Exodus 12:18

18 In the first month of the year you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day.

Exodus 12:18 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 12:18

In the first month
As it was now ordered to be reckoned, the month Abib or Nisan: the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread;
that is, at the evening following, the fourteenth of Nisan, and which was the beginning of the fifteenth day, the Jews beginning their day from the evening: hence the Targum of Jonathan is,

``on the fourteenth of Nisan ye shall slay the passover, in the evening of the fifteenth ye shall eat unleavened bread:''

unto the twentieth day of the month at even;
which would make just seven days; the above Targum adds,

``on the evening of the twenty second ye shall eat leavened bread,''

which was the evening following the twenty first day. This long abstinence from leaven denotes, that the whole lives of those who are Israelites indeed should be without guile, hypocrisy, and malice, and should be spent in sincerity and truth.

Exodus 12:18 In-Context

16 You are to have holy meetings on the first and last days of the feast. You must not do any work on these days; the only work you may do is to prepare your meals.

17 You must celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because on this very day I brought your divisions of people out of Egypt. So all of your descendants must celebrate this day. This is a law that will last from now on.

18 In the first month of the year you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day.

19 For seven days there must not be any yeast in your houses. Anybody who eats yeast during this time, either an Israelite or non-Israelite, must be cut off from the community of Israel.

20 During this feast you must not eat anything made with yeast. You must eat only bread made without yeast wherever you live."