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Discrepancy between Leviticus 23:6 and Matthew 26:17?

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rstrats

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Leviticus 23:6 says - "And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread..."

However, Matthew 26:17 says - "Now on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?"


How can these 2 verses be reconciled?
 
rstrats said:
Leviticus 23:6 says - "And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread..."

However, Matthew 26:17 says - "Now on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?"


How can these 2 verses be reconciled?
Click to expand...
What am I missing for I do not see the discrepancy you speak of?

The Scripture you referenced in Leviticus talks about the feast beginning on the 15th day of the first month. Whereas, Matthew's scripture just speaks about the first day of the feast. I don't see where in Matthew it describes which month these events are taking place, therefore, is it not reasonable to understand that it was the first month?
 
There is no discrepancy as Leviticus is a reference to Exodus 12, especially vs. 6. The Passover is described in Exodus 12 being the 14th of the first month of the new year being Nisan (March April) according to the Jewish Lunar Solar Calendar. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is the 15th day of Nisan/April, Exodus 12:6, which begins Thursday after sundown and ends Friday at sundown. Nisan 15 being a Sabbath never changes even if current dates do not match up year after year.

Hebrew weekly Sabbath starts Friday night at sunset and ends Saturday night at sunset. This was a different Sabbath called a High Sabbath not like the weekly Sabbath. This High Sabbath began the first day at sunset through the last day at sunset during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Exodus 12:14, 15. Beginning the 14th at sunset making it Saturday the 15th to Friday the 21st at sunset. Passover is annual and not a weekly Sabbath as it is the High Sabbath that begins the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and no one was to do any labor on that day as it was a day of holy assembling. Luke 23:52-54; John 19:31, 42; Leviticus 23:6-8.

Matthew 26:17 Seeing that this was a High Sabbath that started at sunset on the 14th making it Saturday the beginning day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, it would have been Wednesday the 12th that Jesus ate supper with His disciples being the last supper, not the Passover Seder that many teach it to be. On the 12th at sunset begins Thursday the 13th being the Fast of the Firstborn.
 
Edward,
re: "Because the Feast days do not go by the calendar but by the phases of the moon. So the date it falls on each year can be different."

I don't understand. Are you saying that the Passover could fall on the 12th day of the month, or the 18th day of the month, etc.
 
WIP,
re: "What am I missing for I do not see the discrepancy you speak of?"

Leviticus 23:6 says - "And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread..." I'm assuming that the verse is saying that the 15th day of the month is the 1st day of the feast.

On the other hand, Matthew 26:17 says - "Now on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?" How could this question be asked any later than the 14th day of the month? I'm assuming, of course, that the killing of the animals was on the 14th.
 
rstrats said:
WIP,
re: "What am I missing for I do not see the discrepancy you speak of?"

Leviticus 23:6 says - "And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread..." I'm assuming that the verse is saying that the 15th day of the month is the 1st day of the feast.

On the other hand, Matthew 26:17 says - "Now on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?" How could this question be asked any later than the 14th day of the month? I'm assuming, of course, that the killing of the animals was on the 14th.
Click to expand...
You're making an assumption and that may be the problem.

I worked for 25 years in electrical design for an industrial packaging machinery company and one of the rules of thumb we adhered to was that we always avoided the use of timers to initiate action as much as possible. If it was possible to use a sensor to detect the actual position of the machine, we would.

The reason was that using timers forced us to make assumptions about the condition, state, or position of the machinery and those things are not guaranteed. Inevitably, using timers will cause problems because of the assumption that is made.
 
But also...
Second Passover for travellers.

If you were traveling you were allowed sufficient grace to eat when you could... especially if you were on a "Holy pilgrimage".

And Passover was not just one meal but a minimum of a week... culminating in a meal.
 
rstrats said:
Edward,
re: "Because the Feast days do not go by the calendar but by the phases of the moon. So the date it falls on each year can be different."

I don't understand. Are you saying that the Passover could fall on the 12th day of the month, or the 18th day of the month, etc.
Click to expand...

I am saying that Passover dates are not calculated by a calendar. The dates are set by the phases of the moon cycles. Moon cycles do not adhere to calendar dates. If that was done then there might be a year in which there was two Passovers and be incorrect. This all goes back to Genesis 1:14
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:.../

and this is how they knew back then, when to begin the Passover and so forth. I am no expert in moon cycles and that stuff, but it is how it is done.

Here's an article which explains it in detail...

How to Calculate God's Festival Calendar

postponements.com
 
Edward,
re: "I am saying that Passover dates are not calculated by a calendar. The dates are set by the phases of the moon cycles."

I'm sorry, but I still don't see the applicability of your comments. Regardless of how the 1st month of the year is arrived at, the 1st month of the year is the 1st month of the year. And the 14th day of that month is the 14th day of that month.
 
rstrats said:
Edward,
re: "I am saying that Passover dates are not calculated by a calendar. The dates are set by the phases of the moon cycles."

I'm sorry, but I still don't see the applicability of your comments. Regardless of how the 1st month of the year is arrived at, the 1st month of the year is the 1st month of the year. And the 14th day of that month is the 14th day of that month.
Click to expand...

It's the difference of using a Lunar calendar that goes by the cycles of the moon that the Jews use as it's different than our Gregorian Calendar we use today. Days and dates do not change on the Lunar like that of the Gregorian that changes every year.
 
for_his_glory,
re: "It's the difference of using a Lunar calendar that goes by the cycles of the moon that the Jews use as it's different than our Gregorian Calendar we use today. Days and dates do not change on the Lunar like that of the Gregorian that changes every year."

I still don't understand what that has to do with this topic. Doesn't every month have a 14th day?
 
rstrats said:
for_his_glory,
re: "It's the difference of using a Lunar calendar that goes by the cycles of the moon that the Jews use as it's different than our Gregorian Calendar we use today. Days and dates do not change on the Lunar like that of the Gregorian that changes every year."

I still don't understand what that has to do with this topic. Doesn't every month have a 14th day?
Click to expand...

8792

This has everything to do with the OP.

This is a Jewish calendar for the month of Nissan - April. As you can see April 20 is still the 15th being Passover which is a High Sabbath that is different than regular Sabbaths.

The Passover is described in Exodus 12 being the 14th of the first month of the new year being Nisan (March April) according to the Jewish Lunar Solar Calendar. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is the 15th day of Nisan/April, Exodus 12:6, which begins Thursday after sundown and ends Friday at sundown. Nisan 15 being a Sabbath never changes even if current dates do not match up year after year.

Exodus 12:1- 12 God gives instruction for the meal before He passes over Egypt killing the firstborn beginning at midnight. Notice they were to be fully dressed with staffs in their hands as they sat inside their dwellings and at this meal in the evening. If anything was left over from their lambs it was to be burnt up in the morning before they began their journey out of Egypt.

Hebrew weekly Sabbath starts Friday night at sunset and ends Saturday night at sunset. This was a different Sabbath called a High Sabbath not like the weekly Sabbath. This High Sabbath began the first day at sunset through the last day at sunset during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Exodus 12:14, 15. Beginning the 14th at sunset making it Saturday the 15th to Friday the 21st at sunset. Passover is annual and not a weekly Sabbath as it is the High Sabbath that begins the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and no one was to do any labor on that day as it was a day of holy assembling. Luke 23:52-54; John 19:31, 42; Leviticus 23:6-8.

Seeing that this was a High Sabbath that started at sunset on the 14th making it Saturday the beginning day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, it would have been Wednesday the 12th that Jesus ate supper with His disciples being the last supper, not the Passover Seder that many teach it to be. On the 12th at sunset begins Thursday the 13th being the Fast of the Firstborn.

Wednesday the 12th after they ate, which was the last supper with Jesus, the disciples went with Him that evening as He went to pray in the garden in Gethsemane. It was that evening Jesus was betrayed by Judas, arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin. Thursday the 13th very early in the morning Jesus was brought before Pilate who passed sentence on Jesus according to Roman law and was scourged and nailed to the cross about the third hour and died at the ninth hour the same day when the Passover lambs were killed, Exodus 12:1-6.

Jesus was laid in the borrowed tomb on Thursday the 13th in the evening before sunset making it the 1st day and the 1st night that He died. So we have Thursday being the first day and first night – Friday 2nd day and 2nd night – Saturday 3rd day 3rd night being raised sometime between Saturday after sunset and sunrise Sunday morning.

According to Leviticus 23:5-8 The Passover feast is a different day then the Feast of Unleavened Bread as it was eaten in the evening of the 14th before the Lord passed over Egypt on the 15th.
 
Last edited:
for_his_glory,
re: "This has everything to do with the OP."

I guess I'm just not smart enough to understand what your point is with regard to the OP.

BTW, you write that the Messiah was brought before Pilate on the 14th. But in your next sentence you write that the Messiah was laid in the tomb on the 13th. What am I missing?
 
WIP,
re: "You're making an assumption and that may be the problem."


Leviticus 23:6 says - "And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread..." I wrote that I'm assuming that the verse is saying that the 15th day of the month is the 1st day of the feast. Why might that assumption be a problem? Are you suggesting that the verse may not be referring to the 1st day of the feast?
 
JohnDB,
re: "But also...Second Passover for travellers."

Are you suggesting that the Passover being mentioned in Matthew 26:17 may have been referring to a second Passover for travelers which could be observed on any month and any day of the month?
 
rstrats said:
Leviticus 23:6 says - "And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread..."

However, Matthew 26:17 says - "Now on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?"


How can these 2 verses be reconciled?
Click to expand...
I understand.
Passover is ALWAYS on the 14th of Nissan and the Feast of Unleavened Bread is ALWAYS on the 15th.

These two dates are immutable regardless which day of the week they fall on.

To throw in another wrench, John has Jesus being crucified of the 14th of Nissan.

I believe the answer lies in a historical context. There were two Jewish calendars at the time. You had what was claimed as the original calendar which the Essenes held to and then you had the Babylonian Calendar which the Temple used.

This can be verified through the writings of the dead sea scrolls as the Essenes claimed the Temple calendar was incorrect and they followed their calendar for festival dates.

To reconcile the two versus is easy. Matthew is threading both calendars into his writings.
 
StoveBolts,
re: "To reconcile the two versus is easy. Matthew is threading both calendars into his writings"

How does that work with regard to Matthew 26:17?
 
Hi,
The calendar for the Essenes may have been a day ahead of the Temple Calendar. Regardless, the Lamb could only be offered in the Temple, so the official Passover was on Temple time.

It is very possible that the festival of matza was known to begin on the 14th which is also known as the day of preparation.

It may be worthy to note that the lamb was eaten on the night of the 15th which became an extension of the day of the 14th.

Do some Jewish study on this and you will see how scripture causes them to redefine these two days in terms of a calendar.

It's also worthy to note that Matthew was Jewish and writing to a Jewish audience and Passover is one of the biggest holidays of the year. So, it's our job to think like them, and not force our understanding on them.
 
StoveBolts,
re: "It's also worthy to note that Matthew was Jewish and writing to a Jewish audience and Passover is one of the biggest holidays of the year. So, it's our job to think like them, and not force our understanding on them."

So you're suggesting that the writer of Matthew 26:17 got it wrong (as far as Leviticus 23:6 is concerned) when he wrote that the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread was sometime before the 15th?
 
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