1Jehovah habló a Moisés y a Aarón en la tierra de Egipto, diciendo: 2—Este mes os será el principio de los meses; será para vosotros el primero de los meses del año. 3Hablad a toda la congregación de Israel, diciendo que el 10 de este mes cada uno tome para sí un cordero en cada casa paterna, un cordero por familia. 4Si la familia es demasiado pequeña como para comer el cordero, entonces lo compartirán él y su vecino de la casa inmediata, de acuerdo con el número de las personas. Según la cantidad que ha de comer cada uno, repartiréis el cordero. 5El cordero será sin defecto, macho de un año; tomaréis un cordero o un cabrito. 6Lo habréis de guardar hasta el día 14 de este mes, cuando lo degollará toda la congregación del pueblo de Israel al atardecer. 7Tomarán parte de la sangre y la pondrán en los dos postes y en el dintel de las puertas de las casas en donde lo han de comer. 8Aquella misma noche comerán la carne, asada al fuego. La comerán con panes sin levadura y con hierbas amargas. 9No comeréis del cordero nada crudo, ni cocido en agua; sino asado al fuego, con su cabeza, sus piernas y sus entrañas. 10Nada dejaréis de él hasta la mañana. Lo que quede hasta la mañana habréis de quemarlo en el fuego. 11Así lo habréis de comer: con vuestros cintos ceñidos, puestas las sandalias en vuestros pies y con vuestro bastón en la mano. Lo comeréis apresuradamente; es la Pascua de Jehovah. 12La misma noche yo pasaré por la tierra de Egipto y heriré de muerte a todo primogénito en la tierra de Egipto, tanto de los hombres como del ganado. Así ejecutaré actos justicieros contra todos los dioses de Egipto. Yo, Jehovah. 13La sangre os servirá de señal en las casas donde estéis. Yo veré la sangre y en cuanto a vosotros pasaré de largo y cuando castigue la tierra de Egipto, no habrá en vosotros ninguna plaga para destruiros. 14Habréis de conmemorar este día. Lo habréis de celebrar como fiesta a Jehovah a través de vuestras generaciones. Lo celebraréis como estatuto perpetuo. 15Siete días comeréis panes sin levadura. El primer día quitaréis de vuestras casas la levadura, porque cualquiera que coma algo con levadura desde el primer día hasta el séptimo, esa persona será excluida de Israel. 16El primer día habrá asamblea sagrada. También en el séptimo día habrá asamblea sagrada. Ningún trabajo haréis en ellos, excepto la preparación de lo que cada uno haya de comer. Sólo eso podréis hacer. 17Guardaréis la fiesta de los panes sin levadura, porque en este mismo día habré sacado vuestros ejércitos de la tierra de Egipto. Por tanto, guardaréis este día como estatuto perpetuo a través de vuestras generaciones. 18Comeréis los panes sin levadura en el mes primero, desde el día 14 del mes al atardecer, hasta el día 19Durante siete días no se hallará en vuestras casas nada que tenga levadura. Cualquiera que coma algo con levadura, sea forastero o natural de la tierra, esa persona será excluida de la congregación de Israel. 20No comeréis ninguna cosa con levadura. En todo lugar donde habitéis comeréis panes sin levadura. 21del mes al atardecer. 21Moisés convocó a todos los ancianos de Israel y les dijo: —Sacad y tomad del rebaño para vuestras familias, y sacrificad el cordero pascual. 22Tomad luego un manojo de hisopo y empapadlo en la sangre que está en la vasija, y untad el dintel y los postes de la puerta con la parte de la sangre que está en la vasija. Ninguno de vosotros salga de la puerta de su casa hasta la mañana. 23Porque Jehovah pasará matando a los egipcios, y cuando vea la sangre en el dintel y en los dos postes, pasará de largo aquella puerta y no dejará entrar en vuestras casas al destructor para matar. 24Guardaréis estas palabras como ley para vosotros y para vuestros hijos, para siempre. 25Cuando hayáis entrado en la tierra que Jehovah os dará, como lo prometió, guardaréis este rito. 26Y cuando os pregunten vuestros hijos: "¿Qué significa este rito para vosotros?," 27vosotros les responderéis: "Este es el sacrificio de la Pascua de Jehovah, quien pasó de largo las casas de los hijos de Israel cuando mató a los egipcios y libró nuestras casas." Entonces el pueblo se inclinó y adoró. 28Los hijos de Israel fueron y lo hicieron; como Jehovah había mandado a Moisés y a Aarón, así lo hicieron. 29Aconteció que a la medianoche Jehovah mató a todo primogénito en la tierra de Egipto, desde el primogénito del faraón que se sentaba en el trono, hasta el primogénito del preso que estaba en la mazmorra, y todo primerizo del ganado. 30Aquella noche se levantaron el faraón, todos sus servidores y todos los egipcios, pues había un gran clamor en Egipto, porque no había casa donde no hubiese un muerto. 31Entonces hizo llamar a Moisés y a Aarón de noche, y les dijo: —¡Levantaos y salid de en medio de mi pueblo, vosotros y los hijos de Israel! Id y servid a Jehovah, como habéis dicho. 32Tomad también vuestras ovejas y vuestras vacas, como habéis dicho, e idos. Y bendecidme a mí también. 33Los egipcios apremiaban al pueblo, apresurándose a echarlos del país, porque decían: —¡Todos seremos muertos! 34La gente llevaba sobre sus hombros la masa que aún no tenía levadura y sus artesas envueltas en sus mantos. 35Los hijos de Israel hicieron también conforme al mandato de Moisés, y pidieron a los egipcios objetos de plata, objetos de oro y vestidos. 36Jehovah dio gracia al pueblo ante los ojos de los egipcios, quienes les dieron lo que pidieron. Así despojaron a los egipcios. 37Partieron, pues, los hijos de Israel de Ramesés a Sucot, unos 600.000 hombres de a pie, sin contar los niños. 38También fue con ellos una gran multitud de toda clase de gente, y sus ovejas y ganado en gran número. 39De la masa que habían sacado de Egipto, cocieron panes sin leudar, porque no le habían puesto levadura; ya que cuando fueron echados de Egipto, no pudieron detenerse ni para preparar comida. 40El tiempo que los hijos de Israel habitaron en Egipto fue de 430 años. 41Pasados los 430 años, en el mismo día salieron de la tierra de Egipto todos los escuadrones de Jehovah. 42Esta es noche de guardar en honor de Jehovah, por haberlos sacado de la tierra de Egipto. Todos los hijos de Israel, a través de sus generaciones, deben guardar esta noche en honor de Jehovah. 43Jehovah dijo a Moisés y a Aarón: —Este es el estatuto acerca de la Pascua: Ningún extranjero comerá de ella. 44Pero todo esclavo que alguien haya comprado por dinero comerá de ella después que lo hayas circuncidado. 45El que es extranjero y mercenario no la comerá. 46Será comida en una casa; no llevarás de aquella carne fuera de la casa. Tampoco quebraréis ninguno de sus huesos. 47Toda la congregación de Israel la celebrará. 48Si algún extranjero que reside entre vosotros quisiera celebrar la Pascua de Jehovah, que sea circuncidado todo varón de su familia. Entonces podrá celebrarla, y será como el natural de la tierra. Pero ningún incircunciso comerá de ella. 49La misma ley será para el natural y para el extranjero que viva entre vosotros. 50Así lo hicieron todos los hijos de Israel. Tal como lo mandó Jehovah a Moisés y a Aarón, así lo hicieron. 51Y sucedió que aquel mismo día Jehovah sacó de la tierra de Egipto a los hijos de Israel, por sus ejércitos.
Matthew Henry - Concise Commentary 1 The Lord makes all things new to those whom he delivers from the bondage of Satan, and takes to himself to be his people. The time when he does this is to them the beginning of a new life. God appointed that, on the night wherein they were to go out of Egypt, each family should kill a lamb, or that two or three families, if small, should kill one lamb. This lamb was to be eaten in the manner here directed, and the blood to be sprinkled on the door-posts, to mark the houses of the Israelites from those of the Egyptians. The angel of the Lord, when destroying the first-born of the Egyptians, would pass over the houses marked by the blood of the lamb: hence the name of this holy feast or ordinance. The passover was to be kept every year, both as a remembrance of Israel's preservation and deliverance out of Egypt, and as a remarkable type of Christ. Their safety and deliverance were not a reward of their own righteousness, but the gift of mercy. Of this they were reminded, and by this ordinance they were taught, that all blessings came to them through the shedding and sprinkling of blood. Observe, 1. The paschal lamb was typical. Christ is our passover,
1Cor 5:7. Christ is the Lamb of God,
John 1:29; often in the Revelation he is called the Lamb. It was to be in its prime; Christ offered up himself in the midst of his days, not when a babe at Bethlehem. It was to be without blemish; the Lord Jesus was a Lamb without spot: the judge who condemned Christ declared him innocent. It was to be set apart four days before, denoting the marking out of the Lord Jesus to be a Saviour, both in the purpose and in the promise. It was to be slain, and roasted with fire, denoting the painful sufferings of the Lord Jesus, even unto death, the death of the cross. The wrath of God is as fire, and Christ was made a curse for us. Not a bone of it must be broken, which was fulfilled in Christ,
John 19:33, denoting the unbroken strength of the Lord Jesus. 2. The sprinkling of the blood was typical. The blood of the lamb must be sprinkled, denoting the applying of the merits of Christ's death to our souls; we must receive the atonement,
Roma 5:11. Faith is the bunch of hyssop, by which we apply the promises, and the benefits of the blood of Christ laid up in them, to ourselves. It was to be sprinkled on the door-posts, denoting the open profession we are to make of faith in Christ. It was not to be sprinkled upon the threshold; which cautions us to take heed of trampling under foot the blood of the covenant. It is precious blood, and must be precious to us. The blood, thus sprinkled, was a means of preserving the Israelites from the destroying angel, who had nothing to do where the blood was. The blood of Christ is the believer's protection from the wrath of God, the curse of the law, and the damnation of hell,
Roma 8:1. 3. The solemn eating of the lamb was typical of our gospel duty to Christ. The paschal lamb was not to be looked upon only, but to be fed upon. So we must by faith make Christ our own; and we must receive spiritual strength and nourishment from him, as from our food, see
John 6:53,
John 6:55. It was all to be eaten; those who by faith feed upon Christ, must feed upon a whole Christ; they must take Christ and his yoke, Christ and his cross, as well as Christ and his crown. It was to be eaten at once, not put by till morning. To-day Christ is offered, and is to be accepted while it is called to-day, before we sleep the sleep of death. It was to be eaten with bitter herbs, in remembrance of the bitterness of their bondage in Egypt; we must feed upon Christ with sorrow and brokenness of heart, in remembrance of sin. Christ will be sweet to us, if sin be bitter. It was to be eaten standing, with their staves in their hands, as being ready to depart. When we feed upon Christ by faith, we must forsake the rule and the dominion of sin; sit loose to the world, and every thing in it; forsake all for Christ, and reckon it no bad bargain,
Hebre 13:13,
Hebre 13:14. 4. The feast of unleavened bread was typical of the Christian life,
1Cor 5:7,
1Cor 5:8. Having received Christ Jesus the Lord, we must continually delight ourselves in Christ Jesus. No manner of work must be done, that is, no care admitted and indulged, which does not agree with, or would lessen this holy joy. The Jews were very strict as to the passover, so that no leaven should be found in their houses. It must be a feast kept in charity, without the leaven of malice; and in sincerity, without the leaven of hypocrisy. It was by an ordinance for ever; so long as we live we must continue feeding upon Christ, rejoicing in him always, with thankful mention of the great things he has done for us.
21 That night, when the first-born were to be destroyed, no Israelite must stir out of doors till called to march out of Egypt. Their safety was owing to the blood of sprinkling. If they put themselves from under the protection of that, it was at their peril. They must stay within, to wait for the salvation of the Lord; it is good to do so. In after-times they should carefully teach their children the meaning of this service. It is good for children to ask about the things of God; they that ask for the way will find it. The keeping of this solemnity every year was, 1. To look backward, that they might remember what great things God had done for them and their fathers. Old mercies, to ourselves, or to our fathers, must not be forgotten, that God may be praised, and our faith in him encouraged. 2. It was designed to look forward, as an earnest of the great sacrifice of the Lamb of God in the fulness of time. Christ our passover was sacrificed for us; his death was our life.
29 The Egyptians had been for three days and nights kept in anxiety and horror by the darkness; now their rest is broken by a far more terrible calamity. The plague struck their first-born, the joy and hope of their families. They had slain the Hebrews' children, now God slew theirs. It reached from the throne to the dungeon: prince and peasant stand upon the same level before God's judgments. The destroying angel entered every dwelling unmarked with blood, as the messenger of woe. He did his dreadful errand, leaving not a house in which there was not one dead. Imagine then the cry that rang through the land of Egypt, the long, loud shriek of agony that burst from every dwelling. It will be thus in that dreadful hour when the Son of man shall visit sinners with the last judgment. God's sons, his first-born, were now released. Men had better come to God's terms at first, for he will never come to theirs. Now Pharaoh's pride is abased, and he yields. God's word will stand; we get nothing by disputing, or delaying to submit. In this terror the Egyptians would purchase the favour and the speedy departure of Israel. Thus the Lord took care that their hard-earned wages should be paid, and the people provided for their journey.
37 The children of Israel set forward without delay. A mixed multitude went with them. Some, perhaps, willing to leave their country, laid waste by plagues; others, out of curiosity; perhaps a few out of love to them and their religion. But there were always those among the Israelites who were not Israelites. Thus there are still hypocrites in the church. This great event was 430 years from the promise made to Abraham: see
Galat 3:17. So long the promise of a settlement was unfulfilled. But though God's promises are not performed quickly, they will be, in their season. This is that night of the Lord, that remarkable night, to be celebrated in all generations. The great things God does for his people, are to be not only a few days' wonder, but to be remembered throughout all ages; especially the work of our redemption by Christ. This first passover-night was a night of the Lord, much to be observed; but the last passover-night, in which Christ was betrayed and in which the first passover, with the rest of the Jewish ceremonies, was done away, was a night of the Lord, much more to be observed. Then a yoke, heavier than that of Egypt, was broken from off our necks, and a land, better than that of Canaan, set before us. It was a redemption to be celebrated in heaven, for ever and ever.
43 In times to come, all the congregation of Israel must keep the passover. All that share in God's mercies should join in thankful praises for them. The New Testament passover, the Lord's supper, ought not to be neglected by any. Strangers, if circumcised, might eat of the passover. Here is an early indication of favour to the gentiles. This taught the Jews that their being a nation favoured by God, entitled them to their privileges, not their descent from Abraham. Christ our passover is sacrificed for us,
1Cor 5:7; his blood is the only ransom for our souls; without the shedding of it there is no remission; without the sprinkling of it there can be no salvation. Have we, by faith in him, sheltered our souls from deserved vengeance under the protection of his atoning blood? Do we keep close to him, constantly depending upon him? Do we so profess our faith in the Redeemer, and our obligations to him, that all who pass by may know to whom we belong? Do we stand prepared for his service, ready to walk in his ways, and to separate ourselves from his enemies? These are questions of vast importance to the soul; may the Lord direct our consciences honestly to answer them.