Hebrew word · H6452

פָּסַח

pasach

to pass

A rare verb. (1) To limp, hop or move unsteadily: 1 Kings 18:21, 'How long will you hop between two opinions?', and 18:26, where Baal's prophets 'limped/danced' around the altar. The related adjective pisseach means 'lame' (2 Sam 4:4).

Appears 7 times in 7 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to pass over, spring over

1a) (Qal) to pass over

1b) (Piel) to skip, pass over

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Exodus 12:13

Range of meaning

A rare verb. (1) To limp, hop or move unsteadily: 1 Kings 18:21, 'How long will you hop between two opinions?', and 18:26, where Baal's prophets 'limped/danced' around the altar. The related adjective pisseach means 'lame' (2 Sam 4:4). (2) In Exodus 12:13, 23, 27, God's action toward Israel's houses. (3) In Isaiah 31:5, God's defence of Jerusalem: 'Like hovering birds, so the LORD of hosts will shield Jerusalem; shielding and delivering, pasoach and rescuing.' There it stands next to words for protecting. HALOT and BDB list both a 'limp/hop' sense and a 'spare/pass over' sense. Some scholars think there were two separate roots that sounded alike.

Against the English

'Pass over' (Tyndale, KJV and nearly all English versions) brings out the 'skip past' picture: God moves by the house without stopping. It loses the protective sense that Isaiah 31:5 and the ancient versions find in the word, where God stands over the door and guards it.

How it drifted

Tyndale coined the English word 'Passover' in 1530 to name the feast. Since then the English name and the verb have reinforced each other, and 'pass over' in everyday English can also mean 'overlook' or 'ignore'. The Latin Vulgate had already chosen 'transibo' ('I will go across') and explained the feast name as transitus ('a crossing over'), pushing in the same direction.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Greek Septuagint renders 12:13 and 12:27 with skepazō, 'shelter, cover, protect' ('I will shelter you'), but 12:23 with parerchomai, 'pass by'. Targum Onkelos, the Aramaic translation, has 'I will have pity/spare' ('ve'eichos'). The rabbinic commentary Mekhilta records both 'pity/spare' and 'step/skip over' readings. Rashi (11th c.) gives 'I will have compassion', citing Isaiah 31:5, and then his own view that every pesichah means 'skipping and leaping'.

From the study of Isaiah 31:5

Range of meaning

The root has two strands. One is 'to limp, hobble' (1 Kgs 18:21, 26; compare pisseach, 'lame,' 2 Sam 4:4). The other, in the Passover texts, is 'to pass over' in the sense of sparing or protecting (Exod 12:13, 23, 27). Some lexicographers treat these as two separate roots. Others derive 'pass over' from the idea of hopping or stepping over.

Against the English

English 'pass over' now usually means skip, overlook or ignore ('passed over for promotion'). Hebrew pasach here is active protection: in Exod 12:23 Yahweh 'passes over the door and will not let the destroyer enter.' ESV's 'spare' and the LXX's 'preserve' bring out that sense. 'Pass over' keeps the Passover echo but risks sounding like indifference.

How it drifted

The English phrase was coined by Tyndale (1530) for Exodus 12 and became the name of the feast. In ordinary English, 'pass over' later came to mean skip or disregard, so the protective sense is now mostly lost outside the festival name.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Greek Septuagint translates pasach in Exod 12:13 and 12:27 with skepazō, 'to shelter, cover,' and in Isa 31:5 with peripoieomai, 'to preserve, keep safe.' The rabbinic Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael (on Exod 12:13) explains the Passover verb as 'sparing, having pity,' and the Aramaic Targums of Exodus likewise use a verb of pity or sparing.

From the study of 1 Kings 18:21

Range of meaning

To limp or hobble (an adjective from the same root, pissēaḥ, means "lame": 2 Sam 4:4; 9:13; Lev 21:18). In the intensive form, to hop, totter or dance in an uneven way (1 Kgs 18:26). A verb spelled the same way is used in Exod 12:13, 23, 27 for Yahweh's "passing over" or protecting the houses at Passover. Whether these are one root or two is debated.

Against the English

BSB, NIV and WEB say "waver," and NASB says "hesitate." Both turn a physical picture into an inner mental state. KJV "halt" kept the physical sense, since "halt" meant "limp" in 1611. ESV and NRSV "go limping" and YLT "leaping" stay closest to the Hebrew.

How it drifted

Translators often turn Hebrew body-pictures into abstract psychological words for smoother English. Meanwhile "halt" has shifted in English from "limp" to "stop."

Used elsewhere in the period

The Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, renders it χωλανεῖτε, "will you be lame." The Latin Vulgate has claudicatis, "you limp." Both ancient translators understood it as limping.

Where it appears

Exodus · 3

  1. Exodus 12:13 וּפָסַחְתִּ֖י and I will pass over

    The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a sign; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will fall on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

    Here: The verb that gave the feast its name (pesach). It can mean to hop or limp, and so 'skip over'. In Isaiah 31:5 it also means to shield or protect, and the oldest translations render it 'shelter' or 'have pity'. Here it is God's sparing action over the marked houses.

  2. Exodus 12:23 וּפָסַ֤ח and he will pass over

    When the LORD passes through to strike down the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway; so He will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.

    Here: The verb the feast is named after. It contrasts with 'pass through' at the start of the verse. Its range runs from 'skip over, pass by' to 'stand protectively over, spare' (compare Isaiah 31:5). See the study below.

  3. Exodus 12:27 פָּ֠סַח he passed over

    you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck down the Egyptians and spared our homes.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped.

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 4:4 וַיִּפָּסֵ֖חַ and he became lame

    And Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the report about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she was hurrying to escape, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.

1 Kings · 2

  1. 1 Kings 18:21 פֹּסְחִים֮ [be] limping

    Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people did not answer a word.

    Here: A participle, meaning ongoing action: "you keep on limping." It is a bodily picture of lurching and unsteady movement. The same verb describes the Baal prophets' ritual hopping around their altar in v. 26.

  2. 1 Kings 18:26 וַֽיְפַסְּח֔וּ and they limped around

    And they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound, and no one answered as they leaped around the altar they had made.

    Here: An intensive verb form of 'limp': a lurching, hobbling ritual dance. It echoes v. 21, where Elijah asks Israel how long it will go on 'limping' between two options.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 31:5 פָּסֹ֥חַ he will pass over [it]

    Like birds hovering overhead, so the LORD of Hosts will protect Jerusalem. He will shield it and deliver it; He will pass over it and preserve it.”

    Here: Another infinitive absolute, from the root of pesach (Passover). It calls back the night in Egypt when Yahweh 'passed over' Israel's houses and kept the destroyer out. Here it means sparing and protecting. It does not mean ignoring.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.