Exodus12
New American Standard
1Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
2“This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year for you.
3Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are, each one, to take a lamb for themselves, according to the fathers’ households, a lamb for each household.
4Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; in proportion to what each one should eat, you are to divide the lamb.
5Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.
6You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to slaughter it at twilight.
7Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.
8They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
9Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails.
10And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall completely burn with fire.
11Now you shall eat it in this way: with your garment belted around your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in a hurry—it is the Lord’s Passover.
12For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and fatally strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the human firstborn to animals; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am the Lord.
13The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will come upon you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
14‘Now this day shall be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance.
15For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove dough with yeast from your houses; for whoever eats anything with yeast from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.
16And on the first day you shall have a holy assembly, and another holy assembly on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them, except for what must be eaten by every person—that alone may be prepared by you.
17You shall also keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your multitudes out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall keep this day throughout your generations as a permanent ordinance.
18In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.
19For seven days there shall be no dough with yeast found in your houses; for whoever eats anything with yeast, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land.
20You shall not eat anything with yeast; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’”
21Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families, and slaughter the Passover lamb.
22And you shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning.
23For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; but when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to strike you.
24And you shall keep this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever.
25When you enter the land which the Lord will give you, as He has promised, you shall keep this rite.
26And when your children say to you, ‘What does this rite mean to you?’
27then you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord because He passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians, but spared our homes.’” And the people bowed low and worshiped.
28Then the sons of Israel went and did so; just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
29Now it came about at midnight that the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle.
30And Pharaoh got up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead.
31Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, “Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, worship the Lord, as you have said.
32Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and bless me also.”
33The Egyptians urged the people, to send them out of the land in a hurry, for they said, “We will all be dead.”
34So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls bound up in the clothes on their shoulders.
35Now the sons of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, for they had requested from the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing;
36and the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have their request. Therefore they plundered the Egyptians.
37Now the sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, aside from children.
38A mixed multitude also went up with them, along with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock.
39And they baked the dough which they had brought out of Egypt into cakes of unleavened bread. For it had no yeast, since they were driven out of Egypt and could not delay, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.
40Now the time that the sons of Israel had lived in Egypt was 430 years.
41And at the end of 430 years, on this very day, all the multitudes of the Lord departed from the land of Egypt.
42It is a night to be observed for the Lord, for having brought them out of the land of Egypt; this night is for the Lord, to be observed by all the sons of Israel throughout their generations.
43And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover: no foreigner is to eat it;
44but as for every slave that someone has purchased with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat it.
45A stranger or a hired worker shall not eat it.
46It is to be eaten in a single house; you are not to bring any of the meat outside of the house, nor are you to break any bone of it.
47All the congregation of Israel are to celebrate this.
48But if a stranger resides with you and celebrates the Passover to the Lord, all of his males are to be circumcised, and then he shall come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised male may eat it.
49The same law shall apply to the native as to the stranger who resides among you.”
50Then all the sons of Israel did so; they did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.
51And on that very day the Lord brought the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt according to their multitudes.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Exodus 12.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The beginning of the year changed, The passover instituted. (1–20). The people instructed how to observe the passover. (21–28). The death of the first-born of the Egyptians, The Israelites urged to leave the land of Egypt. (29–36). The Israelites' first journey to Succoth. (37–42). Ordinance respecting the passover. (43–51).
vv1-20
The Lord makes all things new to those whom he delivers from the bondage of Satan, and takes to himself to be his people. The time when he does this is to them the beginning of a new life. God appointed that, on the night wherein they were to go out of Egypt, each family should kill a lamb, or that two or three families, if small, should kill one lamb. This lamb was to be eaten in the manner here directed, and the blood to be sprinkled on the door-posts, to mark the houses of the Israelites from those of the Egyptians. The angel of the Lord, when destroying the first-born of the Egyptians, would pass over the houses marked by the blood of the lamb: hence the name of this holy feast or ordinance. The passover was to be kept every year, both as a remembrance of Israel's preservation and deliverance out of Egypt, and as a remarkable type of Christ. Their safety and deliverance were not a reward of their own righteousness, but the gift of mercy. Of this they were reminded, and by this ordinance they were taught, that all blessings came to them through the shedding and sprinkling of blood. Observe, 1. The paschal lamb was typical. Christ is our passover, 1Co 5:7. Christ is the Lamb of God, Joh 1:29; often in the Revelation he is called the Lamb. It was to be in its prime; Christ offered up himself in the midst of his days, not when a babe at Bethlehem. It was to be without blemish; the Lord Jesus was a Lamb without spot: the judge who condemned Christ declared him innocent. It was to be set apart four days before, denoting the marking out of the Lord Jesus to be a Saviour, both in the purpose and in the promise. It was to be slain, and roasted with fire, denoting the painful sufferings of the Lord Jesus, even unto death, the death of the cross. The wrath of God is as fire, and Christ was made a curse for us. Not a bone of it must be broken, which was fulfilled in Christ, Joh 19:33, denoting the unbroken strength of the Lord Jesus. 2. The sprinkling of the blood was typical. The blood of the lamb must be sprinkled, denoting the applying of the merits of Christ's death to our souls; we must receive the atonement, Ro 5:11. Faith is the bunch of hyssop, by which we apply the promises, and the benefits of the blood of Christ laid up in them, to ourselves. It was to be sprinkled on the door-posts, denoting the open profession we are to make of faith in Christ. It was not to be sprinkled upon the threshold; which cautions us to take heed of trampling under foot the blood of the covenant. It is precious blood, and must be precious to us. The blood, thus sprinkled, was a means of preserving the Israelites from the destroying angel, who had nothing to do where the blood was. The blood of Christ is the believer's protection from the wrath of God, the curse of the law, and the damnation of hell, Ro 8:1. 3. The solemn eating of the lamb was typical of our gospel duty to Christ. The paschal lamb was not to be looked upon only, but to be fed upon. So we must by faith make Christ our own; and we must receive spiritual strength and nourishment from him, as from our food, see Joh 6:53, 55. It was all to be eaten; those who by faith feed upon Christ, must feed upon a whole Christ; they must take Christ and his yoke, Christ and his cross, as well as Christ and his crown. It was to be eaten at once, not put by till morning. To-day Christ is offered, and is to be accepted while it is called to-day, before we sleep the sleep of death. It was to be eaten with bitter herbs, in remembrance of the bitterness of their bondage in Egypt; we must feed upon Christ with sorrow and brokenness of heart, in remembrance of sin. Christ will be sweet to us, if sin be bitter. It was to be eaten standing, with their staves in their hands, as being ready to depart. When we feed upon Christ by faith, we must forsake the rule and the dominion of sin; sit loose to the world, and every thing in it; forsake all for Christ, and reckon it no bad bargain, Heb 13:13, 14. 4. The feast of unleavened bread was typical of the Christian life, 1Co 5:7, 8. Having received Christ Jesus the Lord, we must continually delight ourselves in Christ Jesus. No manner of work must be done, that is, no care admitted and indulged, which does not agree with, or would lessen this holy joy. The Jews were very strict as to the passover, so that no leaven should be found in their houses. It must be a feast kept in charity, without the leaven of malice; and in sincerity, without the leaven of hypocrisy. It was by an ordinance for ever; so long as we live we must continue feeding upon Christ, rejoicing in him always, with thankful mention of the great things he has done for us.
vv21-28
That night, when the first-born were to be destroyed, no Israelite must stir out of doors till called to march out of Egypt. Their safety was owing to the blood of sprinkling. If they put themselves from under the protection of that, it was at their peril. They must stay within, to wait for the salvation of the Lord; it is good to do so. In after-times they should carefully teach their children the meaning of this service. It is good for children to ask about the things of God; they that ask for the way will find it. The keeping of this solemnity every year was, 1. To look backward, that they might remember what great things God had done for them and their fathers. Old mercies, to ourselves, or to our fathers, must not be forgotten, that God may be praised, and our faith in him encouraged. 2. It was designed to look forward, as an earnest of the great sacrifice of the Lamb of God in the fulness of time. Christ our passover was sacrificed for us; his death was our life.
vv29-36
The Egyptians had been for three days and nights kept in anxiety and horror by the darkness; now their rest is broken by a far more terrible calamity. The plague struck their first-born, the joy and hope of their families. They had slain the Hebrews' children, now God slew theirs. It reached from the throne to the dungeon: prince and peasant stand upon the same level before God's judgments. The destroying angel entered every dwelling unmarked with blood, as the messenger of woe. He did his dreadful errand, leaving not a house in which there was not one dead. Imagine then the cry that rang through the land of Egypt, the long, loud shriek of agony that burst from every dwelling. It will be thus in that dreadful hour when the Son of man shall visit sinners with the last judgment. God's sons, his first-born, were now released. Men had better come to God's terms at first, for he will never come to theirs. Now Pharaoh's pride is abased, and he yields. God's word will stand; we get nothing by disputing, or delaying to submit. In this terror the Egyptians would purchase the favour and the speedy departure of Israel. Thus the Lord took care that their hard-earned wages should be paid, and the people provided for their journey.
Key Words
מֹשֶׁה: Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiver
אַהֲרוֹן: Aharon, the brother of Moses
אֶרֶץ: the earth (at large, or partitively a land)
מִצְרַיִם: Mitsrajim, i.e. Upper and Lower Egypt
זֶה: the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or that
חֹדֶשׁ: the new moon; by implication, a month
רֹאשׁ: the head (as most easily shaken), whether literal or figurative (in many applications, of place, time, rank, itc.)
רִאשׁוֹן: first, in place, time or rank (as adjective or noun)
שָׁנֶה: a year (as a revolution of time)
כֹּל: properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense)
Cross References
Exodus 12Explicitly names Christ as our Passover Lamb, sacrificed for us; the ultimate fulfillment of the type.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
Christ is identified explicitly as our Passover sacrificed for us, fulfilling the type of the lamb.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
Explicitly cites the prohibition against breaking a bone of the Passover lamb as fulfilled in Christ.
Supported by JFB
John the Baptist identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Identifies Christ as a Lamb without blemish or spot, echoing the physical requirements of the passover.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
By faith Moses kept the passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest the destroyer touch them.
Supported by JFB
By faith Moses kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood to escape the destroyer.
Supported by Matthew Henry, John Calvin
Hyssop is used both for sprinkling the Passover blood and delivering vinegar to Christ on the cross.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Confirms the exact duration of four hundred and thirty years from the covenant to the Law.
The foundational prophecy of Israel's servitude and ultimate deliverance after four hundred years.
The Roman soldiers did not break Jesus' legs, fulfilling the unbroken bone Passover pattern.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Cautions against trampling the blood underfoot; the paschal blood was placed on posts, never the threshold.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Confirms that when the firstborn were smitten, the Lord also executed judgments upon Egypt's gods.
Supported by JFB
Paul links unleavened bread to the Christian life, casting out the leaven of malice and wickedness.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
The sprinkling of the lamb's blood typifies the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Contrasts and compares the blood of sprinkling on the doorposts with the blood of Jesus.
Supported by JFB
Fulfills the prophecy given to Abraham concerning his seed's affliction and ultimate release.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Confirms the 430-year span between the promise to Abraham and the giving of the Law.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Reiterates the command to observe the month of Abib and keep the Passover to Yahweh.
Describes Gentiles as strangers and foreigners excluded from the commonwealth of Israel before Christ.
Establishes circumcision for household servants, qualifying them to partake in the covenant feast.
Repeats the ordinance that no bone of the Passover lamb shall be broken.
Matches the 'without blemish' requirement to Christ, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners.
Supported by JFB
Unleavened bread is called the bread of affliction, recalling the haste of their departure from Egypt.
Supported by JFB
The prohibition on breaking a bone is explicitly fulfilled at the crucifixion of Jesus.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Christ commands disciples to let their loins be girded, echoing the readiness required at the Passover.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Direct parallel regarding the blood acting as a protective sign when the Lord passes over.
Supported by John Calvin, JFB
Fulfillment of Moses' warning that the Lord would go out at midnight to smite the firstborn.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Celebrates Israel leaving with silver and gold, and there being not one feeble person.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Fulfills the promise that Israel would come out of their servitude with great substance.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Stephen recounts the deliverance after they had spent the appointed years in Egypt.
Shows ultimate fulfillment of spiritual equality where there is no Jew, Greek, or stranger in Christ.
Echoes the breaking down of barriers between circumcised, uncircumcised, barbarian, and Scythian.
Provides the specific protocol for strangers who wish to keep the Passover.
Confirms there is one law and custom for both the Israelite and the resident stranger.
Specifies that the blood must be applied using a bunch of hyssop dipped in the basin.
Supported by John Calvin