Jesus’ Last Supper Still Wasn’t a Passover Seder Meal
An update to Jonathan Klawans’s Bible Review article “Was Jesus’ Last Supper a Seder?”
Many people still assume that Jesus’ Last Supper was a Seder, a ritual meal held in celebration of the Jewish holiday of Passover. In this exclusive guest post, Boston University Professor of Religion Jonathan Klawans provides an update to his popular Bible Review article questioning this common assumption. This post was originally published in Bible History Daily in 2016.—Ed.
Every spring, as the Boston snow begins to melt, the emails start coming in. Some are positive, others negative—but all exhibit continued curiosity and excitement about the Passover Seder meal and its relationship to Jesus’ Last Supper. And if they are writing to me about this, it’s because of the piece I wrote in Bible Review back in 2001.
And it’s a question I do revisit myself annually: part of the way I prepare myself for Passover each year is to read a few new articles that have appeared—and of course I read those emails too (though I don’t answer the nasty ones!).
Was Jesus’ Last Supper a Passover Seder meal? Here, we see Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous painting The Last Supper, which was completed around 1498.
No, there will be no exciting turnarounds in this posting. Yes, readers have asked some good questions. And some scholars have offered vigorous defenses of the Last Supper/Seder connection. Nevertheless, I remain convinced that the Last Supper was not a Passover Seder meal.
First, very little, if anything, of the rabbinic Seder practices can be read back to the early part of the first century C.E. Second, Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples did not take place on the first night of Passover. There is a real difference between John and the synoptics on this question, and John’s chronology continues to make much more sense to me: Jesus was tried and killed before the holiday began. By Seder time, he was buried.
Perhaps one of these years I’ll revise the piece from beginning to end. But in lieu of that, below are some bibliographic updates and a few additional points to ponder.
To my mind, the most important development in the last fifteen years has been the appearance of a number of resources to help readers of English understand better the history of the Passover Haggadah (the book that lays out the rituals practiced and passages recited over the course of a traditional Passover Seder meal):
- Joshua Kulp, “The Origins of the Seder and the Haggadah,” Currents in Biblical Research 4.1 (2005), pp. 109–134. This bibliographic essay provides helpful definitions of the key Hebrew terms (including Seder and Haggadah) and provides a sound history of scholarship, summarizing some of the key debates. [Disclaimer: I was the soliciting editor of this article during my ten-year stint as an editor for CBR.]
- Joshua Kulp and David Golinkin, The Schechter Haggadah: Art, History and Commentary (Jerusalem: The Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, 2009). This beautifully illustrated volume includes a full Haggadah and a lengthy discussion of all the academic issues surrounding the history of the Haggadah and the celebration of the Passover Seder. [I had nothing to do with this one!]
- Shmuel Safrai and Ze’ev Safrai, Haggadah of the Sages (Jerusalem: Carta, 2007). This is the English edition of a modern Hebrew academic commentary on the Passover Seder (the 1998 fuller Hebrew edition is cited in my article in n. 11).
- Joseph Tabory, The JPS Commentary on the Haggadah: Historical Introduction, Translation, and Commentary (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 2008). This too is a modern academic edition of the Haggadah with an English introduction and running commentary.
Readers who delve into these sources will find a great deal of information about all aspects of Passover and the Seder. Regarding our topic, most of what you will find in these sources will be in agreement with the approach that separates the Last Supper from the Passover Seder. This is because it remains the case that scholars of early rabbinic literature (and not just the most skeptical of them) have come to a general consensus that the rabbinic Seder ritual was developed after 70 C.E. (and therefore almost two generations after Jesus’ death in the early 30s C.E.). If the Seder didn’t really exist until after 70 C.E., it could not have been practiced whenever Jesus had his Last Supper, Passover or not.
Passover is the celebration of the Israelite exodus from Egypt. For more on the Exodus, check out the Bible History Daily Exodus page for dozens of free articles and video lectures on the flight of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and their miraculous escape across the Red Sea.
For readers who want to consider an academic counter-argument, the most forceful one I know is by Joel Marcus of Duke University Divinity School: “Passover and Last Supper Revisited,” New Testament Studies 59.3 (2013), pp. 303–324. In this article Marcus does everything he can to take various parallels between Jewish and Christian traditions and turn them in favor of the argument that Jesus’ Last Supper was a Passover Seder meal. For instance, he calls attention to the so-called “ha lachma” (Aramaic for “This is the bread”), a brief passage traditionally recited at the opening of the Seder: “This is the bread of affliction that our ancestors ate in Egypt…” This statement does indeed parallel the Eucharistic words, grammatically (“This bread is…”). Is it possible that the ha lachma tradition (which can only be traced back to medieval manuscripts) is in fact an ancient tradition that sheds light on the Eucharistic words of Jesus? Yes—anything is possible. But it is much more likely, in my view, that a medieval Jewish tradition that parallels a Christian tradition is responding to Christianity.
This is what we need to remember: Judaism and Christianity continued to influence each other, long after the death of Jesus. Passover and Easter continued to influence each other too. The dialogue—and competition—between these holidays left imprints on the respective rituals, as well as on the traditional sources (such as the Gospels and the Haggadah) describing these practices. The “Passoverization” of Christian rituals and texts—as discussed in my BR article—continued long after Jesus’ death
Is it possible to identify the first-century man named Jesus behind the many stories and traditions about him that developed over 2,000 years in the Gospels and church teachings? Visit the Jesus/Historical Jesus study page to read free articles on Jesus in Bible History Daily.
But we can’t only think about influence—we must also remember difference. Joseph Tabory (for instance, to consider one of the writers listed above) says little about the Last Supper per se in his edition of the Haggadah. Nevertheless, he does point out one key difference: While the Last Supper traditions focus on the meaning of the wine (alongside the bread), the Passover traditions feature wine without offering any explanation for it even while other symbols are explained carefully (Tabory, JPS Commentary, pp. 13–14). This is a telling difference indeed!
When we find similarities, we must consider the possibility that influence has moved in either direction, even in periods long after Jesus’ death. When we find differences, we must remember that not everything in these two traditions necessarily has much to do with the other.
If we cannot figure out precisely how Christians and Jews may have influenced each other with regard to Passover and the Last Supper, it becomes all the more difficult to figure out what the earliest practices of each may have been. All this in turn limits our ability to know what Jesus would have done on Passover night (had he lived another day). And the likelihood that Jesus died before that partially-prepared-for Passover had begun also renders it most unlikely that his Last Supper was even a celebration of Passover, let alone a Seder.
But why should historical skepticism ruin anyone’s holiday? Happy Easter and Chag Sameach (Hebrew for “Happy Holiday”) to any and all who celebrate!
“Jesus’ Last Supper Still Wasn’t a Passover Seder Meal” by Jonathan Klawans was originally published in Bible History Daily on February 12, 2016.
Jonathan Klawans is Professor of Religion at Boston University. He is the author of Josephus and the Theologies of Ancient Judaism (Oxford Univ. Press, 2012), Purity, Sacrifice, and the Temple: Symbolism and Supersessionism in the Study of Ancient Judaism (Oxford Univ. Press, 2005) and Impurity and Sin in Ancient Judaism (Oxford Univ. Press, 2000), which received the Salo Wittmayer Baron Prize for the best first book in Jewish studies.
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Jonathan,
You are absolutely correct. By the way, retired Pope Benedict XVI agrees also (Jesus of Nazareth, vol. 2, Holy Week).
Lamontte Luker, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary of Lenoir-Rhyne University
Apparently, the author of this piece, has never really studied the original languages, nor the geography, or demographics of Ysrael between 1,000BCE and 350AD. When Constantine established Byzantium, his kingdom was full of pagans and Ysraelite disciples (Hebrew disciples NEVER spoke Greek before 70AD). We do not possess the original “autographs” of the 15 apostles (Barnabas, Shawl, and Apollos, etc.), and for ANYONE to make the stupid assumption that the original authors spoke anything but Hebrew, is idiotic. There is NO historical evidence that they spoke anything but Hebrew. Any information you have stating otherwise is an “opinion” of the Roman Vatican Church established by Constantine, who ORDERED the original “autographs” to be translated to Greek for his kingdom, but not before he “destroyed” the original copies. The DSS was the final attempt to “conceal the documents” where Constantine would never find them. Secondly; Ysrael observed Hebraic traditions clear up until 70ad (Yahwshwa Messiah was a Yahwdahy), and His “death” was prophesied by the Seder meal, His resurrection was “prophesied” by the “Unleavened Bread” and His “ascension” was prophesied by the Feast of Harvest (Shawot). Only an imbecile would claim otherwise. Clearly, the author has no knowledge of the Hebraic traditions, and chooses to keep his pagan traditions. FYI, “Fish for Lent” is a meat you morons, all proteins are a “meat.”
Since Passover had nothing to do with repentance, sin, or salvation it really does not matter what kind of meal this messianic pretender ate for his last meal.
Sorry Grace (March 13) But Exodus 12:18 is as plain as it gets when Passover is. It’s the First month, on the 14th of the month at evening. The Jews ate the lamb, biter herbs, and the unleavened bread on the evening of the 14th. Which evening? The evening of the 14th begins at 12:00am of the 14th. Because the day begins with evening then day. Jesus celebrated Passover on the evening of the 14th. As we see above the Jews ate the lamb, biter herbs, and unleavened bread on the evening of the 14th per Exodus 12:18. It don’t get any plainer than that. Maybe they didn’t celebrate a “Seder like today” in Jesus’ time but He did celebrate The Passover Meal on the evening of the 14th.” I might add that we should not get hung up on the word translated “Supper.” the Greek word meant the evening meal. It was translated “Supper.” This is what my parents called dinner when I was growing up. The same word could have been translated “dinner” or evening meal. Stop straining at a gnat.
The people of Israel had been celebrating Passover for 1400 years. What we have written is a while after Jesus’s day and by the educated. It was become the standard. Jesus would have had a Galilean peasant version. Seder means something like order of events, outline, The order is ancient. The language was growing more stylized so even the wording would have had many similarities. Everyone celebrated this meal every year. It would have been unthinkable, denial of the faith, for anyone to omit it. Jesus and His followers could not have any claim to religious leadership if they did not celebrate Passover. That means their families, friends, everyone with Jesus – maybe over 200 did. It was the great family event. All were there. Jesus and the 12 would have been in a circle around the plates, with everyone else in circles around. See Book 3 Chapter 4 “The Last Supper [Broken URL removed by site admin] with supporting footnotes
When I was a child, I learned about the final meal that Jesus had with his disciples as, well, a meal. Later I began hearing about that meal being Passover Seder. And still later that the Seder could be Christianized, so to speak, in order to appreciate the presence of Jesus within.
If Jesus is in the Seder, it’s because he is in everything. It’s because the claim he makes is real: “Before Abraham was, I am.”
I am thankful for this sensible take on the issue of Passover rites happening during the Passion. It complements the telling I was first given and matches what skill I might have in reasoning now.
Respectfully I completely disagree. You should attend a Passover Seder with proper explanation by Jewish believers in Messiah. Like many traditions given by God that point to His plan of reconciliation with His creation, the Passover is vital to God’s kick off, followed by the rest of the mo’dim in Leviticus 23 which all prophetically point to the first and second coming of Messiah. I know the last Seder that Jesus spent with his disciples was done before the actual Seder date. However, the Messiah was teaching his disciples an object lesson and introducing them to the meaning of the rituals, like communion, they had done all their life but did not understand until revealed. Just as Abraham and Isaac had no idea why God want Abraham to sacrifice Isaac–they simply were being obedient to His commands. Yet 2000 years later we see the perfect picture of substitutionary atonement in their ritual and obedience. Jesus said that we are to baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Why? Because if you are adopted into a Jewish family you must take a mikveh and are dunked three times. Jesus revealed what the three dunks meant when Gentiles came into the commonwealth of Israel. Jesus spent his earthly life explaining the Torah properly. “You have heard it said that…but I say …” The meal which he ate with his disciples before being arrested was certainly a Seder meal where he explained why we do what we do and how it relates to the Passover, how it related to the Passion, and how we are to celebrate.
I’m coming to the same conclusion. The Last Supper was a covenant meal. Yeshua spoke of the bread as his body and the wine as his blood. He himself said they were the body and blood of the NEW COVENANT referring to JerimiAh 31. They knew exactly what he was referring to. His death would be the covenant sacrifice, God made a covenant with himself and became the sacrifice and invites everyone to partake. The stage was Passover.
So you say. DaVinci was a crafty man if ideas
It’s perhaps worth noting that in Eastern Christian tradition its John’s chronology that’s strictly followed and the Last Supper has never been thought of as a seder. The idea that it should be renders the entire Quartodecimian controversy unintelligible.
Although the Gospels refer to the Passover as the “Day of Unleavened Bread” (ἡμέρᾳ τῶν ἀζύμων) they never once refer to the bread Jesus declared to be his body as unleavened. It’s always just plain bread, ἄρτος. This is by no means conclusive, but it means that leavened bread was at least possibly served. If so, that rules out a seder entirely.
I can’t quite get my head around “Passoverization”. English, with its peculiar Germanic name for the Christian feast, masks a fact that’s obvious to a Greek-speaking Christian, that Passover and Easter are in origin identical celebrations. The Greek word for both is the same, πάσχα. (Hence the KJV’s anachronistic translation of πάσχα as “Easter” in Acts 12:4.) It’s at least as possible that the two *diverged* over time, not converged, a process enshrined by the decision about the calendar at Nicaea.
While the Last Supper was obviously not a seder, it bears quite noticeable similarities to the Hasidic tradition of the tish. (A celebratory meal shared by a rebbe with his followers, who eat from his plate as a blessing, together with a sermon and hymns.) But projecting the tish into antiquity seems an impossibility, unless there are records of similar practices of which I’m unaware.