Preparation (Παρασκευή) in Mr 15:42; Lu 23:54; Joh 19:42, and Mt 27:62, is doubtless the day or evening before the commencement of the Sabbath, with which, at that time, according to the Synoptical Gospels, coincided the first day of the Passover. (But Schneckenburger [Beitrage Zür Einleit. ins N.T. p. 1 sq.] supposes the "preparation" in Matthew to mean the feast-day of the Easter period, and which was viewed as a preparatory festival to the Passover.) This day was devoted to preparation for the holyday -especially preparing food for the Sabbath. Mark explains the word by "the day before the Sabbath" (προσάββατον; comp. Judith 8:6; Josephus, Ant. 16:6, 2). The Jewish expression for it is ערובתא (see Buxtorf, Lex. Talm. col. 1660). So, too, the Peshito renders in the places quoted above. Every feast, like the Sabbath, had a preparation-day before it, which is often mentioned by the Talmudists (Deyling, Observ. 1, 162; with this may be compared παρασκευὴ τοῦ πάσχα, Joh 19:14; Preparation for Easter, the 14th of Nisan; comp. Bleek, Beiträge zur Evangelienkritik, p. 114 sq.). See Passover.
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John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More