“Resurrection Sunday” or Easter?
Guest Post by Thomas Hellander
Note: This is a follow-up response to the article, Heaven Forbid We Call it Easter. It was originally a Facebook post, but since it contains such interesting information, I wanted to post it here –Randy WhiteI prefer the modern English ‘Resurrection Sunday’, but have you ever studied the Anglo-Saxon origin of the word Easter? Let’s have a look.It is interesting, but there are two differing views about the origin of the word.Here is one view on the origin of the word Easter that you may not have heard. The other view is presented in an article by Dr. Randy White, but let us now examine the lesser known view on the origin of the word Easter.
English has Germanic (German/Saxon) origins.
Ostern from which we get Easter is the modern day German equivalent to the older German form Oster. Oster and the word Ost are related. Ost means east or the rising of the sun.This view states that Oster originates from the old teutonic word Auferstehen meaning resurrection and that Auferstehen / auferstehung originates from the older teutonic form Erstehen. Erstehen originates from two words Ester (First) stehen (Stand). That is old German. That is for sure.Luther translated 1 Corinthians 5:7 in the 1545 Luther Bibel as follows. Notice, that he uses the word ‘Osterlamm’ where Tyndale uses the word ‘esterlambe’.https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/… 1 Korinther 5:7 Darum feget den alten Sauerteig aus, auf daß ihr ein neuer Teig seid, gleichwie ihr ungesäuert seid. Denn wir haben auch ein Osterlamm, das ist Christus, für uns geopfert. Apparently William Tyndale being influenced by Martin Luther used Ester referring to the Pascha in his 1525/1530 New Testament. Notice 1 Corinthians 5:7 in The William Tyndale Bible (1525/1530) uses the word Ester.http://crosswire.org/study/passagestudy.jsp… 1 Corinthians 5:7 Pourge therfore the olde leven that ye maye be newe dowe as ye are swete breed. For Christ oure esterlambe is offered vp for vs.We need to understand this history.The 1611 King James Version of The Bible used the word Passover instead of Ester or Oster.This is not the only view about the origin of the word Easter. For the whole pagan origin view, Answers in Genesis has a wonderful article for your reference, and it starts out with the differing pagan view on the origin of the word Easter, then ends with the view that we discussed above.
Obviously, there is more than one view about the origin of the word Easter
Does the English word Easter originate from the Old High German word Ôstara or Northumbrian dialect Ēostre for the false goddess? Or does Easter originate from the older German form Oster which comes from the old teutonic word Auferstehen which means resurrection coming from the older teutonic form Erstehen meaning Ester (First) stehen (Stand)?Well, at least you know both views now, but we may as well use the Modern English by saying Happy Resurrection Sunday!Now, that we have cleared that one up a little bit…What about Easter Bunnies, Hares and Eggs?
These are not mentioned in the Bible.But since some people attempt to connect Easter Eggs to Ôstara, let us have a look at where this originates. To do this we must look at the Old High German Lullaby because as far as I could find this is the only source for this Easter Egg connection to Ôstara. It reads.Ôstara for the child leaves / honey and sweet eggs.In 1859, Georg Zappert announced the discovery of the Old High German Lullaby, but again no one agrees whether or not the Old High German Lullaby is a forgery. You can click here to read more about this.Since one modern questionable discovery should not be the basis for serious scholarship, we should look elsewhere, and so the questions just pile up. Who were the first people to decorate eggs? Was it the Mesopotamian Early Church? or Was it the Persians with the celebration of the New Year in spring time at Nowruz which dates back at least 2,500 years? Wow, that is actually a confirmed use of eggs representing fertility in a pagan celebration going back 2,500 years ago. We could be on to something here. This is the pagan celebration of the Northward equinox, the first day of Spring around March 21st. That should wrap it up for the eggs, and since they are not found in the Bible, it is probably best to skip the egg fest, and focus on the Resurrection of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.According to John MacArthur,
“…The egg is both, in ancient times, a symbol of fertility and a symbol of the sun because, of course, of the color of the yolk; and so eggs were used in ancient fertility rites as symbols offered to the gods and goddesses, and they were used in worship of the sun as sort of small emblems of the sun…”Now, what about those pesky Rabbits? Again, not in the Bible.
“there is no shred of evidence' that hares were sacred to Ēostre, noting that Bede does not associate her with any animal.” –Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore.However, there may be associations with Hares and Rabbits and other so-called false gods and false goddesses, and in ancient civilizations, Rabbits were a symbol of the moon.I cannot be sure of the origin of the word Easter, but with the false gods of the sun, the moon and fertility, and the Egg and the Rabbit being pagan symbols of the sun and moon respectively, and the symbols of fertility in ancient civilizations during their spring time pagan festivals, I believe it is best to skip the association of Eggs, Rabbits and Hares with Resurrection Sunday, especially since this is found nowhere in the Bible, and again focus on the Resurrection of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.Happy Easter (on the basis it means resurrection)! Oh..I may try to stick to what I know for sure..Have a wonderful Resurrection Sunday!