Exodus12
New Living Translation
1While the Israelites were still in the land of Egypt, the Lord gave the following instructions to Moses and Aaron:
2“From now on, this month will be the first month of the year for you.
3Announce to the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each family must choose a lamb or a young goat for a sacrifice, one animal for each household.
4If a family is too small to eat a whole animal, let them share with another family in the neighborhood. Divide the animal according to the size of each family and how much they can eat.
5The animal you select must be a one-year-old male, either a sheep or a goat, with no defects.
6“Take special care of this chosen animal until the evening of the fourteenth day of this first month. Then the whole assembly of the community of Israel must slaughter their lamb or young goat at twilight.
7They are to take some of the blood and smear it on the sides and top of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the animal.
8That same night they must roast the meat over a fire and eat it along with bitter salad greens and bread made without yeast.
9Do not eat any of the meat raw or boiled in water. The whole animal—including the head, legs, and internal organs—must be roasted over a fire.
10Do not leave any of it until the next morning. Burn whatever is not eaten before morning.
11“These are your instructions for eating this meal: Be fully dressed, wear your sandals, and carry your walking stick in your hand. Eat the meal with urgency, for this is the Lord’s Passover.
12On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn son and firstborn male animal in the land of Egypt. I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt, for I am the Lord!
13But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt.
14“This is a day to remember. Each year, from generation to generation, you must celebrate it as a special festival to the Lord. This is a law for all time.
15For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast. On the first day of the festival, remove every trace of yeast from your homes. Anyone who eats bread made with yeast during the seven days of the festival will be cut off from the community of Israel.
16On the first day of the festival and again on the seventh day, all the people must observe an official day for holy assembly. No work of any kind may be done on these days except in the preparation of food.
17“Celebrate this Festival of Unleavened Bread, for it will remind you that I brought your forces out of the land of Egypt on this very day. This festival will be a permanent law for you; celebrate this day from generation to generation.
18The bread you eat must be made without yeast from the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month until the evening of the twenty-first day of that month.
19During those seven days, there must be no trace of yeast in your homes. Anyone who eats anything made with yeast during this week will be cut off from the community of Israel. These regulations apply both to the foreigners living among you and to the native-born Israelites.
20During those days you must not eat anything made with yeast. Wherever you live, eat only bread made without yeast.”
21Then Moses called all the elders of Israel together and said to them, “Go, pick out a lamb or young goat for each of your families, and slaughter the Passover animal.
22Drain the blood into a basin. Then take a bundle of hyssop branches and dip it into the blood. Brush the hyssop across the top and sides of the doorframes of your houses. And no one may go out through the door until morning.
23For the Lord will pass through the land to strike down the Egyptians. But when he sees the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe, the Lord will pass over your home. He will not permit his death angel to enter your house and strike you down.
24“Remember, these instructions are a permanent law that you and your descendants must observe forever.
25When you enter the land the Lord has promised to give you, you will continue to observe this ceremony.
26Then your children will ask, ‘What does this ceremony mean?’
27And you will reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. And though he struck the Egyptians, he spared our families.’” When Moses had finished speaking, all the people bowed down to the ground and worshiped.
28So the people of Israel did just as the Lord had commanded through Moses and Aaron.
29And that night at midnight, the Lord struck down all the firstborn sons in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn son of the prisoner in the dungeon. Even the firstborn of their livestock were killed.
30Pharaoh and all his officials and all the people of Egypt woke up during the night, and loud wailing was heard throughout the land of Egypt. There was not a single house where someone had not died.
31Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron during the night. “Get out!” he ordered. “Leave my people—and take the rest of the Israelites with you! Go and worship the Lord as you have requested.
32Take your flocks and herds, as you said, and be gone. Go, but bless me as you leave.”
33All the Egyptians urged the people of Israel to get out of the land as quickly as possible, for they thought, “We will all die!”
34The Israelites took their bread dough before yeast was added. They wrapped their kneading boards in their cloaks and carried them on their shoulders.
35And the people of Israel did as Moses had instructed; they asked the Egyptians for clothing and articles of silver and gold.
36The Lord caused the Egyptians to look favorably on the Israelites, and they gave the Israelites whatever they asked for. So they stripped the Egyptians of their wealth!
37That night the people of Israel left Rameses and started for Succoth. There were about 600,000 men, plus all the women and children.
38A rabble of non-Israelites went with them, along with great flocks and herds of livestock.
39For bread they baked flat cakes from the dough without yeast they had brought from Egypt. It was made without yeast because the people were driven out of Egypt in such a hurry that they had no time to prepare the bread or other food.
40The people of Israel had lived in Egypt for 430 years.
41In fact, it was on the last day of the 430th year that all the Lord’s forces left the land.
42On this night the Lord kept his promise to bring his people out of the land of Egypt. So this night belongs to him, and it must be commemorated every year by all the Israelites, from generation to generation.
43Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “These are the instructions for the festival of Passover. No outsiders are allowed to eat the Passover meal.
44But any slave who has been purchased may eat it if he has been circumcised.
45Temporary residents and hired servants may not eat it.
46Each Passover lamb must be eaten in one house. Do not carry any of its meat outside, and do not break any of its bones.
47The whole community of Israel must celebrate this Passover festival.
48“If there are foreigners living among you who want to celebrate the Lord’s Passover, let all their males be circumcised. Only then may they celebrate the Passover with you like any native-born Israelite. But no uncircumcised male may ever eat the Passover meal.
49This instruction applies to everyone, whether a native-born Israelite or a foreigner living among you.”
50So all the people of Israel followed all the Lord’s commands to Moses and Aaron.
51On that very day the Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt like an army.
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