A Defense of “Easter” in Acts 12:4
The King James Version of the Bible has been attacked from all sides. Yet, it stands. People have created list after list of supposed "mistranslations" in the KJV text. One such place is Acts 12:4 where the King James Bible reads "Easter."
"And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people." (Ibid.)
The Greek word underlying "Easter" is πάσχα (pascha), meaning "passover." Based on this information alone, it would seem the KJV is in error, right? One website does take this conclusion:
"The Greek word translated as 'Easter' in this verse is the word for Passover; it cannot possibly have been misread as meaning 'Easter' by the translators. They intentionally mistranslated a word in this verse to legitimatize their false religion and to make it appear as if the Christian 'holy day' called Easter was endorsed by the Bible. This is the only place the word 'Easter' occurs in the King James Version, and it should not even be here. God never gave that day, or any other day, to His people to celebrate, as He had given Israel her holy days under Moses."¹
Is it true that the translators made a mistake? or that they even intentionally added a modern holiday into Scripture? In this post, we will expose the error of attacking the KJV on this basis.
First, I want to find every instance of the word πάσχα (pascha). It is used twenty-nine times in the New Testament in twenty-seven verses. Those verses are:
Matthew: 26:2, 17, 18, 19
Mark: 14:1, 12, 14, 16
Luke: 2:41, 22:1, 7, 8, 11, 13, 15
John: 2:13, 23, 6:4, 11:55, 12:1, 13:1, 18:28, 39, 19:14
Acts: 12:4
1 Corinthians: 5:7
Hebrews: 11:28
Now, in all instances but Acts 12:4, it reads "passover." So why does the KJV read "Easter" in this one instance? Well, for the answer, let's look at the history of English Bibles. Starting with the Tyndale, it translates πάσχα (pascha) in two different ways: ester and pascal. Here are the verses listed for the Tyndale New Testament (1526):
Ester: Matthew 26:2, 17, 18, 19, Mark 14:1, 12, 14, 16, Luke 2:41, 22:1, 7, 8, 11, 13, 15, John 2:13, 23, 6:4, 11:55, 12:1, 13:1, 18:39, 19:14, Acts 12:4, 1cor 5:7, Heb 11:28
Pascal: Mark 14:12
The Tyndale generally reads "ester", which is an earlier spelling of the word "Easter." Was Tyndale "intentionally mistranslat[ing] a word"? The simple answer is: No, he wasn't. The longer answer is that the word "ester" (Easter) was the word used for passover at that time. Tyndale is actually the one to coin the term "passover" for his Old Testament translation.² Prior to Tyndale, "passover" didn't exist.
"ye knowe that after .ij. dayes shalbe ester and the sonne of man shalbe delyvered for to be crucified." (Matthew 26:2 Tyndale 1526)
There are three synonymous terms: Easter, passover, and pascal. Pascal seems to have fell out of usage in Bible translation after the Taverner's Bible, leaving ester/Easter and passover. Gradually, passover began to outperform Easter in Bible translation, and as such, it began to be used less and less.
We will look at the 1535 Coverdale Bible³, the 1537 Matthew's Bible⁴, the 1539 Great Bible⁵, the 1560/1599 Geneva Bible⁶, and the 1568 Bishops' Bible⁷. The following table lists each translation, and which verses have which word.
In Mark 14:12 and John 11:55, πάσχα (pascha) appears twice, which is why the numbers I'm about to list won't seem to match the chart, but they do. When you check the numbers, you see that Easter/ester is in: the Coverdale Bible twenty-eight times, the Matthew's Bible twenty-six times, the Great Bible fifteen times, and finally the Bishops' Bible in three instances.
Do you see the progression? We go from Tyndale using "ester" in twenty-eight out of twenty-nine uses of πάσχα (pascha) all the way down to three by the time we get to the Bishops' Bible. Easter was really getting replaced by passover, but it did still have the "passover" connotation. Since the word Easter gradually faded from Bible translation, we are left with one single instance of "Easter" in the King James Bible. It just means passover like it has meant since Tyndale.
Bad Arguments
Now, some people, such as Dr. Phil Stringer and Sam Gipp, say that the KJV preserves "Easter" in this one instance as Herod was waiting until after his "celebration of pagan Easter"⁸ before killing Peter. The proof used is that the seven days of unleavened bread "are NEVER referred to as the Passover."⁸
However, this is the wrong way to look at it. Historically, Easter was used for passover. Additionally, the passover is explicitly called a "feast of seven days" and "the feast of unleavened bread".
"In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten." (Ezekiel 45:21)
"Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover." (Luke 22:1)
Even as a King James Bible believer, I acknowledge that you can pick between two, three, four, or more synonyms when translating. I don't think we have to try and disprove the modern translations' reading of "passover" in order to prove the KJV makes no error.
Just to be fair, it is possible that "Easter" was the name of a goddess.⁹ But remember, it was used for the Jewish passover by many translations prior to the King James Bible. Even if Easter originally was used for a pagan celebration of a goddess, it would be no different than Jesus using the word Hades to refer to hell. Hades is the Greek god of death and the underworld, but Christ uses this word and applies it to hell. Language change brought about "Easter" referring to passover, and that's how it began to be used by Christians, including the King James Bible.
Sources:
1. "ERRORS IN THE KING JAMES VERSION NO. 1 - EASTER." Going to Jesus, goingtojesus.com/topic_bible.html?tname=tft12-24. Accessed 17 Apr. 2025.
2. "Passover." Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com/word/Passover. Accessed 17 Apr. 2025.
3. Coverdale Bible 1535. Textus Receptus Bibles, textusreceptusbibles.com/Coverdale. Accessed 17 Apr. 2025.
4. Matthew's Bible 1537. Textus Receptus Bibles, textusreceptusbibles.com/Matthews. Accessed 17 Apr. 2025.
5. The Great Bible 1539. Textus Receptus Bibles, textusreceptusbibles.com/Great. Accessed 17 Apr. 2025.
6. Geneva Bible 1560/1599. Textus Receptus Bibles, textusreceptusbibles.com/Geneva. Accessed 17 Apr. 2025.
7. Bishops Bible 1568. Textus Receptus Bibles, textusreceptusbibles.com/Bishops. Accessed 17 Apr. 2025.
8. Gipp, Samuel C. "2. Isn’t Easter in Acts 12:4 a mistranslation." A Friend to Churches Ministry, 19 Jul. 2018, samgipp.com/isnt-easter-in-acts-124-a-mistranslation. Accessed 17 Apr. 2025.
9. "Easter." Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com/word/Easter. Accessed 17 Apr. 2025.
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