Final answer:
The Passover sacrifice was traditionally offered on the 14th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar. This event commemorated the Israelites being spared during the last plague in Egypt by marking their doors, which is retold during the Passover seder meal.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Passover sacrifice, also known as the Pesach offering, is a historical event recounted in the Jewish Bible and was traditionally performed on the eve of Passover. This practice commemorates the last plague on Egypt when the Israelites marked their doors with lamb's blood so that the Angel of Death would pass over their homes. During the time of the Second Temple, the sacrifice would take place on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan. Today, the practice of sacrificing a lamb has ceased, but the story of liberation from slavery in Egypt remains central to the Passover celebration, primarily observed during the seder meal.
Historically, this event is contextualized within the broader scope of Jewish history and rituals, such as Moses’s introduction of new religious practices mentioned by Tacitus or the transformation of ancient agricultural customs into symbolic religious practices. The somber reflections in poetry on Passover and the deeper historical significance of sacrificial customs, including the Christian interpretation as seen in the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple, further illustrate the cultural and religious evolution of the Passover story.