Notes on Easter

by Mike Wingert

Easter is known by various names around the world. Over time, such names have led to confusion among those who have been searching for a more authentic means to label the holiday.

In Syriac-Aramaic:

Qyomto – The following term means “resurrection.” Other times it is referred to as yawmo da-qyomto, “the day of resurrection.” 

Some other holy week terms include: 

Hasho, the Passion. The Friday of the Crucifixion (Passion), called “Good Friday” by most in the English speaking world, is called “`arubto d-hasho”. This day is also known as Zqeefutho, meaning “Crucifixion.”

Pesho, the Passover. This occurs on the Thursday before the Friday of the Passion, also called Maundy Thursday in English. This commemorates the Feast (commemoration) of the Holy Passover of the Israelites in Egypt. Shyoghto is the Syriac term for “Washing of the Feet,” which occurs on the same Thursday.

In Greek:

Though today we are called the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch and All the East, our Antiochian heritage also bears a beautiful legacy from our Greek fathers and mothers. 

Pascha – The term comes from the Syriac-Aramaic Pesho and refers to the “Passover”. Since the European Christian tradition comes primarily from Greece, many European languages adopted (and adapted) their word for Easter from the Greeks (whom the Latin-speaking Romans adopted the term from). Some examples are: Paques (French), Pasqua (Italian), Pascuas (Spanish), Paskhi (Russian), Páscoa (Portuguese). 

We should note that the Greek (and subsequent European usage) of the term is different than the Syriac. The Greek term refers to the fulfilled Passover, as Christ’s death and resurrection complete the purpose of the Passover.

In English:

This is an interesting choice of a term to describe the resurrection holiday. According to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia and other publications who cite the venerable Bede (d. 735 AD), an early historian of Great Britain, the English usage of the term “Easter” comes from the month of April being labeled as the “Eostre month.” Eostre it seems, was the name attributed to the Anglo-Saxon goddess of “dawn,” and likewise the name given to the month of April. The commemoration of the Resurrection of the Christ then came to be known by this term (Easter) as it would usually occur during the Easter month (April). 

Popular Protestant folklore of late has been to attribute the English term Easter to the goddess Ishtar (Ashtoreth). Though these words sound similar, this has little historical basis and is difficult to prove beyond speculation, as the only languages which refer to the resurrection holiday as Easter are English and German (Ostern). Being that these two are the only languages which employ such a term for the holiday of the Resurrection, it is more likely that Easter comes from “Eostre” (who was locally known to the early Anglic and Germanic peoples) as was noted by Bede. 

On Red Eggs

According to tradition, during a dinner with the emperor Tiberius Caesar, Mary Magdalene was speaking about Christ's Resurrection. Caesar scoffed at her, saying that a man could rise from the dead no more than the egg in her hand could turn red. Immediately, the egg turned red. Because of this, icons of Mary Magdalene sometimes depict her holding a red egg. Also, this is believed to be an explanation for dyeing eggs red at Pascha. (Source: OrthodoxWiki)