The name of the Passover
Before we begin the word-by-word reading of the Passover, a little should be said about the name itself, taken on its own.
Most of the brothers — perhaps all of them — take the name of the Passover from the Savior's passion, as if the feast were called pascha from that. But among the Hebrews this feast is not properly called pascha. It is called phas. The three letters of phas, with the heavier breathing they use, make up the name of the feast. If you translate it, it is crossing.
Greek
Πρὶν ἄρξασθαι τῆς κατὰ λέξιν ἐξηγήσεως τῆς τοῦ πάσχα, ἄξιον περὶ αὐτῆς ψιλῆς τῆς ὀνομασίας ὀλίγα εἰπεῖν τῆς τοῦ πάσχα. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ πλεῖστοι τῶν ἀδ[ελ]φῶν, τάχα δὲ καὶ οἱ πάντ[ες], τὴν ὀνομασίαν λαμβάνο[υσι]ν τοῦ πάσχα παρὰ τὸ πάθο[ς το]ῦ σ(ωτῆ)ρ(ο)ς κεκλῆσθαι τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ πάσχα, πάσχα δὲ ἰ[δ]ίως κατ' Ἑβραίους οὐ καλεῖτ[αι] ἡ ἑορτὴ ἡ προκειμένη, ἀλ[λὰ] φας, τῶν τριῶν γραμμάτ[ων] τοῦ φας καὶ τῆς παρ' αὐτοῖς μείζ[ονος] δασείας [ἀ]ποτελ[οῦντ]ω[ν τὸ] ταύτης [τ]ῆς ἑορτ[ῆς ὄ]νομ[α, ὅ]περ εἰ ἑρμηνευ[θ]είη, ἐστὶν [δι]άβασις.
About this text
Origen on the Passover: what the feast means, and how Christians should keep it.
English follows the Greek as printed in Witte (1993), from the page images. OCR of those pages was checked. Damaged lines are marked as gaps, not filled from another edition. This is a reading translation for study, not a new critical edition.
Witnesses
- Copy-text Witte, Die Schrift des Origenes „Über das Passa“ (1993) (Greek · On Pascha, from the page images)
- Checked print OCR of the Witte page images (Greek · Same print)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.