Exodus 12:6
in Exodus 12You must keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and ye shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at even.
KJV
And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
⋯
This verse in Exodus 12
Commentary
11 notes on this verseWhy is this lamb offered up in the evening and not during the day? The reason is plain enough, for our Lord and Savior suffered his passion at the close of the ages. So John says in his letter: "Dear children, it is the last hour." Since, moreover, it is the last hour, it is the beginning of night, for day has come to an end. It must be understood, however, that as long as we are in this world, as long as we abide in Egypt, we are not in a clear light but in a dark mist.
This site's exposition
keep it until the fourteenth day
on Exodus 12:6-7
The whole assembly of the congregation kills the lamb, so the act belongs to the nation, and there is no priesthood yet. The blood goes on the sides and tops of the doorframes, where the household passes in and out.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
We read in Exodus that on the fourteenth day a lamb is sacrificed; on the fourteenth day when the moon is a full moon, when its light is at its brightest. You see Christ is not immolated except in perfect and full light.
Does any one perchance flatter himself with this notion, that although in the morning, water alone is seen to be offered, yet when we come to supper we offer the mingled cup? But when we sup, we cannot call the people together to our banquet, so as to celebrate the truth of the sacrament in the presence of all the brotherhood. But still it was not in the morning, but after supper, that the Lord offered the mingled cup. Ought we then to celebrate the Lord's cup after supper, that so by continual repetition of the Lord's supper we may offer the mingled cup? It behoved Christ to offer about the evening of the day, that the very hour of sacrifice might show the setting and the evening of the world; as it is written in Exodus, "And all the people of the synagogue of the children of Israel shall kill it in the evening." And again in the Psalms, "Let the lifting up of my hands be an evening sacrifice." But we celebrate the resurrection of the Lord in the morning.
But now then, can there be anybody who is not curious to know what the meaning can be of the fact that the Jews answered from Scripture the inquiry of the magi about where the Christ would be born and yet did not go with them to worship him themselves? Don't we see the same thing even now, when by the very rites and sacraments to which they are subjected for their hardness of heart, nothing else is indicated but the very Christ in whom they refuse to believe? Even when they kill the sheep and eat the Passover, aren't they demonstrating to the Gentiles the very Christ whom they themselves don't worship along with them?And isn't it the same sort of thing, when people have their doubts about the prophetic testimonies in which Christ was foretold and wonder if they haven't perhaps been compiled by Christians after the event, not before? We appeal to the codices in the possession of the Jews to set the minds of doubters at rest. Don't the Jews on such occasions too show the Gentiles the Christ whom they decline to worship with the Gentiles?
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The wrath of God is as fire, and Christ was made a curse for us. (6.) It was to be killed by the whole congregation between the two evenings, that is, between three o'clock and six. Christ suffered in the end of the world ( Heb. ix.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
) as a sacrifice; not strictly, for it was not offered upon the altar, but as a religious ceremony, acknowledging God's goodness to them, not only in preserving them from, but in delivering them by, the plagues inflicted on the Egyptians.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), denoting the designation of the Lord Jesus to be a Saviour, both in the purpose and in the promise. It is very observable that as Christ was crucified at the passover, so he solemnly entered into Jerusalem four days before, the very day that the paschal lamb was set apart.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day - The lamb or kid was to be taken from the flock on the tenth day, and kept up and fed by itself till the fourteenth day, when it was to be sacrificed. This was never commanded nor practiced afterwards. The rabbins mark four things that were required in the first passover that were never required afterwards: 1. The eating of the lamb in their houses dispersed through Goshen. 2. The taking the lamb on the tenth day.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Until the fourteenth day - It should be observed that the offering of our Lord on the self-same day is an important point in determining the typical character of the transaction. A remarkable passage in the Talmud says: “It was a famous and old opinion among the ancient Jews that the day of the new year which was the beginning of the Israelites’ deliverance out of Egypt should in future time be the beginning of the redemption by the Messiah.” In the evening - The Hebrew has between the two evenings. The meaning of the expression is disputed. The most probable explanation is that it includes the time from afternoon, or early eventide, until sunset. This accords with the ancient custom of the Hebrews, who killed the paschal lamb immediately after the offering of the daily sacrifice, which on the day of the Passover took place a little earlier than usual, between two and three p.m. This would allow about two hours and a half for slaying and preparing all the lambs. It is clear that they would not wait until sunset, at which time the evening meal would take place. The slaying of the lamb thus coincides exactly with the death of our Saviour, at the ninth hour of the day Mat 27:46.
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
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָיָ֤ה | vehayah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לָכֶם֙ | lakhem | for <the> you | ||
| לְמִשְׁמֶ֔רֶת | lemishmeret | for safekeeping | H4931 → | 78 times |
| עַ֣ד | ʾad | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| אַרְבָּעָ֥ה | ʾarbaah | [the] four- | H702 → | 318 times |
| עָשָׂ֛ר | ʾasar | teen | H6240 → | 338 times |
| י֖וֹם | yom | day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| לַחֹ֣דֶשׁ | lachodesh | of the month | H2320 → | 284 times |
| הַזֶּ֑ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| וְשָׁחֲט֣וּ | veshachatu | and they will slaughter | H7819 → | 81 times |
| אֹת֗וֹ | ʾoto | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כֹּ֛ל | kol | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| קְהַ֥ל | kehal | [the] assembly of | H6951 → | |
| עֲדַֽת־ | ʾadat- | [the] congregation of | H5712 → | 149 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| בֵּ֥ין | bein | between | H996 → | 407 times |
| הָעַרְבָּֽיִם׃ | haarbayim | the two evenings | H6153 → | 134 times |
וְהָיָ֤הand it will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
לָכֶם֙for <the> you
lakhem
לְמִשְׁמֶ֔רֶתfor safekeeping
lemishmeretH4931 →78 times
עַ֣דuntil
ʾadH5704 →1261 times
אַרְבָּעָ֥ה[the] four-
ʾarbaahH702 →318 times
עָשָׂ֛רteen
ʾasarH6240 →338 times
י֖וֹםday
yomH3117 →2304 times
לַחֹ֣דֶשׁof the month
lachodeshH2320 →284 times
הַזֶּ֑ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
וְשָׁחֲט֣וּand they will slaughter
veshachatuH7819 →81 times
אֹת֗וֹ<obj.> it
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
כֹּ֛לall
kolH3605 →5413 times
קְהַ֥ל[the] assembly of
kehalH6951 →
עֲדַֽת־[the] congregation of
ʾadat-H5712 →149 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
בֵּ֥יןbetween
beinH996 →407 times
הָעַרְבָּֽיִם׃the two evenings
haarbayimH6153 →134 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
Leviticus 23:5The Passover to the LORD begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 16:1–8
Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, because in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Joshua 5:10
On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while the Israelites were camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they kept the Passover.
- Numbers 28:16–17
The fourteenth day of the first month is the LORD’s Passover.
- Exodus 12:2–14
“This month is the beginning of months for you; it shall be the first month of your year.
- Exodus 12:18–19
In the first month you are to eat unleavened bread, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day.
- Deuteronomy 16:1–8
Through
Exodus 12:18In the first month you are to eat unleavened bread, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day.
it leads to
- Leviticus 23:5–8
The Passover to the LORD begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 12:15
For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you are to remove the leaven from your houses. Whoever eats anything leavened from the first day through the seventh must be…
- Leviticus 23:5–8
Through
Numbers 28:16The fourteenth day of the first month is the LORD’s Passover.
it leads to
- Exodus 12:18
In the first month you are to eat unleavened bread, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day.
- Exodus 12:18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies30
On this verse
On this chapter
- The Words Philoxenia and Ger
- The Words Tom and Tamim
- Jesus: Titles & Roles
- Pharaoh
- Rahab and the Scarlet Cord
- The Scarlet Thread
Show the next 6 titles
- Taw: The Mark of God
- The Ark and Dagon: 1 Samuel 4-6
- The Brickfields of Egypt
- The Calendar of the Flood
- The Crossing of the Jordan
- The Date of the Exodus
Show the next 6 titles
About Exodus
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 202.3; Cyprian, Epistle LXII.16; Jerome, HOMILY 91; Jerome, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 5; 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.