Tim Maas Supporter Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

Leviticus 23:5 says that Passover (also known as Pesach) begins at sundown on the fourteenth day of the first month of the Hebrew calendar (known as Nisan). However, because that calendar is a lunar calendar rather than a solar calendar (such as the Gregorian calendar), the date of observance in accordance with the solar calendar changes from year to year (in the same way that the observance of events in the Christian season of Lent -- including Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter -- changes according to the Gregorian calendar). Also (as noted in the verse cited above), the Hebrew day begins at sundown of the previous calendar day, and ends at sundown on the day in question. 

The current normal range of possible dates for Passover according to the Gregorian calendar falls between March 26 (which begins at sundown on March 25) and April 25 (which ends at sundown on that date).

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Jennifer Rothnie Supporter Housewife, Artist, Perpetually Curious

While the simplest answer is that, scripturally, Passover is on Nissan 14th (Num 9:1-5,) there are a number of factors which make the answer more complex.

- Modern Jews often treat "Passover" as synonymous with the Feast of Unleavened bread, the seven-day festival following Passover. The slaughtering of the Passover lamb and the evening meal, the Seder, is called by many Jews "Pesach" and treated as a related but minor holiday. This is due to there no longer being a Jewish temple at which to sacrifice Passover lambs. You can read one Rabbi's notes on that here:
https://aish.com/passover-14th-or-15th/

- Jewish days begin at evening/sundown, and sundown was a fuzzy period not a specific moment, so some holidays on a specific date include a few hours of the day prior. This also leads to a seeming ambiguity in the text, as Num 9:5 says the Passover lamb is to be eaten "at twilight/dusk" on the 14th. But which twilight? The twilight at the beginning of the 14th as the 13th ends, or the twilight at the end of the 14th as the 15th began? Some rabbis even saw the night of the 15th as an extension of the 14th, due to the sacrifice that was to be eaten, that " the night after a sacrifice is brought is an extension of the day it is brought" (Talmud Chulin 83a.) This led to conflict in how the scriptures were interpreted, leading to the next point:

- Even by Jesus' time, there were different ways of calculating the exact time the Passover meal was to be held, when the Passover meal could be eaten, or whether it should be treated as one day or two, whether it was a Sabbath and part of the Days of Unleavened Bread or just the preparation day, etc. 

---- The Sadducees held the sacrifice of the Passover lamb late on the afternoon of Nissan 13th, ate the meal in the evening (the beginning of Nissan 14th,) and treated Passover (the 14th) as the first day of the seven day feast of Unleavened bread. As such, it was also seen as a High Sabbath (which is why the lamb had to be killed and cooked the day before.) All together, they saw 7 days of Unleavened Bread with Passover as the first.

This site has a bit on the history of the more "conservative" Sadducee position.
https://yahuranger.com/2013/01/14/10-passover-sadducees-pharisees-i/ 
(Click "System A" for a useful visual chart of the days.)

----The Pharisees held the sacrifice of the Paschal lambs on the afternoon of the 14th of Nissan, prepared the meal on the 14th, and ate the meal in the evening into the 15th of Nissan. Passover on the 15th was not considered one of the seven days of unleavened bread, but was rather the preparation day for the first day of Unleavened Bread, a High Sabbath, which followed. On the preparation day, the last bit of leaven in the house was to be removed. Altogether, there were eight days of celebration (Passover + the seven day Feast of Unleavened Bread.)
https://yahuranger.com/2013/01/15/11-passover-sadducees-pharisees-ii-2/

- There were special cases where one could celebrate Passover on the 14th of the second month vs. The 14th of Nissan, if one had been unclean or unable to keep Passover at its normal time. King Hezekiah used this permission for his court and the people to keep Passover in the second month in 2 Chron 30:2.

- The Jews had a lunar (technically a lunisolar) calendar, so Nissan 14th moves around. It's in springtime, but it can vary a big deal (especially as the Jewish calendar in scripture allows for 7 extra months every 19 years!) For example, in 1802 Nissan 14th was on March 8th, while in 2022 it was on April 7th. There's a handy converter here:
https://www.hebcal.com/converter?

- For Catholics and many Christians, Passover is NOT Nissan 14th, but rather the first Sunday after the full moon following the spring equinox. The Council of Nicea set that practice in 325A.D. Eastern Orthodox keep Pascha/Easter according to the Julian calendar, also not on Nissan 14th.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dates_for_Easter

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