Exodus 12:9
in Exodus 12Do not eat any of the meat raw or cooked in boiling water, but only roasted over the fire—its head and legs and inner parts.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Eat not of it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roast with fire; its head with its legs and with the inwards thereof.
KJV
Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.
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This verse in Exodus 12
Commentary
10 notes on this verseEat not of it raw,.... Not roasted enough; and so Jarchi says, that what is not sufficiently roasted, or is not thoroughly and down roasted, is in the Arabic language called נא (u), the word here used; and so Maimonides (w) says it signifies flesh, on which the fire begins to operate, and is roasted a little, but not enough for eating.
This site's exposition
they shall eat the flesh in that night
on Exodus 12:8-10
Blood on the door saves the house and the flesh inside feeds the people, and the chapter requires both. Roasting with fire rather than boiling keeps the animal whole, and the bitter herbs put the taste of the bondage on the table on the night it ends. Nothing may be left until morning, so the meal cannot become a store of food and belongs to that night alone.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Children of purity and disciples of chastity, let us celebrate the praises of the virgin-born God with lips all pure. Being counted worthy to partake of the flesh of the spiritual Lamb, let us take the head with the feet, understanding the head as the divinity and the feet as the humanity.
"You shall eat it with its head and shanks and inner organs." To me, the head seems to be that of the Lamb, written of in St. John's Gospel: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God; and the Word was God; he was in the beginning with God." The shanks represent the human nature that he deigned to assume for our salvation. Another interpretation, however, is also possible.
A commentator
Origen of AlexandriaCOMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 10.103-4 · Written before 253.
proposed
One must not therefore eat the flesh of the lamb raw, as the slaves of the letter do in the manner of animals which are irrational and quite savage. In relation to men who are truly rational through their desire to understand the spiritual aspects of the world, the former [slaves of the letter] share the company of wild beasts.We must strive, however, in transforming the rawness of Scripture into boiled food, not to transform what has been written into what is flaccid, watery and limp. This is what they do who "have itching ears and" turn them away "from the truth" and transform the anagogical meanings so far as they are concerned to the carelessness and wateriness of their manner of life.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Where it is also added: "You shall not eat any of it raw, nor cooked in water." Behold, now the very words of the history drive us from a historical understanding. Surely, dearest brothers, that Israelite people established in Egypt had not been accustomed to eat raw lamb, that the law should say to them: "You shall not eat any of it raw"? Where it is also added: "Nor cooked in water." But what does water signify except human knowledge, according to what is said by Solomon in the voice of heretics: "Stolen waters are sweeter." What do the raw flesh of the Lamb signify except His humanity considered without reflection and left without reverence of thought? For everything that we consider carefully we, as it were, cook with the mind. But the flesh of the lamb is neither to be eaten raw nor cooked in water, because our Redeemer is neither to be considered a mere man, nor is how God was able to become incarnate to be thought through by human wisdom. For everyone who believes our Redeemer to be a mere man, what else does he do but eat the raw flesh of the lamb, which he was unwilling to cook through understanding of His divinity? And everyone who attempts to examine the mysteries of His incarnation according to human wisdom wishes to cook the flesh of the lamb in water, that is, he wishes to penetrate the mystery of His dispensation through dissolute knowledge. Therefore, whoever desires to celebrate the solemnity of Paschal joy, let him neither cook the lamb in water nor eat it raw, so that he may neither seek to penetrate through human wisdom the depth of His incarnation, nor believe in Him as in a mere man; but let him eat the flesh roasted by fire, so that he may know that all things were dispensed through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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.
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3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Raw - i. e. “half-cooked.” Sodden ... with water - It was probably more common to seethe meat than to roast meat; hence, the regrets expressed by the Israelites for the seething pots of Egypt. The purtenance thereof - or its intestines. This verse directs that the lamb should be roasted and placed on the table whole. No bone was to be broken (see Exo 12:46, and margin reference). The bowels were taken out, washed and then replaced.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Eat not of it raw--that is, with any blood remaining; a caveat against conformity to idolatrous practices. It was to be roasted whole, not a bone to be broken, and this pointed to Christ (Joh 19:36).
With the purtenance thereof - All the intestines, for these were abused by the heathens to purposes of divination; and when roasted in the manner here directed they could not be thus used. The command also implies that the lamb was to be roasted whole; neither the head or legs were to be separated, nor the intestines removed. I suppose that these last simply included the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, etc., and not the intestinal canal.
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.”
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
BUT THAT WHICH REMAINETH OF IT…BURN WITH FIRE. If one was unable to eat one’s portion due to circumstances beyond one’s control.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
You must not leave any of it over until morning. Any of it left over until morning must be burned in fire.
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)
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תֹּאכְל֤וּ | tokhelu | you eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| מִמֶּ֙נּוּ֙ | mimenu | any of it | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| נָ֔א | na' | raw | H4995 → | |
| וּבָשֵׁ֥ל | uvashel | and boiled | H1311 → | |
| מְבֻשָּׁ֖ל | mevushal | being boiled | H1310 → | 28 times |
| בַּמָּ֑יִם | bamayim | in <the> water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | except | H518 → | 1069 times |
| צְלִי־ | tzeli- | roasted of | H6748 → | |
| אֵ֔שׁ | ʾesh | fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| רֹאשׁ֥וֹ | rosho | head its | H7218 → | 599 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | with | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כְּרָעָ֖יו | keraav | legs its | H3767 → | |
| וְעַל־ | veal- | and with | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| קִרְבּֽוֹ׃ | kirbo | entrails its | H7130 → | 227 times |
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תֹּאכְל֤וּyou eat
tokheluH398 →810 times
מִמֶּ֙נּוּ֙any of it
mimenuH4480 →1188 times
נָ֔אraw
na'H4995 →
וּבָשֵׁ֥לand boiled
uvashelH1311 →
מְבֻשָּׁ֖לbeing boiled
mevushalH1310 →28 times
בַּמָּ֑יִםin <the> water
bamayimH4325 →581 times
כִּ֣יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
אִם־except
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
צְלִי־roasted of
tzeli-H6748 →
אֵ֔שׁfire
ʾeshH784 →378 times
רֹאשׁ֥וֹhead its
roshoH7218 →599 times
עַל־with
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כְּרָעָ֖יוlegs its
keraavH3767 →
וְעַל־and with
veal-H5921 →5755 times
קִרְבּֽוֹ׃entrails its
kirboH7130 →227 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 12:8They are to eat the meat that night, roasted over the fire, along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
it leads to
- Exodus 34:25
Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to Me along with anything leavened, and do not let any of the sacrifice from the Passover Feast remain until morning.
- Deuteronomy 16:7
And you shall roast it and eat it in the place the LORD your God will choose, and in the morning you shall return to your tents.
- Deuteronomy 16:3–4
You must not eat leavened bread with it; for seven days you are to eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left the land of Egypt in haste—so that you…
- Exodus 34:25
Through
Lamentations 1:13He sent fire from on high, and it overpowered my bones. He spread a net for my feet and turned me back. He made me desolate, faint all the day long.
it leads to
- Habakkuk 3:16
I heard and trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. Decay entered my bones; I trembled where I stood. Yet I must wait patiently for the day of distress to come upon the…
- Job 30:30
My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever.
- Psalms 22:14
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are disjointed. My heart is like wax; it melts away within me.
- Ezekiel 17:20
I will spread My net over him and catch him in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment upon him there for the treason he committed against Me.
- Habakkuk 3:16
Through
Deuteronomy 16:7And you shall roast it and eat it in the place the LORD your God will choose, and in the morning you shall return to your tents.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 35:13
They roasted the Passover animals on the fire according to the regulation, and they boiled the other holy offerings in pots, kettles, and bowls and quickly brought them to all the people.
- 2 Chronicles 35:13
Where this verse is studied
About Exodus
This page draws on 11 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); Alfred Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services; Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 12.1; Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 22; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, HOMILY 91; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 10.103-4.