Shemot 23:18

18 Thou shalt not offer the dahm of My zevach with chametz; neither shall the chelev of My sacrifice remain until the boker.

Shemot 23:18 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 23:18

Thou shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened
bread
This belongs to the feast of the passover; for, as all the Jewish writers agree, this sacrifice is the sacrifice of the passover, as it is sometimes called, see ( Exodus 12:27 ) now when the paschal lamb was killed, and its blood shed, and its flesh eaten, there was to be no leaven along with it; it was to be eaten with unleavened bread, and there was to be no leaven in their houses at this time; nay, it was not to be slain until all was removed: this was the first thing the Jews did, as soon as the fourteenth day was come, to search for leaven, remove and burn it; and this sense of the law is confirmed by the Targum of Jonathan, which is,

``not a man shall slay, while there is leaven in your houses, the sacrifice of my passover;''

and to the same purpose is the note of Jarchi:

neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning;
and indeed no part of the passover lamb was to remain until the morning, what did was to be burnt with fire, ( Exodus 12:10 ) the Targum of Jonathan is,

``neither shall there remain without the altar the fat of the sacrifice of my passover until the morning, nor of the flesh which ye ate in the evening;''

and so Jarchi interprets it of its not remaining without the altar.

Shemot 23:18 In-Context

16 And the Chag HaKatzir, Bikkurim (Firstfruits [see Ac chp 2]) of thy labors, which thou hast sown in the sadeh; and the Chag HaAsif (Feast of Ingathering [see Yn chp 7]), which is in the end of the shanah, when thou hast gathered in thy labors out of the sadeh.
17 Shalosh pa’amim in the shanah all thy zachar shall appear before HaAdon Hashem.
18 Thou shalt not offer the dahm of My zevach with chametz; neither shall the chelev of My sacrifice remain until the boker.
19 The reshit bikkurim of thy land thou shalt bring into the Bais Hashem Eloheicha [see Ac chp 2]. Thou shalt not cook a kid in his mother’s cholov.
20 Hinei, I send Malach before thee, to be shomer over thee in the derech, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.