and the disciples run.","r":"Mark 14:32-52"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/mark-15-1-20\/","n":"Mark 15:1-20, Before Pilate","s":"The chief priests hand Jesus to Pilate as king of the Jews. Pilate releases Barabbas to the crowd, has Jesus flogged, and the soldiers mock him as a king.","r":"Mark 15:1-20"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/luke-2-41-52\/","n":"Luke 2:41-52, A twelve-year-old among the teachers","s":"On the family's yearly Passover pilgrimage the twelve-year-old Jesus stays behind in Jerusalem, and after three days his parents find him in the temple courts among the teachers.","r":"Luke 2:41-52"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/luke-13-1-9\/","n":"Luke 13:1-9, Pilate's victims, the tower and the fig tree","s":"People tell Jesus about Galileans whose blood Pilate mixed with their sacrifices. He answers with a tower that fell in Siloam, a call to repent, and a fig tree given one more year.","r":"Luke 13:1-9"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/luke-19-28-48\/","n":"Luke 19:28-48, The king rides down to the city and weeps over it","s":"Jesus rides a borrowed colt down the Mount of Olives while his disciples spread their cloaks and praise the king who comes. Seeing the city, he weeps over the siege to come, then drives the sellers out of the temple.","r":"Luke 19:28-48"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/luke-24-13-35\/","n":"Luke 24:13-35, A stranger on the Emmaus road","s":"Two disciples walking home to Emmaus are joined by a stranger who explains the Scriptures to them. They press him to stay, and they recognize him when he breaks the bread.","r":"Luke 24:13-35"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-2-13-25\/","n":"John 2:13-25, Tables overturned at Passover","s":"At Passover Jesus drives the animal sellers and money changers out of the temple courts. Asked for a sign, he tells them to destroy this temple and he will raise it in three days, and John explains that he meant his body.","r":"John 2:13-25"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-6-1-21\/","n":"John 6:1-21, Bread in the wilderness and a walk on the sea","s":"Near Passover Jesus feeds five thousand men from five barley loaves and two fish. The crowd hails him as the Prophet and wants to make him king, and that night he comes to his disciples walking on the sea.","r":"John 6:1-21"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-6-22-71\/","n":"John 6:22-71, The bread from heaven","s":"In the synagogue at Capernaum the crowd asks for a sign like the manna. Jesus answers that he is the bread of life come down from heaven, and his hard words about eating his flesh drive many disciples away.","r":"John 6:22-71"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-11-45-57\/","n":"John 11:45-57, Caiaphas: one man for the nation","s":"After the raising of Lazarus the chief priests and Pharisees call a council, afraid the Romans will take away their place and their nation. Caiaphas tells them it is better for one man to die for the people.","r":"John 11:45-57"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-12-12-19\/","n":"John 12:12-19, Palm branches and a donkey's colt","s":"The festival crowd goes out with palm branches, shouting Hosanna and hailing Jesus as King of Israel, and he rides in on a young donkey, as Zechariah had said Zion's king would come.","r":"John 12:12-19"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-18-28-40\/","n":"John 18:28-40, Pilate's headquarters at dawn","s":"At daybreak the leaders bring Jesus to the governor's headquarters but will not go in, so as to stay clean for Passover. Pilate questions him about being king of the Jews, finds no case, and offers to release him, but the crowd asks for Barabbas.","r":"John 18:28-40"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-19-31-42\/","n":"John 19:31-42, Legs unbroken and a hundred pounds of spices","s":"Because the coming Sabbath is a high day, the leaders ask for the bodies to be taken down. The soldiers find Jesus already dead and pierce his side; Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus bury him with a lavish weight of spices in a new tomb in a garden.","r":"John 19:31-42"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/acts-12-1-25\/","n":"Acts 12:1-25, Herod Agrippa, the prison and the king struck down","s":"King Herod Agrippa kills James and jails Peter at Passover, but an angel leads Peter out. Later, in Caesarea, the king accepts the crowd's cry that he speaks with a god's voice and is struck down.","r":"Acts 12:1-25"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/romans-3-21-31\/","n":"Romans 3:21-31, Redemption and the mercy seat","s":"Paul announces that God's righteousness has been revealed through faith in Jesus for all who believe, Jew and Gentile alike, through a redemption and an atoning death he links to the mercy seat.","r":"Romans 3:21-31"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/1corinthians-5-1-13\/","n":"1 Corinthians 5:1-13, A man and his father's wife","s":"A church member is living with his stepmother and the church is proud of itself. Paul tells them to hand the man over to Satan, clear out the old leaven as a household does before Passover, and not eat with a so-called brother who lives that way.","r":"1 Corinthians 5:1-13"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/1corinthians-10-1-22\/","n":"1 Corinthians 10:1-22, Israel in the desert and the table of demons","s":"Paul warns that Israel too had its baptism and its spiritual food in the wilderness, yet fell into idolatry and immorality and was struck down, and tells the Corinthians that they cannot share both the Lord's table and the table of demons.","r":"1 Corinthians 10:1-22"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/1corinthians-11-17-34\/","n":"1 Corinthians 11:17-34, The Lord's Supper in a rich man's house","s":"Paul rebukes the church because at the Lord's Supper some go hungry while others eat their fill and get drunk, retells the tradition of the Last Supper, and tells them to wait for one another.","r":"1 Corinthians 11:17-34"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/1peter-1-13-25\/","n":"1 Peter 1:13-25, Minds girded, foreigners, and the lamb","s":"Peter calls his readers to be ready and sober, holy as God is holy, and to live as foreigners in reverent fear, since they were ransomed not with silver or gold but with the blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish. Born again of imperishable seed, the living word, they must love one another deeply.","r":"1 Peter 1:13-25"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/1peter-2-1-10\/","n":"1 Peter 2:1-10, Living stones and a royal priesthood","s":"Like newborn babies the readers should crave pure milk. Coming to Christ, the living stone rejected by people but chosen by God, they are being built into a spiritual house and a holy priesthood; Peter strings together Scripture's stone texts and calls them a chosen people, a royal priesthood and a holy nation.","r":"1 Peter 2:1-10"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/revelation-5-1-14\/","n":"Revelation 5:1-14, the sealed scroll and the Lamb","s":"In God's right hand is a scroll written on both sides and sealed with seven seals, and no one is worthy to open it until the Lion of Judah, the Root of David, appears as a Lamb that looks slain. The living creatures, the elders, countless angels and all creation worship him.","r":"Revelation 5:1-14"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/revelation-15-1-16-11\/","n":"Revelation 15:1-16:11, the song of Moses and the first bowls","s":"Those who have overcome the beast stand beside a sea of glass mixed with fire and sing the song of Moses and of the Lamb. Seven angels dressed like priests come out of the heavenly temple with seven golden bowls of God's wrath, and the first five bring sores, seas and rivers turned to blood, scorching sun and darkness on the beast's throne.","r":"Revelation 15:1-16:11"}

Sources

NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on Mark 11:11, 11:19, 11:32, 14:2, 14:3, 14:12 and 14:41
N. T. Wright, Mark for Everyone, comments on Mark 14:1-11 and Mark 14:12-25
ESV Study Bible, study notes on Mark 11:9 and 14:12
Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Matthew 21:9, 21:18 and 26:3-5
Josephus, The Wars of the Jews 2.12.1 and 6.9.3, trans. William Whiston
Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on John 18:28 and 19:14
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on John 18:28 and 19:14
ESV Study Bible, study notes on John 18:28 and 19:14
CSB Study Bible, notes on John 18:28 and 19:14
Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 and 11:24-26
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on 1 Corinthians 5:7 and 10:16
N. T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: 1 Corinthians, comment on 1 Corinthians 5:6-13
David E. Garland, Mark, in Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, ed. Clinton E. Arnold, on Mark 14:2 and 14:26
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, article The Synoptic Passover Meal Versus John's Passover Lamb
D. A. Carson, Douglas J. Moo and Leon Morris, An Introduction to the New Testament, ch. 1, Gospel Chronology, The Death of Jesus

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