Bible Strands
Mark 14:12
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was to be sacrificed, Jesus’ disciples asked Him, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus’ disciples ask Him where He wants them to prepare the Passover meal. This occurs on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, immediately after Judas agrees to betray Him and before Jesus sends two disciples into Jerusalem to make arrangements.
The words — The Greek phrase τῇ πρώτῃ ἡμέρᾳ τῶν ἀζύμων (tē prōtē hēmera tōn azymōn) translates literally to "on the first day of the unleavened [bread]." It marks the specific calendar timing when the Passover lamb was scheduled for sacrifice.
The thread — The timing and meal preparation align with the Passover regulations in Exodus 12:6, Exodus 12:8, and Exodus 12:18, which command keeping the lamb until the fourteenth day and eating it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
Why it lands — The text records a practical question about location before the crucifixion events begin. It requires the reader to note the deliberate overlap of Jesus’ actions with the established Passover timeline without adding theological commentary.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover?
Cross-references
- Exodus 12:6 You must keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight.
- Exodus 12:8 They are to eat the meat that night, roasted over the fire, along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
- Exodus 12:18 In the first month you are to eat unleavened bread, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day.
- Leviticus 23:5 The Passover to the LORD begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.
- Numbers 28:16 The fourteenth day of the first month is the LORD’s Passover.
- Matthew 26:17 On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?”
- 1 Corinthians 5:7 Get rid of the old leaven, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
- Exodus 13:3 So Moses told the people, “Remember this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; for the LORD brought you out of it by the strength of His hand. And nothing leavened shall be eaten.
- Deuteronomy 16:1 Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, because in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night.
- Luke 22:7 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb was to be sacrificed.