Exodus 12:15-25

15 Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread: on the very first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses; for whoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day -- that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
16 And on the first day ye shall have a holy convocation, and on the seventh day a holy convocation: no manner of work shall be done on them, save what is eaten by every person -- that only shall be done by you.
17 And ye shall keep the [feast of] unleavened [bread]; for in this same day have I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; and ye shall keep this day in your generations [as] an ordinance for ever.
18 In the first [month], on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, ye shall eat unleavened bread until the one and twentieth day of the month in the evening.
19 Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eateth what is leavened -- that soul shall be cut off from the assembly of Israel, whether he be a sojourner, or born in the land.
20 Ye shall eat nothing leavened: in all your dwellings shall ye eat unleavened bread.
21 And Moses called all the elders of Israel, and said to them, Seize and take yourselves lambs for your families, and kill the passover.
22 And take a bunch of hyssop, and dip [it] in the blood that is in the bason, and smear the lintel and the two door-posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.
23 And Jehovah will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood on the lintel, and on the two door-posts, Jehovah will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come into your houses to smite [you].
24 And ye shall observe this as an ordinance for thee and for thy sons for ever.
25 And it shall come to pass, when ye are come into the land that Jehovah will give you, as he has promised, that ye shall keep this service.

Exodus 12:15-25 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.

Footnotes 7

  • [a]. Lit. 'put a stop to.'
  • [b]. 'A calling together:' see Num. 10.2.
  • [c]. Lit. 'every soul.'
  • [d]. Or 'Draw out.'
  • [e]. Lit. 'small cattle:' see ver. 5 and Note b, ver. 3.
  • [f]. Here and ver. 27, 'plague,' see ver. 13.
  • [g]. Generally 'statute:' first occurrence Gen. 47.22, 'assigned portion,' in Prov. 30.8, 'daily need;' Ezek. 16.27, 'portion;' also Ex. 15.25; Lev. 10.13; Jer. 31.36.
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.