Exodus 12:31
in Exodus 12Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Get up, leave my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve Jehovah, as ye have said.
KJV
And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as ye have said.
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This verse in Exodus 12
Commentary
4 notes on this verseCalled for Moses and Aaron - That is, he sent the message here mentioned to them; for it does not appear that he had any farther interview with Moses and Aaron, after what is mentioned Exo 10:28, Exo 10:29, and Exo 11:8. See Clarke’s notes Exo 10:28, Exo 10:29 (note), and Exo 11:8 (note).
This site's exposition
he called for Moses and Aaron by night
on Exodus 12:31-32
Pharaoh finally uses the words Moses had been given at the start, go, serve the LORD, and drops every condition he had tried to attach in chapters 8 and 10. Then he asks for something for himself, bless me also, and the text records no answer. The man who said at 5:2 who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice ends the contest asking for a blessing.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Such a fright he was now in that he gave orders by night for their discharge, fearing lest, if he delayed any longer, he himself should fall next; and that he sent them out, not as men hated (as the pagan historians have represented this matter), but as men feared, is plainly discovered by his humble request to them (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And he called for Moses and Aaron by night,.... Not that Pharaoh went in person, but he sent his servants to call them; for they never saw his face more after he had drove them from his presence; but now was fulfilled what Moses told him, that his servants should come to him in a very suppliant manner, and entreat him and his people to get away in all haste, Exo 10:
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּקְרָא֩ | vaiyikra' | and he summoned | H7121 → | 733 times |
| לְמֹשֶׁ֨ה | lemosheh | <to> Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| וּֽלְאַהֲרֹ֜ן | uleaharon | and <to> Aaron | H175 → | 347 times |
| לַ֗יְלָה | laylah | night | H3915 → | 233 times |
| וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| ק֤וּמוּ | kumu | arise | H6965 → | 628 times |
| צְּאוּ֙ | tzeu | go out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| מִתּ֣וֹךְ | mitokh | from among | H8432 → | 418 times |
| עַמִּ֔י | ʾami | people my | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| גַּם־ | gam- | both | H1571 → | 769 times |
| אַתֶּ֖ם | ʾatem | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| גַּם־ | gam- | as well as | H1571 → | 769 times |
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וּלְכ֛וּ | ulekhu | and go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| עִבְד֥וּ | ʾivdu | serve | H5647 → | 288 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כְּדַבֶּרְכֶֽם׃ | kedaberkhem | as said you | H1696 → | 1141 times |
וַיִּקְרָא֩and he summoned
vaiyikra'H7121 →733 times
לְמֹשֶׁ֨ה<to> Moses
lemoshehH4872 →765 times
וּֽלְאַהֲרֹ֜ןand <to> Aaron
uleaharonH175 →347 times
לַ֗יְלָהnight
laylahH3915 →233 times
וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙and he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
ק֤וּמוּarise
kumuH6965 →628 times
צְּאוּ֙go out
tzeuH3318 →1067 times
מִתּ֣וֹךְfrom among
mitokhH8432 →418 times
עַמִּ֔יpeople my
ʾamiH5971 →1873 times
גַּם־both
gam-H1571 →769 times
אַתֶּ֖םyou
ʾatemH859 →1094 times
גַּם־as well as
gam-H1571 →769 times
בְּנֵ֣י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וּלְכ֛וּand go
ulekhuH1980 →1546 times
עִבְד֥וּserve
ʾivduH5647 →288 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כְּדַבֶּרְכֶֽם׃as said you
kedaberkhemH1696 →1141 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 6:1But the LORD said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, for because of My mighty hand he will let the people go; because of My strong hand he…
it leads to
- Exodus 12:33
And in order to send them out of the land quickly, the Egyptians urged the people on. “For otherwise,” they said, “we are all going to die!”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 3:19–20
But I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go unless a mighty hand compels him.
- Psalms 136:12
with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. His loving devotion endures forever.
- Exodus 12:39
Since their dough had no leaven, the people baked what they had brought out of Egypt into unleavened loaves. For when they had been driven out of Egypt, they could not delay and had…
- Exodus 11:1
Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will bring upon Pharaoh and Egypt one more plague. After that, he will allow you to leave this place. And when he lets you go, he will…
- Exodus 12:33
Through
Exodus 8:8Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people. Then I will let your people go, that they may sacrifice to the…
it leads to
- Exodus 10:17
Now please forgive my sin once more and appeal to the LORD your God, that He may remove this death from me.”
- Exodus 10:17
Through
Exodus 10:9“We will go with our young and old,” Moses replied. “We will go with our sons and daughters, and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to the LORD.”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 31:12–13
Assemble the people—men, women, children, and the foreigners within your gates—so that they may listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and to follow carefully all the words of this law.
- Deuteronomy 31:12–13
Through
Psalms 105:38Egypt was glad when they departed, for the dread of Israel had fallen on them.
it leads to
- Exodus 15:16
and terror and dread will fall on them. By the power of Your arm they will be as still as a stone until Your people pass by, O LORD, until the people You have…
- Exodus 15:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies10
About Exodus
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.