# I think Cecil has it wrong on the easter bunny .... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [July 9, 2004, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-cecil-has-it-wrong-on-the-easter-bunny/254262 "2004-07-09T09:41:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jsleek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8dc957/32.png) [@jsleek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsleek)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-cecil-has-it-wrong-on-the-easter-bunny/254262/21 "2004-07-14T05:13:17Z")
> [@John W. Kennedy](#): > > (Sigh!) > > 12:4 ὃν καὶ πιάσας ἔθετο εἰς φυλακήν, > 12:4 on kai piasas etheto eis phulakên, > > παραδοὺς τέσσαρσιν τετραδίοις στρατιωτῶν φυλάσσειν αὐτόν, > paradous tessarsin tetradiois stratiôtôn phulassein auton, > > βουλόµενος µετὰ τὸ **πάσχα** ἀναγαγεῖν αὐτὸν τῷ λαῷ. > boulomenos meta to **pascha** anagagein auton tô laô. OK. I know it’s a mistranslation of Passover. But the question was where the word Easter came from. Well, it’s in the KJV of about Shakespear’s time and I suppose they didn’t just make it up, since I understand they weren’t totally dim. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-cecil-has-it-wrong-on-the-easter-bunny/254262/22 "2004-07-14T09:54:13Z")
> [@jsleek](#): > > Astarte. Pretty close to Easter… > [http://www.geocities.com/Baja/Canyon/3778/Mythmyst/Astarte.htm](http://www.geocities.com/Baja/Canyon/3778/Mythmyst/Astarte.htm) > [@dotchan](#): > > What about Ishtar, the sex/fertility/something or other goddess of the Babylonians? Or Ashtera, another one of those fun Canaanite deities? (The Canaanites were really into sacred prostitution and human sacrifices for one reason or another.) Facts that make no difference whatsoever to the terms of the argument. Those historians and linguists who are sceptical that there was a Germanic goddess called Eostre/Eostra are only too aware that there are numerous related words and names in a wide range of Indo-European languages that seem to be associated with the concept of ‘dawn’. That is why they are so sceptical. As the original root word is thus likely to have been exceptionally ancient, there is no reason - apart, of course, from Bede’s comments - why the Germanic variants need have been the name of a goddess. ---
**Author:** ![jsleek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8dc957/32.png) [@jsleek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsleek)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-cecil-has-it-wrong-on-the-easter-bunny/254262/23 "2004-07-14T13:48:59Z")
I hadn’t thought of an Indo-European root. I was thinking the Phoenecians may have hauled Astarte (or whoever) to Germany. (And when they did, she was already there.) dawn = fertility = eggs = Easter I’ve no complaint about that. I still don’t know why the guys who translated the KJV thought ‘Easter’ was the best word for ‘Passover’, and why they did it only this once. Probably seemed like a good idea at the time. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-cecil-has-it-wrong-on-the-easter-bunny/254262/24 "2004-07-14T14:21:04Z")
> [@jsleek](#): > > I’ve no complaint about that. I still don’t know why the guys who translated the KJV thought ‘Easter’ was the best word for ‘Passover’, and why they did it only this once. “Pascha” (πάσχα) is the Greek word for both “Passover” and “Easter”, a fact of which King James’s men were perfectly aware. In this one case,[ul] [li]we’re into the Christian era, and[/li][li]the reference is merely to time of year,[/li][/ul]so “Easter” seemed best to them. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-cecil-has-it-wrong-on-the-easter-bunny/254262/25 "2004-07-14T15:58:00Z")
> [@jsleek](#): > > OK. I know it’s a mistranslation of Passover. But the question was where the word Easter came from. Well, it’s in the KJV of about Shakespear’s time and I suppose they didn’t just make it up, since I understand they weren’t totally dim. I don’t think anyone’s suggesting that the KJV translators made up the word in the fifteenth century, given that Bede was either providing or making up etymological roots for it in the eighth … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-cecil-has-it-wrong-on-the-easter-bunny/254262.md?page=1)