Exodus 12:35
in Exodus 12Furthermore, the Israelites acted on Moses’ word and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold, and for clothing.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they asked of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment:
KJV
And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment:
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This verse in Exodus 12
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The Israelites themselves thought they were only going three days' journey to hold a feast unto the Lord, and in these circumstances it would be easy for them to borrow what was necessary for a sacred festival. But borrow conveys a wrong meaning. The word rendered borrow signifies properly to ask, demand, require.
This site's exposition
they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver
on Exodus 12:35-36
This is the discharge of a promise made to Abram four hundred years earlier, that afterward shall they come out with great substance, at Genesis 15:14. The words borrowed and lent have troubled readers of the English, and the Hebrew verb is the ordinary word for asking, with the transfer described from Egypt's own side as a thing given. The gold carried out here will build the tabernacle in chapter 35 and the calf in chapter 32.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Theft is the handling of another's property, against the owner's will, out of greed. If it is done not out of greed, as the children of Israel by the Lord's command carried with them from Egypt vessels of silver and gold, or when someone takes …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
It was by God's special order and appointment that the Israelites did what they did, which was sufficient to justify them, and bear them out; but what they did will by no means authorize others (who cannot pretend to any such warrant) to do the same.
And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
They borrowed of the Egyptians - See Clarke’s note on Exo 3:22, where the very exceptionable term borrow is largely explained.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Borrowed - “Asked of.” See Exo 3:22 note.
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
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּבְנֵי־ | uvenei- | and [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֥ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| עָשׂ֖וּ | ʾasu | they did | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| כִּדְבַ֣ר | kidvar | according to [the] word of | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֑ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| וַֽיִּשְׁאֲלוּ֙ | vaiyishalu | and they asked | H7592 → | 171 times |
| מִמִּצְרַ֔יִם | mimitzrayim | from Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
| כְּלֵי־ | kelei- | articles of | H3627 → | 325 times |
| כֶ֛סֶף | khesef | silver | H3701 → | 403 times |
| וּכְלֵ֥י | ukhelei | and articles of | H3627 → | 325 times |
| זָהָ֖ב | zahav | gold | H2091 → | 389 times |
| וּשְׂמָלֹֽת׃ | usemalot | and clothes | H8071 → | 29 times |
וּבְנֵי־and [the] people of
uvenei-H1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֥לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
עָשׂ֖וּthey did
ʾasuH6213 →2628 times
כִּדְבַ֣רaccording to [the] word of
kidvarH1697 →1440 times
מֹשֶׁ֑הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
וַֽיִּשְׁאֲלוּ֙and they asked
vaiyishaluH7592 →171 times
מִמִּצְרַ֔יִםfrom Egypt
mimitzrayimH4714 →641 times
כְּלֵי־articles of
kelei-H3627 →325 times
כֶ֛סֶףsilver
khesefH3701 →403 times
וּכְלֵ֥יand articles of
ukheleiH3627 →325 times
זָהָ֖בgold
zahavH2091 →389 times
וּשְׂמָלֹֽת׃and clothes
usemalotH8071 →29 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
Psalms 105:37He brought Israel out with silver and gold, and none among His tribes stumbled.
it leads to
- Exodus 12:35–36
Furthermore, the Israelites acted on Moses’ word and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold, and for clothing.
- Exodus 3:22
Every woman shall ask her neighbor and any woman staying in her house for silver and gold jewelry and clothing, and you will put them on your sons and daughters. So you will plunder…
- Acts 13:17
The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers. He made them into a great people during their stay in Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He led them out of that land.
- Genesis 15:14
But I will judge the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will depart with many possessions.
- Exodus 12:35–36
Through
Genesis 15:14But I will judge the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will depart with many possessions.
it leads to
- Nehemiah 9:9–11
You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt; You heard their cry at the Red Sea.
- Exodus 6:5–6
Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered My covenant.
- Exodus 12:32–38
Take your flocks and herds as well, just as you have said, and depart! And bless me also.”
- Joshua 24:4–7
and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau Mount Seir to possess, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.
- Nehemiah 9:9–11
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; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Collationes de decem praeceptis, Collation 6 (Paris, Lent 1267); 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.