1And Jehovah said to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2This month shall be the chief of months for you. It shall be the first of the months of the year for you. 3Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, On the tenth of this month, they shall each man take for themselves an animal of the flock for a father’s house, a flock animal for a house. 4And if the house is too small for a flock animal, he and his neighbor next to his house shall take according to the number of souls, each man according to the mouth of his eating, you shall count concerning the flock animal. 5A flock animal, a male without blemish, a son of a year, shall be to you. You shall take from the sheep or from the goats. 6And it shall be for you to keep until the fourteenth day of this month. And all the assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it between the evenings. 7And they shall take from the blood, and put it on the two side doorposts and on the lintel, on the houses in which they eat it. 8And they shall eat the flesh in this night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9Do not eat it raw, or boiling, boiled in water, but roasted with fire; its head with its legs and with its inward parts. 10And you shall not leave any of it until morning. And you shall burn with fire that left from it until morning. 11And you shall eat it this way: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Passover to Jehovah. 12And I will pass through in the land of Egypt in this night. And I will strike every first-born in the land of Egypt, from man even to livestock. And I will execute judgments on all the gods of Egypt. I am Jehovah! 13And the blood shall be a sign to you, on the houses where you are. And I will see the blood, and I will pass over you. And the plague shall not be on you to destroy, when I strike in the land of Egypt. 14And the day shall be a memorial for you. And you shall celebrate it as a feast to Jehovah, for your generations. You shall celebrate it as a law forever. 15You shall eat unleavened bread seven days. Indeed, on the first day you shall cause leaven to cease from your houses. For anyone eating any leaven, that soul shall be cut off from Israel, from the first day until the seventh day. 16And on the first day shall be a holy gathering, and in the seventh day a holy gathering shall be to you. Not any work may be done on them. Only what must be eaten by your soul, that alone may be done by you. 17And you shall observe the unleavened bread, for on this very day I brought out your armies from the land of Egypt. And you shall observe this day for your generations, a statute forever. 18In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month, at evening. 19For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses. For anyone eating any leaven, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, among the aliens, and among the natives of the land. 20You shall eat no leaven, not any. You shall eat unleavened bread in all your dwellings. 21And Moses called to all the elders of Israel and said to them, Draw out and take of the flock for you and for your families, and kill the passover. 22And take a bunch of hyssop and dip in the blood in the basin. And touch some of the blood in the basin to the lintel and on the two doorposts. And you shall not go out, anyone from the door of his house until morning. 23And Jehovah will pass through to strike Egypt. And He will see the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, and Jehovah will pass over the door. And He will not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. 24And you shall observe this Word for an ordinance for you, and for your sons forever. 25And it shall be, when you come into the land which Jehovah shall give to you, as He has spoken, you shall observe this service. 26And it shall be, when your sons say to you, What is this service to you? 27Then you shall say, A sacrifice of a passover of Jehovah, who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He struck Egypt. And He delivered our houses. And the people bowed and worshiped. 28And the sons of Israel went out and did as Jehovah commanded Moses and Aaron. So they did. 29And it happened at midnight. Jehovah struck every first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh, the one sitting on the throne, to the first-born of the captive who was in the prison house, and every first-born of animals. 30And Pharaoh arose by night, he and all his servants, and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one who had died. 31And he called to Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Arise, go out from the midst of my people, both you and the sons of Israel. And go serve Jehovah according to your word. 32Take both your flocks and your herds, as you said, and go. And bless me also. 33And the Egyptians were strong on the people, to hasten to send them away from the land. For they said, All of us are about to die. 34And the people took up their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothing on their shoulders. 35And the sons of Israel did according to the word of Moses. And they asked from the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing. 36And Jehovah gave favor to the people in the eyes of the Egyptians. And they granted their requests. And they plundered Egypt. 37And the sons of Israel traveled from Rameses to Succoth, the men being about six hundred thousand on foot, apart from little ones. 38And also a mixed multitude went up with them, and flocks, and herds, very many livestock. 39And they baked the dough which they brought out from Egypt into unleavened cakes. For it was not leavened, because they were driven out from Egypt, and they were not able to delay. And also they had not prepared food for a journey for themselves. 40And the time of the dwelling of the sons of Israel, which they dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. 41And it happened, from the end of four hundred and thirty years; it was on this very day, all the armies of Jehovah went out from the land of Egypt. 42It is a night of celebration to Jehovah, for bringing them out from the land of Egypt. This night is a celebration for all the sons of Israel to their generations. 43And Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the Passover. No stranger may eat of it. 44And every man’s slave, a purchase of silver, you shall circumcise him, then he may eat of it. 45A foreigner and a hired servant may not eat of it. 46It shall be eaten in one house. You shall not carry any of the flesh outside from the house. And you shall not break a bone in it. 47All the congregation of Israel shall prepare it. 48And when a sojourner shall stay with you, and will do the Passover to Jehovah, let every male to him be circumcised, and then he may come near to prepare it. And he shall be like a native of the land. But any uncircumcised one may not eat of it. 49One law shall be to the native, and to the sojourner, the one staying in your midst. 50And all the sons of Israel did as Jehovah commanded Moses and Aaron; so they did. 51And it happened on this day, Jehovah brought out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt by their armies.
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.
