Copyright © 2006, 2008 by Daniel B. Sedory
Of the 29 times the Greek word pascha (pasca) actually appears in the New Testament, Tyndale translated it as: "ester" (23 times), "esterlambe" (3 times), "paschall" (2 times) and once as "pascall." Although this Greek word for Passover (pasca) was never found in the text of Acts 20:6, Tyndale translated the phrase "taV hmeraV twn azumwn" ("the days of Unleavened [Bread]") as: the ester holydayes in that verse.
As we concluded in our [as yet unpublished] paper on the appearance of "Easter" in Acts 12:4 (of the 1611 edition of The Holy Bible), we believe that had he lived longer, Tyndale surely would have changed the occurrances of "ester" in his New Testament to reflect his more recent translation of pascha's Hebrew parent, pesach, as "Passover" when he'd completed his work of translating the Old Testament into English.
All Biblical passages presented here were first copied from a 1534 revision of William Tyndale's The New Testament[1] then compared to a searchable text on the Internet[2] which claims to be from 1525 (or 1526). The same number of occurances for "ester" (and others originating from pascha) were found in both sources, so we're fairly confident about the numerical data presented here. [Note: Verse numbers do not exist in any of Tyndale's original translations, those you see here were added as a convenience for comparing these quotes to later Bible versions.]
"ester" (23 times):
Matthew 26:2,18
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[v. 2] Ye knowe that after ii. dayes shalbe ester and the sonne of man
shalbe delyvered to be crucified.
[v.18] And he sayd: Go into the cite vnto soche a man and saye to him:
the master sayeth my tyme is at hande I will kepe myne ester at
thy housse with my disciples.
Mark 14:1,12,14,16
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[v. 1] After two dayes folowed ester and the dayes of swete breed. And
the hye prestes and the Scrybes sought meanes how they myght take
hym by crafte and put him to deeth.
[v.12] And the fyrste daye of swete breed when men offer the pascall
lambe his disciples sayd vnto him: where wilt thou that we goo
and prepare that thou mayst eate the ester lambe?
[v.14] And whither soever he goeth in saye ye to the good man of the
housse: the master axeth where is the geest chambre where I shall
eate the ester lambe with my disciples.
[v.16] And his disciples went forth and came to the cyte and founde as
he had sayd vnto them: and made ready the ester lambe.
Luke 2:41
And his father and mother went to Hierusalem every yeare at the feeste
of ester.
Luke 22:1,8,11,13,15
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[v. 1] The feaste of swete breed drue nye whiche is called ester
[v. 8] And he sent Peter and Iohn sayinge: Goo and prepare vs the ester
lambe that we maye eate.
[v.11] and saye vnto the good man of the housse. The master sayeth vnto
*the: where is the gest chamber where I shall eate myne ester
lambe with my disciples? (*Spelling variation of pronoun 'thee')
[ and saye vnto ye good ma of ye housse. The master sayeth vnto
ye : where is ye gest chamber where I shall eate myne ester
lambe wt my disciples?
-- Luke 22:11 of the StudyLight.org (Fedosov) text. ]
[v.13] And they went and foude* as he had sayd vnto *the: and made redy
the ester lambe. (*Spelling variation of founde/found.)
(*Contraction for 'them'; apparently missed by copyist/editor.)
[v.15] And he sayde vnto them: I have inwardly desyred to eate this
ester lambe with you before that I suffre.
John 2:13,23
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[v.13] And the Iewes ester was even at honde and Iesus went vp to
Ierusalem
[v.23] When he was at Ierusalem at ester in the feaste many beleved on
his name when they sawe his miracles which he dyd.
John 6:4
And ester a feast of the Iewes was nye.
John 11:55 (twice):
And the Iewes ester was nye at hand and many went out of the countre
vp to Ierusalem before the ester to purify them selves.
John 12:1
Then Iesus sixe dayes before ester came to Bethany where Lazarus was
which was deed and who Iesus raysed from deeth.
John 13:1
Before the feast of ester when Iesus knewe that his houre was come that
he shuld departe out of this worlde vnto the father. When he loved his
which were in the worlde vnto the ende he loved them.
John 18:39
Ye have a custome that I shuld delyver you one lowsse at ester. Will
ye that I lowse vnto you the kynge of the Iewes.
John 19:14
It was the Saboth even which falleth in the ester fest and aboute the
sixte houre. And he sayde vnto the Iewes: beholde youre kynge.
Acts 12:4
And when he had caught him he put him in preson and delyvered him to
.iiii. quaternions of soudiers to be kepte entendynge after ester to
brynge him forth to the people.
[As we noted above, this is the only verse in which Tyndale's use of the
word "Easter" was left unchanged in the 1611 edition of The Holy Bible.]
Hebrews 11:28
Thorow fayth he ordeyned the ester lambe and the effusion of bloud
lest he that destroyed the fyrst borne shuld touche them.
"esterlambe" (3 times):
Matthew 26:19 And the disciples did as Iesus had apoynted them and made redy the esterlambe. Luke 22:7 Then came the daye of swete breed when of necessite the esterlambe must be offered. 1 Corinthians 5:7 Pourge therfore the olde leven that ye maye be newe dowe as ye are swete breed. For Christ oure esterlambe is offered vp for vs.
"paschall" (2 times):
Matthew 26:17 The fyrst daye of swete breed the disciples cam to Iesus sayinge vnto him: where wylt thou that we prepare for the to eate the paschall lambe? John 18:29 Then led they Iesus from Cayphas into the hall of iudgement. It was in the mornynge and they them selves went not into the iudgement hall lest they shuld be defyled but that they myght eate the paschall lambe.
"pascall" (1 time):
Mark 14:12 And the fyrste daye of swete breed when men offer the pascall lambe his disciples sayd vnto him: where wilt thou that we goo and prepare that thou mayst eate the ester lambe?
And once where Tyndale substituted the phrase "the ester holydayes" for the actual text which is "the days of Unleavened [Bread]":
Acts 20:6 And we sayled awaye from Philippos after the ester holydayes and came vnto them to Troas in five dayes where we abode seven dayes.
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[1] All
Biblical passages above were quoted from a reprint of: The Newe Testament
dylygently corrected and compared with the Greke by William Tindale and finessed in the yere
of oure Lorde God. A.M.D. & XXXIIII. in the moneth of Nouember.
Tyndale's original spelling has been retained, but not the use of the letter 'Thorn' nor his
contractions; which have been expanded in the present text (both items are discussed below in
footnote 2). Many variations also exist in Tyndale's text for the spelling of its words. This
was common in the early days of printing when no standards existed for the spelling of English
words. If you spend much time reading Tyndale's original work, you'll soon discover that just
determining the words Tyndale intended for you to read may require a good understanding of
the context due to these spelling variations.