The Haggadah (Hebrew: הגדה) is a Jewish religious text that sets out the order of the Passover Seder. Haggadah, meaning “telling,” is a fulfillment of the scriptural commandment to each Jew to “tell your son” about the Jewish liberation from slavery in Egypt, as described in the book of Exodus in the Torah.
Sephardi and Oriental Jews also apply the term Haggadah to the service itself, as it constitutes the act of “telling your son“.
According to Jewish tradition the Haggadah was compiled during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods, although the exact date is unknown.
The Haggadah could not have been written earlier than the time of Rabbi Yehudah bar Elaay (circa 170 CE) who is the last tanna to be quoted in the Haggadah. According to most Talmudic commentaries Rav and Shmuel argued on the compilation of the Haggadah,[1] and hence it wasn’t completed by then. Based on a Talmudic statement, it was completed by the time of Rav Nachman (mentioned in Pesachim 116a). There is a dispute however to which Rav Nachman, the Talmud was referring. According to some commentators this was Rav Nachman bar Yaakov[2] (circa 280 CE) while others maintain this was Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak (360 CE).[3]
However the Malbim,[4] along with a minority of commentators believe that Rav and Shmuel were not arguing on its compilation but on its interpretation and hence was completed before then. According to this explanation; the Haggadah was written during the lifetime of Rav Yehudah haNasi,[5] the compiler of the Mishna. The Malbim theorizes that the Haggadah was written by Rav Yehudah haNasi himself.
This is from Wikipedia – Passover_Seder
The Passover Seder Meal (Hebrew: סֵדֶר, seðɛɾ, “order”, “arrangement”) is a Jewish ritual feast held on the first and the second nights of the Jewish holiday of Passover (which begins on the 15th day of Hebrew month of Nisan). For Reform Jews and in Israel, the Seder is held only on the first night.
According to the Gregorian calendar, the holiday comes out in late March or in April. Families and friends gather around the table on the nights of Passover to read one of the many versions of the Haggadah, the story of the Israelite exodus from Egypt. Seder customs include drinking of four cups of wine, eating matza and partaking of symbolic foods placed on the Passover Seder Plate.
This is from biblestudy.org – Biblical Holy Days: The Order and Meaning of the Christian Passover
From Christ in the Passover by Ceil and Moishe Rosen, pages 50-59, we learn that the Jewish traditional seder service had four cups of wine, in this order:
- Blessing over the first cup of wine by the head of the feast (the host)
- Ceremonial washing of hands by the host
- Dipping of the bitter herbs
- Second cup of wine poured
- Asking questions by the youngest son (“why is this night different?” etc.. following Exodus 12:26)
- Singing of first part of Hallel, Psalms 113, 114, and drinking of second cup of wine
- Washing of hands the second time, as an act of respect for the unleavened bread they were about to eat
- Blessings over the bread
- Eating of the bread, dipped in bitter herbs
- Eating of the Paschal lamb
- After supper, the host poured the third cup of wine, a blessing was said, and everyone drank it
- The second portion of the Hallel, Psalms 115-118 recited
- Drinking of fourth cup
- Closing song or hymn.
During the eating of the Old Testament Passover lamb with the disciples, the Messiah instituted NEW ordinances, to replace the old ones. As I Corinthians 11:20-34 indicates, the Old Testament Passover meal of lamb and bitter herbs is no longer to be observed. The Hebrew Seder helps us understand Luke 22, as well as what the Savior did in attaching special significance to the bread and one of the cups of the Old Testament Passover. Luke 22:17-18 was the first cup. Notice that Luke shows that the Messiah attached no special significance to this cup. The bread, which followed, He did make special, symbolizing His body given for us, verse 19. Of this, and not the first cup, He said, “this do in remembrance of me.” Likewise, the cup after supper (the third cup of the Old Testament traditional Passover meal), the Savior being the host, took, gave thanks, Matthew 26:27. In Luke 22:20 He said “This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me,” I Corinthians 11:25. It was this cup, after supper, that joined the earlier symbolic bread, to become part of the New Testament Passover.
The institution of the Passover in Exodus 12 shows only the Passover lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs. Nothing is said about cups of wine with Passover. This was a Jewish tradition added later. Surely our Savior kept no Jewish customs, or did He?
He did! By the first century A.D., the Passover service had the hymns, hand washing and four cups of wine. The celebrants reclined at the table in the Babylonian custom of free men (as opposed to Exodus 12:11). The Son of man kept this custom! Notice John 13:25, 21:20. They were in a reclining position, so John could virtually lean on the Master’s breast.
Luke mentions two of the four cups, the first and the third. Early Jewish tradition says these were the most important. The first cup was special because it consecrated the entire Passover service that followed. The Savior said that this Passover service would be the last one He would observe with them until the Kingdom of God, Luke 22:14-18. Tradition says that the third cup was the most important of all. It was called the “cup of blessing” or the “cup of redemption,” because it represented the blood of the Paschal lamb. This third cup became the symbol of the shed blood of the Savior, the blood of the New Testament, Luke 22:20, the Christian “cup of blessing,” I Corinthians 10:16.
Where does footwashing fit in? Followers of the Watchtower movement keep the annual Passover on Nisan 14 with the bread and wine. Yet strangely enough, they do not follow the footwashing ceremony shown in John 13:1-17. When does this important aspect of the Passover occur in the New Testament order of service?
John 13:2 (KJV) says “and supper being ended.” Verses 4-5 show that the Savior rose from supper and washed the disciples’ feet. It sounds like the footwashing should be after the supper; as is also the wine, Luke 22:20.
A poor translation is to blame for this misunderstanding. The literal Greek says “and supper taking place.” The Revised Standard Version says, “and during supper.” So the footwashing was not after the bread and wine, but before them, during the Passover meal. This act was no doubt an extension of the second hand washing (item #7 of the traditional Passover service, as shown above). Washing was preparatory to receiving the unleavened bread. The Savior sanctified this new act, stating that it was an example for us to follow, John 13:14-17. Will we follow what He said for us to do, in exactly the way He said?
Before we partake of the New Testament Passover symbols of bread and wine, we must be prepared mentally, by going through a physical act of footwashing to learn humility, and demonstrate humble service to our brethren.
The order of the New Testament Passover service depicts the life of the Messiah:
- His humble service to mankind (footwashing)
- His beaten body for our physical sins and infirmities (unleavened bread), I Peter 2:20-25 Isaiah 50:6-7 (bread)
- His blood poured out for our sins, John 19:34, Isaiah 53:10-12 (wine)
Any other order of service does not depict the proper spiritual lesson we are to learn. Sincere people, wanting to do what is right, may not always have the proper understanding in this matter. The Eternal is the judge. We who desire to worship the Creator in spirit (attitude) and in truth (exactly as He says), John 4:24, should follow the proper order of service..
The apostle Paul received an order of service from the Master and he delivered the same to us, not deviating from it one iota, I Corinthians 11:23-25. Will we deviate from it? It does make a difference, Revelation 22:18-19, Deuteronomy 4:2, 12:32.
We now have at least three major proofs that the proper order of the New Testament Passover service is footwashing, unleavened bread, and wine:
(1) The witness of scripture, many scriptures,
(2) the witness of tradition, that of the ancient Jews, the New Testament Church, and the 19th and 20th century churches of God.
(3) The witness of scriptural object lessons, the meaning behind the physical rituals.
In the mouth of two or three witnesses let everything be established, Matthew 18:16.
There were different kinds of wine. “Yayin” was the ordinary matured, fermented wine, “tirosh” was a new wine, and “shekar” was an old, powerful wine (“strong drink”). The red wine was the better and stronger (Ps. lxxv. 9 [A. V. 8]; Prov. xxiii. 31). Perhaps the wine of Helbon (Ezek. xxvii. 18) and the wine of Lebanon (Hos. xiv. 7) were white wines. The vines of Hebron were noted for their large clustersof grapes (Num. xiii. 23). Samaria was the center of vineyards (Jer. xxxi. 5; Micah i. 6), and the Ephraimites were heavy wine-drinkers (Isa. xxviii. 1). There were also “yayin ha-reḳaḥ” (spiced wine; Cant. viii. 2), “ashishah” (hardened sirup of grapes), “shemarim (wine-dregs), and “ḥomeẓ yayin” (vinegar).. Some wines were mixed with poisonous substances (“yayin tar’elah”; Ps. lx.. 5; comp. lxxv.9, “mesek” [mixture]). The “wine of the condemned” (“yen ‘anushim”) is wine paid as a forfeit (Amos ii. 8), and “wine of violence” (Prov. iv. 17) is wine obtained by illegal means. Wine is called “yayin” because it brings lamentation and wailing (“yelalah” and “wai”) into the world, and “tirosh” because one that drinks it habitually is certain to become poor. R. Kahana said the latter term is written sometimes
, and sometimes 
; that means, if drunk in moderation it gives leadership (= “head”); if drunk in excess it leads to poverty (Yoma 76b). “Tirosh” includes all kinds of sweet juices and must, and does not include fermented wine (Tosef.., Ned. iv. 3). “Yayin” is to be distinguished from “shekar”; the former is diluted with water (“mazug”); the latter is undiluted (“yayin ḥai”; Num. R. x. 8; comp. Sifre, Num. 23). In Talmudic usage “shekar” means “mead,” or “beer,” and according to R. Papa, it denotes drinking to satiety and intoxication (Suk. 49b). In metaphorical usage, wine represents the essence of goodness. The Torah, Jerusalem, Israel, the Messiah, the righteous—all are compared to wine. The wicked are likened unto vinegar, and the good man who turns to wickedness is compared to sour wine. Eleazar b. Simeon was called “Vinegar, the son of Wine” (B. M. 83b). The wine which is kept for the righteous in the world to come has been preserved in the grape ever since the six days of creation (Ber. 34b).
The following is from ChristianAnsers.Net – WINE
- ‘Asis, “sweet wine,” or “new wine,” the product of the same year (Song of Songs 8:2; Isa. 49:26; Joel 1:5; 3:18; Amos 9:13), from a root meaning “to tread,” hence juice trodden out or pressed out, thus referring to the method by which the juice is obtained. The power of intoxication is ascribed to it.
- Hometz. See VINEGAR.
- Hemer, Deut. 32:14 (translated “blood of the grape”) Isa. 27:2 (“red wine”), Ezra 6:9; 7:22; Dan. 5:1,2,4. This word conveys the idea of “foaming,” as in the process of fermentation, or when poured out. It is derived from the root hamar, meaning “to boil up,” and also “to be red,” from the idea of boiling or becoming inflamed.
- ‘Enabh, a grape (Deut. 32:14). The last clause of this verse should be translated as in the Revised Version, “and of the blood of the grape ['enabh] thou drankest wine [hemer].” In Hos. 3:1 the phrase in the King James Version, “flagons of wine,” is in the Revised Version correctly “cakes of raisins.” [also in the NKJV and NIV] (Compare Gen. 49:11; Num. 6:3; Deut. 23:24, etc., where this Hebrew word is translated in the plural “grapes.”)
- Mesekh, properly a mixture of wine and water with spices that increase its stimulating properties (Isa. 5:22). Ps. 75:8, “The wine [yayin] is red; it is full of mixture [mesekh];” Prov. 23:30, “mixed wine;” Isa. 65:11, “drink offering” (R.V., “mingled wine”).
- Tirosh, properly “must,” translated “wine” (Deut. 28:51); “new wine” (Prov. 3:10); “sweet wine” (Micah 6:15; R.V., “vintage”).This Hebrew word has been traced to a root meaning “to take possession of” and hence it is supposed that tirosh is so designated because in intoxicating it takes possession of the brain. Among the blessings promised to Esau (Gen. 27:28) mention is made of “plenty of corn and tirosh.” Palestine is called “a land of corn and tirosh” ( Deut. 33:28; compare Isa. 36:17).. See also Deut. 28:51; 2 Chr. 32:28; Joel 2:19; Hos. 4:11, (“wine [yayin] and new wine [tirosh] take away the heart”).
- Sobhe (root meaning “to drink to excess,” “to suck up,” “absorb”), found only in Isa. 1:22, Hos. 4:18 (“their drink;” Gesen. and margin note of Revised Version, “their carouse”), and Nahum 1:10 (“drunken as drunkards;” literally, “soaked according to their drink;” R.V., “drenched, as it were, in their drink”, i.e., according to their sobhe).
- Shekar, “strong drink,” any intoxicating liquor; from a root meaning “to drink deeply,” “to be drunken”, a generic term applied to all fermented liquors, however obtained. Num. 28:7, “strong wine” (R.V., “strong drink“).It is sometimes distinguished from wine, c.g., Lev. 10:9, “Do not drink wine [yayin] nor strong drink [shekar];” Num. 6:3; Judg. 13:4, 7; Isa. 28:7 (in all these places rendered “strong drink”). Translated “strong drink” also in Isa. 5:11; 24:9; 29:9; 56:12; Prov. 20:1; 31:6; Micah 2:11.
- Yekebh ( Deut. 16:13, but in R.V. correctly “wine-press”) [also in NKJV and NIV], a vat into which the new wine flowed from the press. Joel 2:24, “their vats;” 3:13, “the fats;” Prov. 3:10, “Thy presses shall burst out with new wine [tirosh];” Hag. 2:16; Jer. 48:33, “wine-presses;” 2 Kings 6:27; Job. 24:11.
- Shemarim (only in plural), “lees” or “dregs” of wine. In Isa. 25:6 it is rendered “wines on the lees”, i.e., wine that has been kept on the lees, and therefore old wine.
- Mesek, “a mixture,” mixed or spiced wine, not diluted with water, but mixed with drugs and spices to increase its strength, or, as some think, mingled with the lees by being shaken (Ps. 75:8; Prov. 23:30).
- In Acts 2:13 the word gleukos, rendered “new wine,” denotes properly “sweet wine.” It must have been intoxicating.
As far as I have researched, all denomination used wine for the blood of Christ until Welches grape juice came along.
The following is from therefinersfire.org - YEAST OR LEAVEN?
—In Rabbinical Literature: During Passover, Jews refrain from eating khametz, which is anything that contains barley, wheat, rye, oats, and spelt (a kind of wheat), and is cooked within 18 minutes after coming in contact with water. No leavening is allowed. This signifies the fact that the Hebrews had no time to let their bread rise as they made a hurried escape from Egypt.
What does khametz actually mean? It is any flour of the five species of grain, mixed with water and allowed to ferment before being baked, comes under the definition of khametz. The five species of grain are wheat, spelt, oats, barley, and rye. Khametz, in reality, comes from a root which means “to be sour“.
It took Louis Pasteur to solve the mystery in 1859 when he discovered how yeast works. He established beyond doubt, using grapes, that it was the dust on the surface of the grape skin which made wine ferment, that yeast was a living organism and that only active living cells can cause fermentation.
Simply stated, the fermentation process in dough can be described as the breakdown of the starches in flour – producing carbon dioxide – which, in turn, expands the gluten proteins in the flour and causes the dough to expand. A small amount of alcohol is also produced, but this burns off as the bread bakes.
Yaweh said “no leaven is to be found in your houses“, not “no YEAST”! We can’t get the yeast out of our homes, but we certainly can get the mixture out (if we had it) which we don’t really use these days anymore – the small quantity of the starter material, the “chunk of leaven”….
And of course, the second part of the command, “eat no food with khametz in it”. Now you understand that khametz is the raised bread that was made by using the leaven. This is not the NIV version which says don’t “eat anything with yeast in it.”
Do you get the point? Unless you understand the meaning of “leaven” you won’t be able to understand Yeshua’s teachings:
Yeshua told His disciples in Matthew 16:6: “So when Yeshua said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against the Khametz of the P’rushim (Pharisees) and the Tz’dukim (Sadducees)”, the talmidim (disciples) thought He was talking about “bread,” – but He meant the leaven of FALSE TEACHINGS and FALSE DOCTRINES! (Verses 8-12).
The following is from hebrew4christian.com – Kadesh – Sanctifying the Wine
The word Kidduch means sanctification, which means to set apart or make holy. The LORD sperated and sanctified the Israelites out from Egypt.
1. Cup of Sanctification – “I will take you out of Egypt”
2. Cup of Deliverance – “I will deliver you from the Egyptian slavery”
3. Cup of Redemption - “I will redeem you with a demonstration of My power”
4. Cup of Restoration – “I will acquire you as a nation”
Jesus drank the first two cups in the traditional way, and at the third cup (Cup of Redemption) He said “This is my blood. He said He would not drink the fourth cup until He was in the Kingdom of Heaven (New Jerusalem).
Matthew 26:17-19 Now on the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is at hand; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.”‘ And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.
Luke 22:15? And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;….”
The following is from dfpeople.org – PARALLELISMS OF THE PASSOVER IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN
Jesus makes the statement “My hour has not come yet” which indicates that he was not yet to offer himself as the sacrificial Lamb when his own blood (the new wine) will be poured out for the forgiveness of sins. Wine was understood as the blood of the grape.[12] The next passage in John after the wedding feast at Cana is the Passover in Jerusalem where Jesus chases out the money changers. The 2nd time that Jesus celebrates the Passover is in Jn 6 where He gives his Bread of Life discourse. I will go into more detail about this Passover later on in this paper. The 3rd time Jesus celebrates the Passover is in the upper room with his disciples as he begins His Passion. In Jn 13:1, this Passover meant that his hour had come.
In the NT the firstborn Son and Lamb of God fulfilled the Old Covenant Passover in Himself as a holy sacrifice for our sins. However the Passover link involved more than just the Eucharist.[13] This is seen in John’s Gospel where the entire succession of events which began with the Last Supper and ended with Jesus’ crucifixion, reflects various themes of the Jewish Passover.
a) For example John mentions in Jn 19:14 that as Jesus stood before Pilate; it was the day for the preparation of the Passover and it was about the 6th hour. The 6th hour was the time that the priest began to slaughter the lambs for the Passover. An interesting note: in the greek the word for “day of preparation” is paraskeuh; which is also the word for Friday.
b) John also makes a connection between Jesus on the cross and the Passover Lamb by mentioning that Jesus’ bones remained unbroken just as Moses’ stipulated for the Passover Lamb in Ex 12:46.
c) Another connection between Jesus’ passion and the Passover is found in Jn 19:29 where ” A bowl of vinegar stood there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop and held it to his mouth.” Hyssop was the branch used to sprinkle the blood of the lamb which was prescribed in the Passover Law as is seen Ex 12:22.
d) Finally John calls attention to the garment that Jesus wore when the soldiers stripped him: a seamless linen tunic (see Jn 19:23-24). The same word for garment (chiton) is used in the OT to refer to the official tunic worn by the high priest when sacrificing (see Ex 28:4; Lv 16:4). This seems to point to Jesus as our High Priest as well as being the Passover Lamb.
The seder meal, also known as the Passover meal, celebrated by the ancient Jews was well established before the 1st century AD. John’s Gospel seems to use the basic structure of the seder for the Passover meal.[14] While many deny that the Last Supper was a Passover meal, all the synoptic Gospels explicitly assert that it was (See Mt 26:17-19 , Mk 14:12-16 , Lk 22:7-13).. The Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms this idea: “By celebrating the Last Supper with His Apostles in the course of the Passover meal, Jesus gave the Jewish Passover its definitive meaning.”
The cup that Jesus blessed and distributed is identified as the 3rd cup of the Passover meal. This is apparent from the singing of the Great Hallel which immediately follows (see Mk 14:26). Paul identifies this cup of blessing with the cup of the Eucharist (see 1Cor 10:16)[17].
It seems that as we look through the Gospels, Jesus skips drinking the 4th cup during the course of the Passover meal. This is the equivalent of the priest’s omitting the words of consecration at Mass or forgetting communion. After the singing of the Great Hallel Jesus then proceeds to the Garden. In the Synoptics Jesus prays for a cup to pass by, but yet prayed that his Father’s will be done, not His. However, in Jn 18:11 Jesus says to Peter “Shall I not drink the cup which the Father has given me?” Raymond Brown comments on this passage by saying “In Jn 18:11 Jesus said that he wanted to drink the cup the Father had given him; when Jesus drinks the offered wine, he has finished this commitment made at the beginning of the Passion Narrative.”[18] When was Jesus to drink the 4th cup? I believe that the clue to this answer is found in Jn 19:28-30:
[Jn 19:28-30]After this, Jesus knew that everything had now been completed and, so that the scripture should be completely fulfilled, he said: I am thirsty. 29A jar full of sour wine stood there; so, putting a sponge soaked in the wine on a hyssop stick, they held it up to his mouth.30After Jesus had taken the wine he said, ‘It is fulfilled’; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit.
- Matzah is pure: Remember we said that matzah has no leaven in it, and that leaven is a picture of sin.
- Matzah is plain: There is nothing fancy about matzah. The ingredients are simply flour and water. Interestingly, approximately 700 BC, the prophet Isaiah wrote about the Messiah, saying “He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.” (Isaiah 53:2). What attracted followers to Jesus was not any sort of Hollywood appearance.
- Matzah is perforated, or “pierced:” If we look again at the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, which prophetically describes the Messiah, it says, “…He was pierced through for our transgressions…” (Isaiah 53:5)
- Matzah is “the bread of affliction:” The term “bread of affliction,” as a term for matzah, comes from Deuteronomy 16:3. It is an appropriate descriptor of Messiah, given the prophecy contained in Isaiah 53:3: “He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief…”
This is from Wikepedia.org – Portal:WINE
Alcoholic beverages appear repeatedly in biblical literature — from Noah planting a vineyard and getting drunk in the Hebrew Bible to Jesus miraculously making copious amounts of wine at the wedding at Cana and later incorporating wine as part of the central rite Christianity, the Eucharist, in the New Testament. Wine (that is, fermented grape juice) is the most common alcoholic beverage mentioned in biblical literature, where it is frequent source of symbolism, and was an important part of daily life in biblical times.. The inhabitants of ancient Palestine also drank beer and wines made from other fruits, and some references to these appear in the scriptures, too.
On the whole, biblical literature displays an ambivalence toward intoxicating drinks, considering them both a blessing from God that brings joy and merriment and potentially dangerous beverages that can be unwisely and sinfully abused The relationships between Judaism and alcohol and Christianity and alcohol have generally followed this same pattern, with some dissenters particularly among Christians around the time of Prohibition.
The following is from samsonblinded.org – Is Leaven Prohibited on Pesach?
It never ceases to amaze me how few people read the Torah – as opposed to glancing through it. We’ve seen a great squabble in the Knesset over the sale of leavened bread on Pesach. Everyone firmly believes that leaven is prohibited on Pesach. Really?
Then how comes that wine is allowed? Wine is the ultimate hametz (leaven) as it appears through the process of leavening, fermentation. Ancients used wine and beer as fermenting agents.
The matzot are as leavening as any other bread. In antiquity, crumbs of old bread were used for leavening, as housewives empirically discovered them to contain yeast. But matzot contain the very same yeast after a few days in the open air with any degree of humidity. Just like any other bread, crumbs of old matzot can be used in dough to jump-start leavening.
During the Passover in Egypt, Jews prepared dough in the regular way, there is not a hint of it being any different from any other day’s dough. It was prepared in the regular dishes – not the sterile-for-Pesach utensils. The dough was prepared as usual – that is, with crumbs of old bread. The dough was there next day (Exodus 12:41) when we left our houses – therefore it was prepared the previous evening, as is customary in the Middle East until this day. From the time of kneading until taking the dough out of houses, many hours have passed; compare with the modern 18-minute cutoff for the matzot dough.
Jews took the dough on the march, and carried it in overcoats upon our shoulders (Exodus 12:34). Now imagine those clothes: dump from sweat, heated by sun, infested with fungi. That was the perfect medium for leavening. How ridiculous is to emulate that with sterile utensils cleansed of the microscopic traces of leaven.
We baked this dough on the way from Raamses to Sukkot. Even though Mechilta is adamant that the trip was miraculously fast, it still took a considerable time as Jews had enough time to bake the bread during the march. So the dough was leavened by then.
So, what is the prohibited hametz? The word “hametz” is commonly interpreted as “leaven” or “leavened product.” The first reading is nonsense: the concept of leaven has only appeared two centuries ago. Before then, there was no specific leaven: bakers commonly used old crumbs to achieve leavening. The second reading is also impossible, as other leavened products such as wine were allowed.
Reading “hametz” as “leaven” makes no sense in Exodus 12:39: “They roasted dough because it was not leavened.” And if it were leavened, shouldn’t we roast it?
The etymological meaning of “hametz” is straightforward: hm for “hot” and mtz for “pressed.” There is no connotation of leavening: hametz is just any baked bread. Contrast matzah, “pressed” bread, which was afh, roasted. So matzot are flat sun- or coal-roasted bread.
The traditional interpretation of hametz as leaven developed from the fact that baked bread was normally leavened. Sun-roasted bread was made quickly, thus unleavened. Eventually, however, Jews developed a habit of baking non-leavened dough on Pesach, which is contrary to the Torah’s injunction. At Pesach, we imitate the hurry of Exodus, and therefore symbolically roast matzot quickly rather than slowly baking bread.
To make matzot, take any dough and roast it in sun or on open fire. The prohibited hametz is not leavened bread, but any baked products.
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