Exodus 12:23-51

A Memorial of Redemption

23 "For ¹the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will ²not allow the ³destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you.

24 "And ⁴you shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever *.

25 "When you enter the land which the LORD will give you, as He has promised, you shall observe this rite.

26 "⁵And when your children say to you, 'What does this rite mean to you?'

27 you shall say, 'It is a Passover sacrifice to ⁶the LORD who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.' " ⁷And the people bowed low and worshiped.

28 Then the sons of Israel went and did so; just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

29 Now it came about at ⁸midnight * that ⁹the LORD struck all ¹⁰the 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 ¹¹cattle.

30 Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was ¹²a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where * there was not someone dead.

31 Then ¹³he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, "Rise up, ¹⁴get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, worship the LORD, as you have said.

32 "Take ¹⁵both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and bless me also."

Exodus of Israel

33 ¹⁶The Egyptians urged * the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, "We will all be dead."

34 So the people took ¹⁷their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls bound up in the clothes on their shoulders.

35 ¹⁸Now 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;

36 and the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have their request. Thus they ¹⁹plundered the Egyptians.

37 Now the ²⁰sons of Israel journeyed from ²¹Rameses to Succoth, about ²²six hundred thousand men on foot, aside from children.

38 A ²³mixed multitude also went up with them, along with flocks and herds, a ²⁴very large number of livestock.

39 They baked the dough which they had brought out of Egypt into cakes of unleavened bread. For it had not become leavened, since they were ²⁵driven out of Egypt and could not delay, nor * had they prepared any provisions for themselves.

40 Now the time that the sons of Israel lived in Egypt was ²⁶four hundred and thirty years.

41 And at the end of four hundred and thirty years, to ²⁷the very day, ²⁸all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.

Ordinance of the Passover

42 ²⁹It is a night to be observed for the LORD for having brought them out from the land of Egypt; this night is for the LORD, to be observed by all the sons of Israel throughout their generations.

43 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "This is the ordinance of ³⁰the Passover: no * ³¹foreigner * is to eat of it;

44 but every man's ³²slave purchased with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat of it.

45 "³³A sojourner or a hired servant shall not eat of it.

46 "It is to be eaten in a single house; you are not to bring forth any of the flesh outside of the house, ³⁴nor are you to break any bone of it.

47 "³⁵All the congregation of Israel are to celebrate this.

48 "But ³⁶if a stranger sojourns with you, and celebrates the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no * uncircumcised person may eat of it.

49 "³⁷The same law shall apply to the native as to the stranger who sojourns among you."

50 Then all the sons of Israel did so; they did just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron.

51 And on that same day ³⁸the LORD brought the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt ³⁹by their hosts.

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Exodus 12:23-51 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 12

This chapter begins with observing, that the month in which the above wonders were wrought in Egypt, and the following ordinance appointed to the Israelites, should hereafter be reckoned the first month in the year, Ex 12:1,2 on the tenth day of which a lamb here described was to be taken and kept till the fourteenth, and then slain, and its blood sprinkled on the posts of the houses of the Israelites, Ex 12:3-7, the manner of dressing and eating it is shown, Ex 12:8-11 and the reason of the institution of this ordinance being given, Ex 12:12-14, and an order to eat unleavened bread during seven days, in which the feast was to be kept, Ex 12:15-20, directions are also given for the immediate observance of it, and particularly about the sprinkling of the blood of the lamb, and the use of it, Ex 12:21-23, and this ordinance, which they were to instruct their children in, was to be kept by them in succeeding ages for ever, Ex 12:24-27 about the middle of the night it was first observed, all the firstborn in Egypt were slain, which made the Egyptians urgent upon the Israelites to depart in haste, Ex 12:28-33 and which they did with their unleavened dough, and with great riches they had borrowed of the Egyptians, Ex 12:34-36, the number of the children of Israel at the time of their departure, the mixed multitude and cattle that went with them, their baking their unleavened cakes, the time of their sojourning in Egypt, and of their coming out of it that night, which made it a remarkable one, are all particularly taken notice of, Ex 12:37-42, laws and rules are given concerning the persons that should partake of the passover, Ex 12:43-49 and the chapter is concluded with observing, that it was kept according to the command of God, and that it was on the same day it was first instituted and kept that Israel were brought out of Egypt, Ex 12:50,51.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 39

1. Exodus 11:4; Exodus 12:12, 13
2. Revelation 7:3; Revelation 9:4
3. 1 Corinthians 10:10; Hebrews 11:28
4. Exodus 12:14, 17; Exodus 13:5, 10
5. Exodus 10:2; Exodus 13:8, 14, 15; Deuteronomy 32:7; Joshua 4:6; Psalms 78:6
6. Exodus 12:11
7. Exodus 4:31
8. Exodus 11:4, 5
9. Numbers 8:17; Numbers 33:4; Psalms 135:8; Psalms 136:10
10. Exodus 4:23; Psalms 78:51; Psalms 105:36
11. Exodus 9:6
12. Exodus 11:6
13. Exodus 8:8
14. Exodus 8:25
15. Exodus 10:9, 26
16. Exodus 10:7; Exodus 11:1; Exodus 12:39; Psalms 105:38
17. Exodus 12:39
18. Exodus 3:21, 22; Exodus 11:2, 3; Psalms 105:37
19. Exodus 3:22
20. Numbers 33:3, 5
21. Genesis 47:11
22. Exodus 38:26; Numbers 1:46; Numbers 2:32; Numbers 11:21; Numbers 26:51
23. Numbers 11:4
24. Exodus 17:3; Numbers 20:19; Numbers 32:1; Deuteronomy 3:19
25. Exodus 6:1; Exodus 11:1; Exodus 12:31-33
26. Genesis 15:13, 16; Acts 7:6; Galatians 3:17
27. Exodus 12:17
28. Exodus 3:8, 10; Exodus 6:6
29. Exodus 13:10; Exodus 34:18; Deuteronomy 16:1
30. Exodus 12:11; Numbers 9:14
31. Exodus 12:48
32. Genesis 17:12, 13; Leviticus 22:11
33. Leviticus 22:10
34. Numbers 9:12; Psalms 34:20; John 19:33, 36
35. Exodus 12:6; Numbers 9:13, 14
36. Numbers 9:14
37. Leviticus 24:22; Num 15:15, 16, 29
38. Exodus 12:41
39. Exodus 6:26

Footnotes 22

[a]. Lit "spoken"
[b]. Lit "service"
[c]. Lit "What is this service to you?"
[d]. Lit "because He"
[e]. Lit "delivered"
[f]. Or "serve"
[g]. Lit "and"
[h]. Lit "made"
[i]. Or "of the sons of Israel who dwelt"
[j]. Lit "that it happened on this very day"
[k]. Or "of vigil"
[l]. Or "of vigil"
[m]. Lit "to the sons"
[n]. Lit "son of a stranger"
[o]. Lit "do"
[p]. Lit "sojourner"
[q]. Lit "does"
[r]. Lit "do"
[s]. Lit "One law"
[t]. Lit "be"
[u]. Lit "sojourner"
[v]. Lit "according to"