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Exodus 12:23

When the LORD passes through to strike down the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway; so He will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

For Jehovah will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side-posts, Jehovah will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

KJV

For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

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Commentary

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Hebraic traditional view

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.”

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)

Original language & word study

24 tagged words
OriginalTransliterationMeaningWord study
וְעָבַ֣רve.'a.Varand he will pass throughH5674 →
יְהוָה֮Yah.wehYahwehH3068 →
לִנְגֹּ֣ףlin.Gofto strikeH5062 →
אֶת־'et-<obj.>H853 →
מִצְרַיִם֒mitz.ra.YimEgyptH4714 →
וְרָאָ֤הve.ra.'Ahand he will seeH7200 →
אֶת־'et-<obj.>H853 →
הַדָּם֙ha.Damthe bloodH1818 →
עַל־'al-onH5921 →
הַמַּשְׁק֔וֹףha.mash.Kofthe lintelsH4947 →
וְעַ֖לve.'Aland onH5921 →
שְׁתֵּ֣יshe.Tei[the] twoH8147 →
הַמְּזוּזֹ֑תha.me.zu.Zotthe doorpostsH4201 →
וּפָסַ֤חu.fa.Sachand he will pass overH6452 →
יְהוָה֙Yah.wehYahwehH3068 →
עַל־'al-overH5921 →
הַפֶּ֔תַחha.Pe.tachthe doorwayH6607 →
וְלֹ֤אve.Lo'and notH3808 →
יִתֵּן֙yi.Tenhe will permitH5414 →
הַמַּשְׁחִ֔יתha.mash.Chitthe destroyerH7843 →
לָבֹ֥אla.Vo'to comeH935 →
אֶל־'el-intoH413 →
בָּתֵּיכֶ֖םba.tei.Khemhouses yourH1004 →
לִנְגֹּֽף׃lin.Gofto strike [you]H5062 →

The walk

Related verses

18 strongest cross-references

The gold bar shows how strongly the cross-reference sources tie the two verses together: a long bar means many compiled references make the connection, a short one means few.

Exodus 12:13The blood on the houses where you are staying will distinguish them; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will fall on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.Revelation 7:3“Do not harm the land or sea or trees until we have sealed the foreheads of the servants of our God.”Revelation 9:4They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.Hebrews 11:28By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch Israel’s own firstborn.1 Corinthians 10:10And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel.Exodus 12:12–13On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn male, both man and beast, and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.Ezekiel 9:6Slaughter the old men, the young men and maidens, the women and children; but do not go near anyone who has the mark. Now begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple.Exodus 12:12On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn male, both man and beast, and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.2 Samuel 24:16But when the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.Isaiah 37:36Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!Hebrews 12:24to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.Ezekiel 9:4“Go throughout the city of Jerusalem,” said the LORD, “and put a mark on the foreheads of the men sighing and groaning over all the abominations committed there.”Exodus 11:4So Moses declared, “This is what the LORD says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt,Acts 12:23Immediately, because Herod did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.Joshua 2:19If anyone goes out the door of your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head, and we will be innocent. But if a hand is laid on anyone with you in the house, his blood will be on our heads.Amos 5:17There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass through your midst,” says the LORD.Exodus 12:27you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck down the Egyptians and spared our homes.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped.1 Chronicles 21:12between three years of famine, three months of being swept away before your enemies and overtaken by their swords, or three days of the sword of the LORD—days of plague upon the land, with the angel of the LORD ravaging every part of Israel.’ Now then, decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.”

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About Exodus

The Firstborn of the Egyptians Are Slain — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Firstborn of the Egyptians Are Slain — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Exodus: the study guide →Read chapter 12 →The featured study →
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