Exodus 12:9

9 Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs.

Exodus 12:9 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
9 Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.
English Standard Version (ESV)
9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts.
New Living Translation (NLT)
9 Do not eat any of the meat raw or boiled in water. The whole animal—including the head, legs, and internal organs—must be roasted over a fire.
The Message Bible (MSG)
9 Don't eat any of it raw or boiled in water; make sure it's roasted - the whole animal, head, legs, and innards.
American Standard Version (ASV)
9 Eat not of it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roast with fire; its head with its legs and with the inwards thereof.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
9 Don't eat any of it raw or boiled but roast the whole animal over a fire.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
9 Do not eat any of it raw or cooked in boiling water, but only roasted over fire-its head as well as its legs and inner organs.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
9 Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water. Instead, cook it over the fire. Cook the head, legs and inside parts.

Exodus 12:9 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 12:9

Eat not of it raw
Not roasted enough; and so Jarchi says, that what is not sufficiently roasted, or is not thoroughly and down roasted, is in the Arabic language called (an) F21, the word here used; and so Maimonides F23 says it signifies flesh, on which the fire begins to operate, and is roasted a little, but not enough for eating. And indeed there seems to be no necessity of a prohibition of eating the flesh quite raw: some F24 derive the word from a root which signifies to break, and suppose that this rule forbids the breaking or cutting it in pieces; that as it was to be roasted whole, and not a bone of it to be broken, so it was to be brought to table whole, and the whole to be eaten; but then it could not be eaten without being cut to pieces. Abarbinel F25 takes the word in the usual signification of it, "now", as if the sense was, ye shall not eat of it now, not before the evening of the fourteenth day; but whereas Moses had told them, ( Exodus 12:6 ) , that the lamb was to be kept up until the fourteenth day, it was needless to tell them that they should not eat it now or immediately; the first sense is best, and this shows that Christ, the antitype of this lamb, is not to be eaten in a carnal but spiritual manner, of which our Lord treats in ( John 6:31-59 ) , nor sodden at all with water; the Targum of Jonathan is,

``neither boiled in wine, nor in oil, nor in other liquor, nor boiled in water.''

This, with respect to the antitype, shows, that Christ is not to be received in a cold lukewarm manner, and with indifference; and that nothing is to be mixed, added, and joined unto him, but he alone is to be regarded in the business of our acceptance, justification, and salvation:

but roast with fire;
for the reasons before given: the manner of roasting it, according to the Jewish canons F26, was this, they bring a spit made of the wood of pomegranate, and thrust it into its mouth quite through it, and put the thighs and entrails within it; they do not roast the passover lamb on an iron spit, nor on an iron grate. Maimonides F1 is a little more particular and exact in his account; to the question, how do they roast it? he replies,

``they transfix it through the middle of the mouth to its posteriors, with a wooden spit, and they hang it in the midst of a furnace, and the fire below:''

so that it was not turned upon a spit, according to our manner of roasting, but was suspended on a hook, and roasted by the fire underneath, and so was a more exact figure of Christ suspended on the cross, and enduring the fire of divine wrath. And Justin Martyr F2 is still more particular, who was by birth a Samaritan, and was well versed in Jewish affairs; he, even in conversing with Trypho the Jew, who could have contradicted him had he said what was wrong, says, the lamb was roasted in the form of a cross; one spit, he says, went through from the lower parts to the head, and again another across the shoulders, to which the hands (or rather the legs) of the lamb were fastened and hung; and so was a very lively emblem of Christ crucified:

his head, with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof;
or with its inwards F3, these were all to be roasted together, the whole lamb with all that belonged to it, with which the above canon of the Jews agrees.


FOOTNOTES:

F21 <arabic> "cruda fuit caro", Golius, col. 2476. Semicocta, "cruda fuit caro", Castell. Lex. col. 2296. Vid. Hottinger. Smegma Oriental. p. 169, 170.
F23 Hilchot Korban Pesach. c. 8. sect. 6.
F24 Oleaster apud Rivet in loc. Gusset. Comment. Ebr. p. 487, 488; so some in Aben Ezra.
F25 So Marinus Brixianus in Arca Noe.
F26 Misn. Pesach. c. 7. sect. 1, 2.
F1 Hilchot Korban Pesach. c. 8. sect. 10.
F2 Dialog. cum Trypho Jud. p. 259.
F3 (wbrq lew) "et cum interioribus ejus", Pagninus, Tigurine version, so Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Exodus 12:9 In-Context

7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.
8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast.
9 Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs.
10 Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it.
11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover.

Cross References 1

  • 1. Ex 29:13,17,22; Leviticus 3:3
Scripture quoted by permission.  Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.  NIV®.  Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica.  All rights reserved worldwide.