Exodus 12:1-13

The Passover Lamb

1 Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
2 "1This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you.
3 "Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, 'On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers' households, a lamb for each household.
4 'Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; according to what each man should eat, you are to divide the lamb.
5 'Your lamb shall be 2an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.
6 'You shall keep * it until the 3fourteenth * day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it 4at twilight.
7 '5Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.
8 'They shall eat the flesh 6that same night, 7roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with 8unleavened bread 9and bitter herbs.
9 'Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather * 10roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with 11its entrails.
10 '12And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire.
11 'Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste -it is 13the LORD'S Passover.
12 'For 14I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and 15against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments -16I am the LORD.
13 '17The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where * you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

Exodus 12:1-13 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.

Cross References 17

  • 1. Exodus 13:4; Exodus 23:15; Exodus 34:18; Deuteronomy 16:1
  • 2. Leviticus 22:18-21; Leviticus 23:12; Hebrews 9:14; 1 Peter 1:19
  • 3. Exodus 12:14, 17; Leviticus 23:5; Num 9:1-3, 11; Numbers 28:16
  • 4. Exodus 16:12; Deuteronomy 16:4, 6
  • 5. Exodus 12:22
  • 6. Exodus 34:25; Numbers 9:12
  • 7. Deuteronomy 16:7
  • 8. Deuteronomy 16:3, 4; 1 Corinthians 5:8
  • 9. Numbers 9:11
  • 10. Exodus 12:8
  • 11. Ex 29:13, 17, 22
  • 12. Exodus 16:19; Exodus 23:18; Exodus 34:25
  • 13. Ex 12:13, 21, 27, 43
  • 14. Exodus 11:4, 5
  • 15. Numbers 33:4; Psalms 82:1
  • 16. Exodus 6:2
  • 17. Hebrews 11:28

Footnotes 15

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