the Philistines;" so called by Moses in its original, not modern, modification, hundreds of years before the word was softened down by the Greek writers into Palestine. Exodus, xv. 14. PASSOVER. A feast appointed by God, (Exod. xii. 1-27,) to be celebrated annually by the Jews, not only in commemoration of God's mercy to them in Egypt, when He slew the first born of the Egyptians; but also as a type of the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. The analogous circumstances between this type, and the thing typified, deserve attention. the evening," (afternoon.) Exod. xii. 6. 10. The Passover was to be celebrated on the evening of the 14th day of the month Abib. Exod. xii. 6. ing,(afternoon,)at the ninth hour, (three o'clock, P. M.) Matt. xxvii. 46. 10. On the anniversary of this very day, 1491 years afterwards, was Christ of fered up, as the great Passover sacrifice. He died at three o'clock, P. M. With respect to the exact time when Christ ate the Passover, there is a circumstance worthy of particular attention. True, a handle has been made of it by the Infidels, but like all their other assaults against the Sacred Scriptures, it has recoiled on themselves. The Lord ate his last Passover the day before the Jews ate theirs. In so doing, did he not violate the law of God respecting the particular day on which it was appointed to be celebrated? No! The case is as follows: The ancient Jews reckoned their new moons, not according to astronomical exactness, but according to the moon's appearance; and, as this appearance might happen a day later than the real time, consequently there might have been a whole day of difference in the time of celebrating one of these feasts, which depended on a particular day of the month: the days of the month being counted from the appearance of the new moon. The way in which the Jews ascertained this fact, is related in the Talmuds. It is as follows: "In the great or outer court, there was a house called BETH YAZEK, where the Senate sat all the 30th day of every month to receive the witnesses of the moon's appearance. When approved witnesses brought intelligence that they had seen the new moon, the chief man of the Senate stood up and cried, "Mekuddash! Mekuddash!" And the people caught the word from him, and cried " Mekuddash!" Now, it has been lately discovered, and demonstrated by a very eminent astronomer and mathematician, (Bouilleau,) that on the sixth day of the week, (Friday,) during the paschal solemnity in the thirty-third year of the vulgar era, the day our Lord was crucified, the paschal moon of that year was not in conjunction with the sun till the afternoon of Thursday, the 19th of March, and that the new moon could not be seen in Judea until the following day, (Friday,) therefore the witnesses could not have communicated it to the Senate sooner than Saturday, the 21st of March. The first day, then, of the first Jewish month, Nisan, could not commence, that thirty-third year, sooner than the setting of the sun on Friday, March 20th; and, consequently, that Friday, April 3d, on which Christ died, was the 14th of Nisan, (not the 15th,) the day appointed by the law for the celebration of the Pass over. On Thursday night, which was (according to the ancient custom of reckoning time from the evening) the beginning of the 14th of Nisan, Jesus ate the Passover, although the new moon was, on that day, invisible in Judea, but nevertheless was actually the new moon; the day appointed by God. Therefore, it is evident the Lord kept the Passover on the proper day; the Jews on the day following. The Lord knew, without any human means, when the new moon really was; and strictly obeyed the law; the Jews depended on human means, and were deceived! انا PAST AND PRESENT TENSES, were very generally used by the Prophets of God, in the place of the future tense. They adopted this mode of expression, in all probability, in order to intimate that what they predicted was as certain as if it were present, or as if it had occurred, or were actually past. Thus the Spirit of God speaks of the Messiah 700 years before the Christian era. (Isaiah, xlii. 1; also liii.) See Prophecy. PAUL. The accounts given of his conversion appear to contradict each other, but in reality they do not. In the ninth chapter and seventh verse of the Acts, the narration runs thus: "the men which journeyed with him (Paul) stood speechless, hearing ▲ VOICE, but seeing no man." In the twenty-second chapter and ninth verse, it is stated, "they heard not the voice of him that spake." The verb "to hear," is repeatedly used not only in the Scriptures, but also in common conversation, to signify, not merely the hearing of a voice, (sound,) but the understanding or obeying it: for example, the Lord Jesus often said to those who heard him, he that hath ears to hear (that is to understand) let him hear: and again, "he that heareth you, (the apostles,) heareth (that is, obeyeth) me." And we often say to a stubborn or stupid child, "do you hear me?" That is, do you understand me, or will you obey me? Now then the case is simply this: in the first instance, the narrator states that the men who accompanied Paul, heard a voice, that is, were merely sensible that some one spoke: whereas, in the second instance, Paul himself declares they heard, not the voice of him that spake unto him, (Paul,) that is, they understood not what was said. See Contradiction. Evidence. PEACE. Christ is called the Prince of Peace, (Isaiah ix. 6.) and his Gospel, the Gospel of Peace, &c.; yet he says (Matt. x. 34, 35,) "think not that I am come to |