Exodus 12:3-11

3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb 1according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household.
4 And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb.
5 Your lamb shall be 2without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats,
6 and you shall keep it until the 3fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.[a]
7 "Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the 4two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.
8 They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with 5unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it.
9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but 6roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts.
10 And 7you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn.
11 In this manner you shall eat it: with 8your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. 9It is the LORD's Passover.

Exodus 12:3-11 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 9

  • 1. ver. 21
  • 2. Leviticus 22:19-21; Deuteronomy 17:1; Malachi 1:8, 14; Hebrews 9:14
  • 3. ver. 18; Leviticus 23:5; Numbers 9:3; Numbers 28:16; Joshua 5:10; Ezra 6:19
  • 4. ver. 22
  • 5. Exodus 23:18; Exodus 34:25; Numbers 9:11; Deuteronomy 16:3; 1 Corinthians 5:8
  • 6. Deuteronomy 16:7; 2 Chronicles 35:13
  • 7. Exodus 23:18; Exodus 29:34; Exodus 34:25; Deuteronomy 16:4; [Leviticus 7:15]
  • 8. [Luke 12:35; Ephesians 6:14; 1 Peter 1:13]
  • 9. ver. 27; Leviticus 23:5; Deuteronomy 16:5; [1 Corinthians 5:7]

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Hebrew between the two evenings
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.