Christian definitives for older words and their definitions

Thayer wrote a Greek lexicon like Webster wrote an English dictionary. Why would Thayer include wrong definitions or the mistakes of other men as definitions. That makes no sense at all. The word means passover, no matter who translated it Easter.

Your logic runs like this: Look at all the religions that believe salvation is by works. Because so many religions believe that salvation is by works, therefore salvation must be by works.

 

I suppose you think Luke used Thayer's lexicon.

 

Nope, and neither do the Greeks of today. although modern Greek is different from koine Greek. Luke spoke Greek. Why would he need a dictionary for his own language?

Oh, and did Webster need a dictionary?

 

So what is pascha to modern Greeks?

 

I don't have a modern Greek lexicon. Probably the same--passover, since the Jews still celebrate the Passover to this day.

It really doesn't matter does it. It was Luke that wrote Acts. It was Luke that wrote in koine Greek. He used the word pascha which had the meaning of passover, and only passover. Out of 29 times used in the NT in the KJV 28 times it was translated passover. In other translations all 29 times it is rightly translated passover.

The argument that one cannot overlook is the historical context. It would have been impossible for Luke to even use the word Easter. Easter did not come into existence until 900 years later. How on earth could this event refer to Easter when there was no Easter. It is a historical impossibility. You might as well argue that Luke typed out his MSS on computers, only the Bible doesn't tell us. Computers came into existence much later in time and so did Easter. Why read into the passage something that is impossible to be there. History is against you. There were no computers at that time, and no Easter either.

 

Dictionaries and lexicons record how words are used, they do not determine the meaning of the words. Words change through use and dictionaries then must also change.

I don't believe Thayer's lexicon is as infallible as you seem to think. For example, the Greek word lychnos (Srong's #3088) is defined as both 'lamp' and 'candle' by Thayer. Yet, in biblical Palestine there would have been no candles. There is no historical justification to define this word as 'candle'; it is an anachronism. Vine's Expository Dictionary of the NT notes --

There is no mention of a candle in the original either in the OT or in the NT. The figure of that which feeds upon its own substance to provide its light would be utterly inappropriate. A lamp is supplied by oil, which in its symbolism is figurative of the Holy Spirit. ​

 

So "pascha" has changed meanings, from "passover" to "Easter"? Then why are all the other uses of "pascha" changed to "Easter" as well? "Passover" and "Easter" are two very different events, so surely a single word does not stand to mean them both?

 

Now please tell how "pascha" could mean computer or Easter, both words which came into existence more than 900 years after Luke wrote Acts 12:4. Thayer also lived long after Luke wrote Acts. The question is: What did "pascha" mean during the time of Luke? not during the time of Franklinmore? Luke didn't didn't use Vista or even XP. Neither had he ever encountered the event of Easter.

 

When did the English word passover come into existence?

 

1530, apparently.

 

Apparently it can.

Dictionary.com

pascha

noun
1. the Jewish feast of the Passover [syn: Pasch]
2. the Christian festival of Easter [syn: Pasch]


Websters 1828 dictionary

E'ASTER, n.

A festival of the christian church observed in commemoration of our Savior's resurrection. It answers to the pascha or passover of the Hebrews, and most nations still give it this name, pascha, pask, paque.

Definition from Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828.

 

Webster's dictionary is referring to the Christian festival of the Resurrection. The first century Christian had no such festival. The question is what was the NT contextually referring to in its use of the word "pascha"? It was referring to the the Jewish passover feast. Therefore, "passover" is the correct translation.

 

Exactly. To properly understand the bible, one needs to know what the message was to the original audience, not what it sounds like to us today. Once you have the original intent and message, you can then pull that message into today's world. To skip this important step is to trample the message of the bible underfoot, espousing one's own thoughts and opinions above that which God has given us through his word.

I know several preachers who read a passage and then go off half-cocked thinking they know what God said. They have no interest in actually digging to find out what the original intent of the passage was, who the intended audience was, or why that particular message was recorded for us. In other words, they ignore the entirety of God's word for their own spin on what they think the words on the page say.

This a miry pit if there ever was one. God had His words penned for a reason at the time they were written. It would do each and every student of the bible well to bother to try to find out this information before they decide to declare, "thus saith the Lord."

 

Acts 12:4 has nothing to do with Christianity. Quote Acts 12:3,4. Copy and paste it. Exegete it right here on this board, and show how it is referring to any other period than the passover. Remember that Easter was an event that only came into existence 900 years after the death of Christ. So I challenge you, quote the Scripture. Demonstrate on the board that easter is the right translation.

 

No. The paschal feast is carried on by Jews today; it is on a Saturday--the Sabbath. It is a part of the passover. It is a Jewish feast, has nothing to do with Christianity.

The resurrection is celebrated on the first day of the week (Sunday), in remembrance of Christ arising from the dead.

Those who celebrate Easter, an event which came into existence about 900 A.D. simply celebrate a pagan festival which has nothing to do with Christianity. Since when do bunnies lay eggs? The event has to do with the worship of a fertility goddess? I am really surprised that you put so much emphasis on the worship of a fertility goddess rather than the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ.

The word Easter is not found in the "Bible," may be in the KJV translation of the Bible, but not in the Bible itself.