Exodus 12:1-33

1 Also the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
2 This month, the beginning of months to you, shall be the first in the months of the year. (This month shall be the beginning of months for you, yea, it shall become the first month of the new year.)
3 Speak ye to all the company of the sons of Israel, and say ye to them, In the tenth day of this month, each man take a lamb by his families and houses; (Speak ye to all the Israelites, and say ye to them, On the tenth day of this month, each man take a lamb for his family, one for each household;)
4 but if the number (of people) is less, that it may not suffice to eat the lamb, he shall take (it with) his neighbour, which is joined to his house, by the number of souls, that may suffice to the eating of the lamb. (but if the number of people in his family is too small to eat the lamb, he shall eat it with his neighbour who is near to his house, yea, with the number of souls who shall suffice to eat all of the lamb.)
5 Forsooth the lamb shall be a male of one year, without wem; by which custom ye shall take also a kid, if a lamb may not be had in good manner; (And the lamb shall be a male of one year, without blemish, or without fault; for which rite ye may also take a goat kid, if a lamb cannot be had in good manner;)
6 and ye shall keep him till to the fourteenth day of this month; and all the multitude of the sons of Israel shall offer him at eventide.
7 And they shall take of his blood, and they shall put it on ever either (door-)post, and in the lintels, or higher thresholds, of the houses, in which they shall eat him; (And they shall take some of his blood, and they shall put it on both door-posts, and on the lintels, or the upper thresholds, of the houses, in which they shall eat the lamb;)
8 and in that night they shall eat (the) flesh, roasted with fire, and therf loaves, with the herb lettuce of the field/with bitternesses of the field. (and on that night they shall eat the flesh, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread, and bitter herbs of the field.)
9 Ye shall not eat thereof any raw thing, neither sodden in water, but roasted only by fire; ye shall devour the head with the feet, and with the entrails thereof; (Ye shall not eat any of it raw, or boiled in water, but only that which is roasted in the fire; ye shall devour the head with the feet, and all its entrails;)
10 neither anything thereof shall abide till to the morrowtide; if anything thereof is left (over), ye shall burn it in the fire.
11 Forsooth thus ye shall eat him; ye shall gird your reins, and ye shall have shoes in your feet, and ye shall hold staves in your hands, and ye shall eat it hastily; for it is pask, that is, the passing [forth] of the Lord. (And ye shall eat it thus; ye shall gird up your reins, and ye shall have shoes on your feet, and ye shall hold your staff in your hand, and ye shall eat it hastily; for it is the Passover, that is, the Passing Over of the Lord.)
12 And I shall pass through the land of Egypt in that night, and I shall smite all the first engendered thing(s)/(all) the first begotten thing(s) in the land of Egypt, from man till to beast; and I the Lord shall make dooms in all the gods of Egypt. (And I shall pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and I shall strike down all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from man unto beast; and I the Lord shall execute judgement against all the gods of Egypt.)
13 Forsooth [the] blood shall be to you into (a) sign, in the houses in which ye shall be; and I shall see the blood, and I shall pass (over) you; neither a wound destroying shall be in you, when I shall smite the land of Egypt. (And the blood on the houses in which ye shall be, shall be a sign of you; and I shall see the blood, and I shall pass over you; and there shall be no destroying wound inflicted upon you, when I shall strike the land of Egypt.)
14 Forsooth ye shall have this day into mind, and ye shall make it solemn to the Lord in your generations, by everlasting worshipping. (And ye shall remember this day, and on it ye shall dedicate a Feast unto the Lord in all your generations to come, by an everlasting rite.)
15 Seven days ye shall eat therf bread; in the first day nothing dighted with sourdough shall be in your houses; whoever shall eat anything dighted with sourdough, from the first day till to the seventh day, that soul shall perish from Israel. (For seven days ye shall eat unleavened bread; from the first day nothing made with yeast shall be in your houses; whoever shall eat anything made with yeast, from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall perish from the midst of Israel.)
16 The first day shall be holy and solemn, and the seventh day (also) shall be worshipful by the same hallowing; ye shall not do any work in those days, except these things that pertain to meat; (On the first day there shall be a holy gathering, and on the seventh day there shall also be a holy gathering; ye shall not do any work on those days, except those things that pertain to the preparation of meals;)
17 and ye shall keep (the feast of) therf bread. For in that same day I shall lead out of the land of Egypt your host; and ye shall keep this day in your generations by everlasting custom. (and ye shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For on that day I led your host out of the land of Egypt; and ye shall remember this day in all your generations to come, by an everlasting rite.)
18 In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, at eventide, ye shall eat therf bread, till to the one and twentieth day of the same month at eventide. (In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, from the evening on, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the same month, in the evening.)
19 In seven days nothing dighted with sourdough shall be found in your houses; if any eateth anything dighted with sourdough, his soul shall perish from the company of Israel, as well of comelings, that be heathen men converted to the faith of Jews, as of them that be born in the land. (Yea, for seven days nothing made with yeast shall be found in your houses; if anyone eateth anything made with yeast, they shall perish, or be cut off, from the congregation of Israel, yea, this is for both newcomers, that is, the heathen who be converted to the Jewish faith, as well as for those who be born in the land.)
20 Ye shall not eat anything made with sourdough, and ye shall eat therf bread in all your dwelling places.
21 Forsooth Moses called all the elder men of the sons of Israel, and said to them, Go ye, and take ye a beast by your families, and offer ye pask; (And so Moses called all the elders of the Israelites, and said to them, Go ye, and get ye a beast for your families, and offer ye the Passover;)
22 and dip ye a bundle of hyssop, in the blood which is in the threshold, either in a vessel beside the threshold, and sprinkle ye thereof on the lintel, and ever either (door-)post; none of you shall go out at the door of his house till the morrowtide. (and dip ye a bundle of hyssop in the blood which is on the threshold, or in a vessel beside the threshold, and sprinkle some of it on the lintel, and on both door-posts; and then none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.)
23 For the Lord shall pass [forth] smiting the Egyptians; and when he shall see the blood in the lintel, and in ever either post (and when he shall see the blood on the lintel, and on both door-posts), he shall pass (over) the door of the house; and he shall not suffer the smiter to enter into your houses, and to hurt you.
24 Keep thou this word; it shall be a lawful thing to thee and to thy sons till into without end. (Do thou this thing; yea, it shall be an everlasting rite for thee and for thy sons.)
25 And when ye shall enter into the land which the Lord shall give to you, as he promised, ye shall keep these ceremonies;
26 and when your sons shall say to you, What is this religion? (What is the meaning of this rite?)
27 ye shall say to them, It is the sacrifice of the passing (over) of the Lord, when he passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt, and smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses (but spared our houses). And the people was bowed, and worshipped.
28 And the sons of Israel went out (And the Israelites went out), and did as the Lord commanded to Moses and Aaron.
29 Forsooth it was done in the midst of the night, the Lord smote all the first begotten thing(s) in the land of Egypt, from the first begotten of Pharaoh, that sat in the throne of him (who sat on his throne), till to the first begotten of a captive woman, that was in (the) prison, and all the first engendered of beasts.
30 And Pharaoh rose (up) in the night, and all his servants, and all Egypt; and a great cry was made in Egypt; for none house was, in which a dead man lay not (for there was not one house in which there was not a dead son).
31 And when Moses and Aaron were called in the night, Pharaoh said, Rise ye, and go ye out from my people, both ye and the sons of Israel; go ye, offer ye to the Lord, as ye say; (And when Moses and Aaron were called for in the night, Pharaoh said, Rise ye up, and go ye out from my people, both ye and the Israelites; go ye, and worship ye the Lord, as ye say that ye want to do;)
32 (and) take ye your sheep and [your] great beasts, as ye asked (for); and go ye, and (also) bless ye me.
33 And the Egyptians constrained the people to go out of the land swiftly, and said, All we shall die! (And the Egyptians compelled the people to swiftly go out of the land, saying, Or else we shall all die!)

Exodus 12:1-33 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.