Exodus 12:17
in Exodus 12So you are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your divisions out of the land of Egypt. You must keep this day as a permanent statute for the generations to come.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day throughout your generations by an ordinance for ever.
KJV
And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever.
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This verse in Exodus 12
Commentary
6 notes on this verseSelf-same day - בעצם beetsem, in the body of this day, or in the strength of this day; probably they began their march about day-break, called here the body or strength of the day, and in Deu 16:1, by night - sometime before the sun rose.
This site's exposition
ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread
on Exodus 12:17-20
The feast is grounded on a date rather than on a season, since in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. The word armies for a body of unarmed slaves is the text's own and it returns at verse 51. The rule already reaches the stranger as well as the man born in the land, which is the first sign of what verses 48 and 49 will say outright.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Now, without doubt, there was much of the gospel in this ordinance; it is often referred to in the New Testament, and, in it, to us is the gospel preached, and not to them only, who could not stedfastly look to the end of these things, Heb. iv. The paschal lamb was typical. Christ is our Passover, 1 Cor. v. 7 .
22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
ye shall observe, &c.--The seven days of this feast were to commence the day after the passover. It was a distinct festival following that feast; but although this feast was instituted like the passover before the departure, the observance of it did not take place till after.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
How the passage was read
On Exodus 12:1-51On Exodus 12:1-51
The night Israel still keeps
This chapter founds Passover, in Hebrew Pesach, the spring feast that remembers the night God struck Egypt's firstborn and passed over the blood-marked houses. Jewish families keep it to this day with a ceremonial meal called the seder (Hebrew for “order”): unleavened flatbread (matzah), bitter herbs, cups of wine, and the retelling of this chapter's story, with the children asking the questions.
Honesty about the timeline helps the reader: in the Bible's own period the center of the feast was the lamb, slain and eaten as this chapter commands. The seder as now practiced took its shape after the Temple fell in AD 70 and the lamb could no longer be offered; its oldest written outline is in the Mishnah, the first code of Jewish oral law (about AD 200), which already includes the four cups and the rule that “in every generation a person must see himself as if he personally came out of Egypt.”
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: Mishnah Pesachim 10 (the seder's oldest outline) · Mishnah Pesachim 10:5 (“in every generation”) · The Feasts of the LORD (this site's study)
The words behind it
19 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם֮ | ushemartem | and you will keep | H8104 → | 468 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַמַּצּוֹת֒ | hamatzot | the unleavened bread<s> | H4682 → | 53 times |
| כִּ֗י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| בְּעֶ֙צֶם֙ | beetzem | on [the] substance of | H6106 → | 126 times |
| הַיּ֣וֹם | haiyom | the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַזֶּ֔ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| הוֹצֵ֥אתִי | hotzeti | I brought out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| צִבְאוֹתֵיכֶ֖ם | tzivoteikhem | hosts your | H6635 → | 485 times |
| מֵאֶ֣רֶץ | meeretz | from [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| מִצְרָ֑יִם | mitzrayim | Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
| וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֞ם | ushemartem | and you will keep | H8104 → | 468 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַיּ֥וֹם | haiyom | the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַזֶּ֛ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶ֖ם | ledoroteikhem | to generations your | H1755 → | 167 times |
| חֻקַּ֥ת | chukat | a statute of | H2708 → | 104 times |
| עוֹלָֽם׃ | olam | perpetuity | H5769 → | 438 times |
וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם֮and you will keep
ushemartemH8104 →468 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַמַּצּוֹת֒the unleavened bread<s>
hamatzotH4682 →53 times
כִּ֗יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
בְּעֶ֙צֶם֙on [the] substance of
beetzemH6106 →126 times
הַיּ֣וֹםthe day
haiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַזֶּ֔ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
הוֹצֵ֥אתִיI brought out
hotzetiH3318 →1067 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
צִבְאוֹתֵיכֶ֖םhosts your
tzivoteikhemH6635 →485 times
מֵאֶ֣רֶץfrom [the] land of
meeretzH776 →2504 times
מִצְרָ֑יִםEgypt
mitzrayimH4714 →641 times
וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֞םand you will keep
ushemartemH8104 →468 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַיּ֥וֹםthe day
haiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַזֶּ֛ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶ֖םto generations your
ledoroteikhemH1755 →167 times
חֻקַּ֥תa statute of
chukatH2708 →104 times
עוֹלָֽם׃perpetuity
olamH5769 →438 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 13:3So Moses told the people, “Remember this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; for the LORD brought you out of it by the strength of His…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 24:18
Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you from that place. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.
- Deuteronomy 5:15
Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. That is why the…
- Exodus 20:2
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
- Deuteronomy 5:6
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
- Deuteronomy 16:12
Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and carefully follow these statutes.
- Deuteronomy 24:18
Through
Exodus 7:5And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.”
it leads to
- Exodus 14:18
The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I am honored through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
- Exodus 8:22
But on that day I will give special treatment to the land of Goshen, where My people live; no swarms of flies will be found there. In this way you will know that I,…
- Exodus 7:17
This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD. Behold, with the staff in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will…
- Exodus 14:18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies10
About Exodus
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.