Exodus 12:11

The passover is to be eaten with every indication of haste. With your loins girded] To gird up the loins is to gather up the long flowing skirt of the outer robe under the girdle, so as to leave the limbs free in working or running: see 1 Kings 18:46; Luke 12:37; Luke 17:8. At the present day (as in the time of Christ) the Jews eat the Passover in a recumbent posture to signify that there is no longer need of trepidation, God having given His people rest and security. It is the lord's passover] Heb. pesach, Gk. form pascha. The English rendering 'passover' represents not amiss both the sound and the sense of the Hebrew name. The rite commemorated the 'passing over' of Jehovah, i.e. His sparing of His faithful people. The word is used in this sense in Isaiah 31:5.