Herb Evans on "Easter" in Acts 12:4

Here is an article by Dr. Herb Evans on the translation of "pascha" in Acts 12:4 in the KJB.

For my defense of Acts 12:4 see http://av1611studyblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-inspired-and-preserved-king-james_15.html  and  http://av1611studyblog.blogspot.com/2014/07/is-acts-124-easter-mistranslation.html

For Dr. Sam Gipp's defense see http://av1611studyblog.blogspot.com/2014/07/easter-or-passover-sam-gipp.html 

WHAT ABOUT EASTER IN THE KING JAMES BIBLE? --Herb Evans

. . . where wylt thou that we prepare for the to eate the pashall lambe: and he sayd: into the cite, unto soche a man, and saye to him: the master sayeth my tyme is at hande, I will kepe myne ESTER at the hausse with my disciples. And the disciples dyd as Jesus had apoynted them, and made ready the ESTERLAMBE. — Matt 26; 17-19 (Tyndale Bible)

And the JEWES ESTER was nye at hand, and many went out of the countre up to Jerusalem before ESTER. – John 11:55 (Tyndale Bible)

What about Easter in the King James Bible? Well, here is the crowning point of Bible correcting scholarship, the word "EASTER." Bible Correctors and experts (fellows who used to be spurts) lecture us that the Greek "PASCHA" means "Passover" and that the King James translators mistranslated it in Acts 12:4. Have they finally pinned Astarte, Easter Bunnies, and Easter eggs on King James Onlys? We think not! Bible Correctors have layd (old English spelling for laid) some mighty big "Easter" eggs (or should we say "Pasch eggs" or Passover eggs - Oxford English Dictionary, 1933, Vol. III), in this regard, making "much ado about nothing." Could it be that they did not receive an Easter basket, when they were small fries? Could their real motives, for correcting the KJB, be that they are mad at the Easter Bunny? The word "Easter" was chosen by Tyndale to supply a much needed English word lacking an English word for the Jewish feast. A word for the spring feast, Easter, was available, so Tyndale used it throughout his New Testament. Later, Tyndale "invented" a new word (Passover), which he used in his Old Testament. Subsequent English Bibles used both words (even in expressions like the "Easter lamb"). Tyndale is responsible for both Bible words.

Tyndale's Bible (1525) The first English Bible, from the so-called "original" Greek, translates "PASCHA" --"paschall lamb" in Matthew 26:17, "ester" in the next verse (26:18), and "esterlambe" in the next verse (26:19). Also, it translates it "pascall lambe" in Mark 14:12 and "ester lambe" in Mark 14:14, 16. Then it has the nerve to translate 1 Cor. 5:7, "Christ oure esterlambe is offered up for us."

The Great Bible (1539) The old "Great Bible" renders the Greek "PASCHA" - "passeover" in Matthew 26:17, "Easter" in the next verse (26:18), and “passeover” in the following verse (26:19). Huh? Could the passover feast and the Easter feast (spring feast) really be used synonymously? Well, that rendering could still be a fluke. Yet, the "Great Bible" translates "PASCHA” – the "Jewes Easter" AND "Easter" in John 11:55. Hmmmmm!

The Bishop's Bible (1568) And what about the old Bishop's Bible? Well, it translates "PASCHA" - "Easter" twice in John 11:55 and "passeover"in the very next verse (12:1). The 1933 Oxford Dictionary
The Oxford Dictionary, 1933, Oxford University Press, Vol. III) gives the secondary and obsolete definition of "Easter" as the "Jewish passover," citing six quotations from ancient English literature, dating from 971 to 1611, which used the word Easter in reference to the "Jewish Passover."
Evidently, the inferior scholars from Oxford, Cambridge, and West Minster (who were often fluent in several languages) were not troubled by the things, which bother the superior scholars of our time. And what about "Oster (Easter)" and “Osterlamm” (Easter Lamb)” in Martin Luther's German Bible? Could he have made the same mistake as the King James translators before they did. Oh, yes, he too also use pasopffer. Nah! You really wouldn't want to go into that. It gets worse! (Ich nicht Nazi, Ich Polski! Shiessen Sie nicht!) Now, for all those, who are concerned about Astarte, goddess of fertility and her Pagan custom in connection with Easter, the Webster's 1828 Dictionary of the English language renders a PASCH-EGG as –an egg stained and presented to young persons, about the time of Easter. So, help yourself in putting the pagan Pascha Passover back into Acts 12:4. And then, Gary, you might ask a native Greek what the word PASCHA means. Don’t be surprised, when he says “EASTER.” You might have Bunny egg on your face.

--by Herb Evans

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Trinitarian Quarterly (Jan. - March 1980)
Tyndale’s New Testament (1525)
The Great Bible New Testament (1540)
The Bishop’s Bible New Testament (1568)
The German Bible of 1899, American Bible Society
German Bible of 1956, Gideon’s Bible Society
Florida Fundamentalist - April 1980, p. 6 Flaming Torch - Jan/Feb/March 1999, p. 23
Flaming Torch - Jan/Feb/March 2003, p. 12