Exodus 12:39
in Exodus 12Since 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 not prepared any provisions for themselves.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt; for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victuals.
KJV
And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual.
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This verse in Exodus 12
Commentary
2 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
into unleavened loaves
The bread of the feast is the bread of the hurry. They were thrust out of Egypt and could not delay, which is the narrator's own account of an ordinance he had already recorded God commanding.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And they baked unleavened cakes,....
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
22 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּאפ֨וּ | vaiyofu | and they baked | H644 → | 25 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַבָּצֵ֜ק | habatzek | the dough | H1217 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הוֹצִ֧יאוּ | hotziu | they had brought out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| מִמִּצְרַ֛יִם | mimitzrayim | from Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
| עֻגֹ֥ת | ʾugot | bread cakes | H5692 → | |
| מַצּ֖וֹת | matzot | unleavened bread<s> | H4682 → | 53 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| חָמֵ֑ץ | chametz | it was leavened | H2556 → | 8 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| גֹרְשׁ֣וּ | goreshu | they had been driven out | H1644 → | 46 times |
| מִמִּצְרַ֗יִם | mimitzrayim | from Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
| וְלֹ֤א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָֽכְלוּ֙ | yakhelu | they had been able | H3201 → | 194 times |
| לְהִתְמַהְמֵ֔הַּ | lehitmahmeah | to delay | H4102 → | |
| וְגַם־ | vegam- | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| צֵדָ֖ה | tzedah | provision[s] | H6720 → | |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| עָשׂ֥וּ | ʾasu | they had made | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לָהֶֽם׃ | lahem | for <the> themselves |
וַיֹּאפ֨וּand they baked
vaiyofuH644 →25 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַבָּצֵ֜קthe dough
habatzekH1217 →
אֲשֶׁ֨רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
הוֹצִ֧יאוּthey had brought out
hotziuH3318 →1067 times
מִמִּצְרַ֛יִםfrom Egypt
mimitzrayimH4714 →641 times
עֻגֹ֥תbread cakes
ʾugotH5692 →
מַצּ֖וֹתunleavened bread<s>
matzotH4682 →53 times
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
חָמֵ֑ץit was leavened
chametzH2556 →8 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
גֹרְשׁ֣וּthey had been driven out
goreshuH1644 →46 times
מִמִּצְרַ֗יִםfrom Egypt
mimitzrayimH4714 →641 times
וְלֹ֤אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יָֽכְלוּ֙they had been able
yakheluH3201 →194 times
לְהִתְמַהְמֵ֔הַּto delay
lehitmahmeahH4102 →
וְגַם־and also
vegam-H1571 →769 times
צֵדָ֖הprovision[s]
tzedahH6720 →
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
עָשׂ֥וּthey had made
ʾasuH6213 →2628 times
לָהֶֽם׃for <the> themselves
lahem
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!”
- 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 12:31
Then 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.
- Deuteronomy 32:39
See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My…
- Exodus 12:33
Through
Exodus 11:1Then 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…
it leads to
- Genesis 15:14
But I will judge the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will depart with many possessions.
- Leviticus 26:21
If you walk in hostility toward Me and refuse to obey Me, I will multiply your plagues seven times, according to your sins.
- Exodus 9:14
Otherwise, I will send all My plagues against you and your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth.
- Genesis 15:14
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
- Passover
- Pharaoh
- Rahab and the Scarlet Cord
Show the next 6 titles
- The Scarlet Thread
- 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
Show the next 6 titles
About Exodus
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.