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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 12:1-20

Moses and Aaron here receive of the Lord what they were afterwards to deliver to the people concerning the ordinance of the passover, to which is prefixed an order for a new style to be observed in their months (Exod. 12:1, 2): This shall be to you the beginning of months. They had hitherto begun their year from the middle of September, but henceforward they were to begin it from the middle of March, at least in all their ecclesiastical computations. Note, It is good to begin the day, and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 12:1

And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt ,.... Before they and the children of Israel came out of it, before the slaying of the firstborn, yea, before Moses came from the presence of Pharaoh, and had given him notice of it; and it is very probable even before the three days darkness, seeing it seems necessary it should be four days before the passover, since on the tenth day the lamb was to be taken, and on the fourteenth slain, Exodus 12:3 and by what follows it looks... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 12:1

Verse 1 1.And the Lord spake. Although the institution of the Passover in some degree appertains to the Fourth Commandment, where the Sabbath and Feast-days will be treated of; yet, in so far as it was a solemn symbol (308) of their redemption, whereby the people professed their obligation to God their deliverer, and in a manner devoted themselves to His dominion, I have not hesitated to insert it here as a supplement of the First Commandment. The observation of the day itself will again recur... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 12:1

The Lord spake .—According to the Biblical record, neither Moses nor Aaron introduced any legislation of their own, either at this time or later. The whole system, religious, political, and ecclesiastical, was received by Divine Revelation, commanded by God, and merely established by the agency of the two brothers. In the land of Egypt . The introduction of these words seems to show that we have here a separate document on the subject of the Passover, written independently of what has... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 12:1-2

The advantages of an ecclesiastical calendar. With their new position as an independent nation, and their new privileges as God's redeemed people ( Exodus 6:6 ), the Israelites received the gift of a new ecclesiastical calendar. Their civil calendar remaining as before, their civil year commencing with Tisri, about the time of the autumnal equinox, and consisting of twelve months of alternately twenty-nine and thirty days, they were now commanded to adopt a new departure for their sacred... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 12:1-20

1 . The festival was to last seven days. 2 . No leavened bread was to be eaten during that space, and leaven was even to be put away altogether out of all houses. 3 . On the first day of the seven and on the last, there was to be "a holy convocation" or gathering for worship. 4 . No work not strictly necessary was to Be done on these days. Other directions were given at a later date. 1 . Besides the Paschal lamb, with which the festival commenced, and which was to be a... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 12:1-20

1. It Was then only that the history of the nation as the people of God began. Before they had been told of God's favour towards them; they now knew it. "Now we believe, not because of thy saying, for we have heard him ourselves" ( John 4:42 ). 2 . God's final deliverance begins a new era for his people. "Behold! make all things new." 3 . This has its correlative type in Christian experience now. The true life of the servant of God dates from the hour of his deliverance from... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 12:1-28

The institution of the Passover. Moses has now done with requesting and threatening Pharaoh. He leaves Pharaoh to the terrible smiting hand of Jehovah, and turns, when it is quite time to turn, to his own people. He who would not listen had to be left for those who would listen. It is now manifest that Moses is to be profitably occupied with matters which cannot any longer be delayed. It was needful to give warning concerning the death of the first-born to the Israelites quite as much as... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 12:1-28

The Passover. "It is the Lord's Passover" ( Exodus 12:11 ). After Pharaoh's refusal to see Moses again, Jehovah comes more manifestly into the history, in the last judgment and deliverance of his people. Three great events crowd now into a single night, the Passover, the slaying of the first-born, the march out. Consider now the Passover. I. ITS NECESSITY . 1 . Israel must be separated from Egypt. This idea of separation runs through all Hebrew history from the time of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 12:1-29

The Passover. God's last and overwhelming blow was about to be struck at Egypt. In anticipation of that blow, and in immediate connection with the exodus, God gave directions for the observance of a Passover. I. THE PASSOVER IN ITS CONNECTION WITH THE HISTORY . For details of the ritual, see the verses of the chapter. 1 . The design of the Passover was to make plain to Israel the ground on which its salvation was bestowed—the ground, viz; of Atonement. "The more... read more

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