Exodus 12:25

12:21-28 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.

And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land,.... To the land of Canaan, towards which they were just about to set forward on their journey, and in a few years would be in the possession of: which the Lord will give you according as he hath promised; to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to them: that ye shall keep this service; enjoined them, respecting the passover lamb, and leavened bread, with all the rites and ceremonies relative thereunto, excepting such as were peculiar to the first passover in Egypt.

A bunch of hyssop - The species here designated does not appear to be the plant now bearing the name. It would seem to have been an aromatic plant, common in Palestine and near Mount Sinai, with a long straight stalk and leaves well adapted for the purpose of sprinkling. Bason - The rendering rests on good authority and gives a good sense: but the word means "threshold" in some other passages and in Egyptian, and is taken here in that sense by some versions. If that rendering be correct it would imply that the lamb was slain on the threshold. None ... shall go out ... - There would be no safety outside the precincts protected by the blood of the lamb; a symbolism explained by the margin reference.

The blood of my sacrifice - It is generally considered that this must refer to the Paschal Lamb. See Exodus 12:7 , Exodus 12:11 , Exodus 12:13 , Exodus 12:22-23 , Exodus 12:27 . The fat of my sacrifice - Strictly, the fat of my feast; the "best part" of the feast, that is, the Paschal lamb itself. Compare Exodus 34:25.

25–27a. How, in future years, when Israel is in Canaan, the memory of the deliverance is to be kept alive: the children of successive generations, at the time when the Passover is celebrated, are to be instructed respecting its origin. The verses form one of the parenetic passages in Exodus (cf. Exodus 13:8-10 ; Exodus 13:14-16 , Exodus 15:26 ; and see p. 87), which in style and tone approximate to Deuteronomy, and may be additions due to the compiler of JE. The injunction contained in these verses is still observed by the Jews, in the part of the Passover service called the Haggâdâh, or ‘telling’: see Oesterley and Box, op. cit. p. 359 ff. 26, 27a. For the instruction of the children, cf. Exodus 10:2 , Exodus 13:8 , Deuteronomy 4:9 b, Deuteronomy 6:7 (= dey 11:19); and esp. the similarly worded passages, Exodus 13:14-15 , Deuteronomy 6:20 ff., Joshua 4:6-7 (J), Joshua 4:21-24 (D[131]). [131] Deuteronomic passages in Josh., Jud., Kings. 27b. bowed the head and worshipped ( Exodus 4:31 )] In acknowledgement of the promises of protection and deliverance given in vv. 21–23.

22. hyssop—a small red moss [Hasselquist]; the caper-plant [Royle]. It was used in the sprinkling, being well adapted for such purposes, as it grows in bushes—putting out plenty of suckers from a single root. And it is remarkable that it was ordained in the arrangements of an all-wise Providence that the Roman soldiers should undesignedly, on their part, make use of this symbolical plant to Christ when, as our Passover, He was sacrificed for us [Joh 19:29]. none … shall go out at the door of his house until the morning—This regulation was peculiar to the first celebration, and intended, as some think, to prevent any suspicion attaching to them of being agents in the impending destruction of the Egyptians; there is an allusion to it (Isa 26:20).

(cf. Exodus 12:13 ). "He will not suffer (יתּן) the destroyer to come into your houses:" Jehovah effected the destruction of the first-born through המּשׁחית, the destroyer, or destroying angel, ὁ ὁλοθρεύων ( Hebrews 11:28 ), i.e., not a fallen angel, but the angel of Jehovah, in whom Jehovah revealed Himself to the patriarchs and Moses. This is not at variance with Psalm 78:49 ; for the writer of this psalm regards not only the slaying of the first-born, but also the pestilence ( Exodus 9:1-7 ), as effected through the medium of angels of evil: though, according to the analogy of 1 Samuel 13:17 , המּשׁחית might certainly be understood collectively as applying to a company of angels. Exodus 12:24 . "This word," i.e., the instructions respecting the Passover, they were to regard as an institution for themselves and their children for ever (עד־עולם in the same sense as עולם, Genesis 17:7 , Genesis 17:13 ); and when dwelling in the promised land, they were to explain the meaning of this service to their sons. The ceremony is called עבדה, "service," inasmuch as it was the fulfilment of a divine command, a performance demanded by God, though it promoted the good of Israel.

The Table of Shew-Bread (cf. Exodus 37:10-16 ). - The table for the shew-bread ( Exodus 25:30 ) was to be made of acacia-wood, two cubits long, one broad, and one and a half high, and to be plated with pure gold, having a golden wreath round, and a "finish (מסגּרת) of a hand-breadth round about," i.e., a border of a hand-breadth in depth surrounding and enclosing the four sides, upon which the top of the table was laid, and into the four corners of which the feet of the table were inserted. A golden wreath was to be placed round this rim. As there is no article attached to זר־זהב in Exodus 25:25 (cf. Exodus 37:12 ), so as to connect it with the זר in Exodus 25:24 , we must conclude that there were two such ornamental wreaths, one round the slab of the table, the other round the rim which was under the slab. At the four corners of the four feet, near the point at which they joined the rim, four rings were to be fastened for בּתּים, i.e., to hold the poles with which the table was carried, as in the case of the ark.

[Reformed Biblical] lorious oper ations. Exod us 25:9 Exodus 25:10 ## An ark, or little chest, or coffer , for the uses after mentioned. ## Two cubits and a half; understand it of the common cubit, which is generally conceived to contain a foot and a half of our measure. See Gen_6:15. Exodus 25:11 Or, a border, raised up above the rest of the ark, as a crown is above that which it is applied to, only a crown is round, and this was square. This was both for ornament, and for the fastening of the covering of the ark to it. Exodus 25:12 ## In the four corners; in the middle of each corner, for conveniency of carriage. See 1Ki_7:30. Exodus 25:13 E xodus 25:14 Exodus 25:15 Exodus 25:16 To wit, the two tables of stone, wherein the decalogue was written, called the ## testimony here, and Ex o_30:6 Lev_16:13; and more fully the tables of the testimony , Exo_31:18 Num_1:50; because they were witnesses of that covenant made between God and his people, whence they are called the tables of the covenant, Deu_9:9, and the ark, the ark of the covenant , Num_10:33. This being as a public record both of God’s mercy promised to them, and of the