Exodus - 12:27



27 that you shall say, 'It is the sacrifice of Yahweh's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians, and spared our houses.'" The people bowed their heads and worshiped.

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of Exodus 12:27.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.
that ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of Jehovah's passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.
You shall say to them: It is the victim of the passage of the Lord, when he passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, striking the Egyptians, and saving our houses. And the people bowing themselves, adored.
that ye shall say, It is a sacrifice of passover to Jehovah, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when he smote the Egyptians and delivered our houses. And the people bowed their heads and worshipped.
That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshiped.
that ye have said, A sacrifice of passover it is to Jehovah, who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt, in His smiting the Egyptians, and our houses He delivered.'
Then you will say, This is the offering of the Lord's Passover; for he went over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he sent death on the Egyptians, and kept our families safe. And the people gave worship with bent heads.
You shall say to them: 'It is the victim of the crossing of the Lord, when he passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt, striking the Egyptians, and freeing our houses.' " And the people, bowing down, worshipped.
Tunc dicetis, Haec est oblatio Pesah Jehovae, qui transivit domos filiorum Israel in AEgypto, quum percuteret AEgyptum, et domos nostras liberavit. Et incurvavit se populus, et adoravit.

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover - or This is the sacrifice of the Passover to Yahweh. The most formal and exact designation of the festival is thus given: but "the Passover" may mean either the act of God's mercy in sparing the Israelites, or the lamb which is offered in sacrifice: more probably the latter, as in Exodus 12:21. This gives a clear sense to the expression "to Yahweh;" the Passover lamb was a sacrifice offered to Yahweh by His ordinance.

It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover - We have already intimated that the paschal lamb was an illustrious type of Christ; and we shall find that every thing in this account is typical or representative. The bondage and affliction of the people of Israel may be considered as emblems of the hard slavery and wretchedness consequent on a state of sinfulness. Satan reigns over both body and soul, bringing the whole into subjection to the law of sin and death; while various evil tempers, passions, lusts, and irregular appetites, act as subordinate tormentors, making the lives of the vassals of sin bitter, because of the rigour by which they are obliged to serve. Reader, is this thy case? The mercy of God projects the redemption of man from this cruel bondage and oppression; and a sacrifice is appointed for the occasion by God himself, to be offered with particular and significant rites and ceremonies, all of which represent the passion and death of our blessed Lord, and the great end for which he became a sacrifice, viz., the redemption of a lost world from the power, the guilt, and the pollution of sin, etc. And it is worthy of remark,
1. That the anniversary or annual commemoration of the passover was strictly and religiously kept by the Jews on the day, and hour of the day, on which the original transaction took place, throughout all their succeeding generations.
2. That on one of these anniversaries, and, as many suppose, on the very day and hour on which the paschal lamb was originally offered, our blessed Lord expired on the cross for the salvation of the world.
3. That after the destruction of Jerusalem the paschal lamb ceased to be offered by the Jews throughout the world, though they continue to hold the anniversary of the passover, but without any sacrifice, notwithstanding their deep-rooted, inveterate antipathy against the author and grace of the Gospel.
4. That the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was instituted to keep this true paschal sacrifice in commemoration, and that this has been religiously observed by the whole Christian world (one very small class of Christians excepted) from the foundation of Christianity to the present day!
5. That the Jews were commanded to eat the paschal lamb; and our Lord, commemorating the passover, commanded his disciples, saying, Take, eat, This is my body, which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me. In the communion service of the Church of England, the spirit and design both of the type and antitype are most expressly condensed into one point of view, in the address to the communicant: "Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for Thee; and Feed upon Him, in thy heart, by Faith with Thanksgiving. Thus God continues the memorial of that grand transaction which he has said should be an ordinance for ever; evidently meaning thereby, that the paschal lamb should be the significator till the passion and death of Christ; and that afterwards bread and wine taken sacramentally, in commemoration of his crucifixion, should be the continual representatives of that sacrifice till the end of the world. Thus the passover in itself, and in its reference, is an ordinance for ever; and thus the words of the Lord are literally fulfilled.
Reader, learn from this,
1. That if thou art not rescued from the thraldom of sin, thou must perish for ever.
2. That nothing less than the power and mercy of God can set thee free.
3. That God will save thee in no other way than by bringing thee out of thy sinful state, and from thy wicked practices and companions.
4. That in order to thy redemption it was absolutely necessary that the Son of God should take thy nature upon him, and die in thy stead.
5. That unless the blood of this sacrifice be sprinkled, in its atoning efficacy and merits, on thy heart and conscience, the guilt and power of thy sin cannot be taken away.
6. That as the blood of the paschal lamb must be sprinkled on every house, in order to the preservation of its inhabitants, so there must be a personal application of the blood of the cross to thy conscience, to take away thy sins.
7. As it was not enough that the passover was instituted, but the blood must be sprinkled on the lintels and door posts of every house to make the rite effectual to the salvation of each individual, so it is not enough that Christ should have taken human nature upon him, and died for the sin of the world; for no man who has the opportunity of hearing the Gospel is saved by that death, who does not, by faith, get a personal application of it to his own heart.
8. That those who wish for an application of the atoning blood, must receive this spiritual passover with a perfect readiness to depart from the land of their captivity, and travel to the rest that remains for the people of God; it being impossible, not only to a gross sinner, continuing such, to be finally saved, (however he may presume upon the mercy of God), but also to a worldly-minded man to get to the kingdom of God; for Christ died to save us from the present evil world, according to the will of God.
9. That in order to commemorate aright, in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, the great atonement made for the sin of the world, all leaven of malice, bitterness, and insincerity, must be put away; as God will have no man to partake of this mystery who does not fully enter into its spirit and meaning. See 1-Corinthians 5:7, 1-Corinthians 5:8.

That ye shall say, It [is] the sacrifice of the LORD'S passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people (n) bowed the head and worshipped.
(n) They gave God thanks for so great a benefit.

That ye shall say, it is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover,.... This lamb is a sacrifice, both eucharistical, or by way of thanksgiving for their safety, when the firstborn of the Egyptians were slain, and for their deliverance out of Egypt; and also propitiatory, the blood of this lamb being a propitiation or atonement for all within the house where it was sprinkled, as before observed from Aben Ezra; and typical of the atoning sacrifice of Christ our passover, 1-Corinthians 5:7 and this was commanded by the Lord, and approved of and accepted by him, and therefore called his sacrifice as well as passover, for the following reason:
who passed over the houses of the children of Israel, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses; their families, not suffering the destroying angel to enter into them, which was a very distinguishing mercy, and worthy of remembrance. Now in this they were to instruct their children in successive generations, that the memory of it might be kept up, and a sense of the goodness of God continued, and his name glorified. Maimonides (y) says,"it is a command to make this known to children, even though they do not ask it, as it is said, "and thou shall show thy son", Exodus 13:8. According to the son's knowledge, his father teaches him; how if he is a little one or foolish? he says to him, my son, all of us were servants, as this handmaid, or this servant, in Egypt; and on this night the holy blessed God redeemed us, and brought us into liberty: and if the son is grown up, and a wise man, he makes known to him what happened to us in Egypt, and the wonders which were done for us by the hand of Moses our master, all according to the capacity of his son; and it is necessary to make a repetition on this night, that the children may see, and ask, and say, how different is this night from all other nights! until he replies and says to them, so and so it happened, and thus and thus it was:"
and the people bowed the head and worshipped; signifying the deep sense they had of the mercy shown them, their thankfulness for it, and their readiness to observe the ordinance now instituted.
(y) Hilchot Chametz Umetzah, c. 7. sect. 2, 3.

the people bowed the head, and worshipped--All the preceding directions were communicated through the elders, and the Israelites, being deeply solemnized by the influence of past and prospective events, gave prompt and faithful obedience.

After hearing the divine instructions, the people, represented by their elders, bowed and worshipped; not only to show their faith, but also to manifest their gratitude for the deliverance which they were to receive in the Passover.

The people bowed the head and worshipped - They hereby signified their submission to this institution as a law, and their thankfulness for it as a favour and privilege.

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