Keluaran 12:14-20
Konteks12:14 This day will become 1 a memorial 2 for you, and you will celebrate it as a festival 3 to the Lord – you will celebrate it perpetually as a lasting ordinance. 4 12:15 For seven days 5 you must eat 6 bread made without yeast. 7 Surely 8 on the first day you must put away yeast from your houses because anyone who eats bread made with yeast 9 from the first day to the seventh day will be cut off 10 from Israel.
12:16 On the first day there will be a holy convocation, 11 and on the seventh day there will be a holy convocation for you. You must do no work of any kind 12 on them, only what every person will eat – that alone may be prepared for you. 12:17 So you will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because on this very 13 day I brought your regiments 14 out from the land of Egypt, and so you must keep this day perpetually as a lasting ordinance. 15 12:18 In the first month, 16 from the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, you will eat bread made without yeast until the twenty-first day of the month in the evening. 12:19 For seven days 17 yeast must not be found in your houses, for whoever eats what is made with yeast – that person 18 will be cut off from the community of Israel, whether a foreigner 19 or one born in the land. 12:20 You will not eat anything made with yeast; in all the places where you live you must eat bread made without yeast.’”
Keluaran 13:3-10
Konteks13:3 Moses said to the people, “Remember 20 this day on which you came out from Egypt, from the place where you were enslaved, 21 for the Lord brought you out of there 22 with a mighty hand – and no bread made with yeast may be eaten. 23 13:4 On this day, 24 in the month of Abib, 25 you are going out. 26
13:5 When 27 the Lord brings you to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, 28 then you will keep 29 this ceremony 30 in this month. 13:6 For seven days 31 you must eat 32 bread made without yeast, and on the seventh day there is to be 33 a festival to the Lord. 13:7 Bread made without yeast must be eaten 34 for seven days; 35 no bread made with yeast shall be seen 36 among you, and you must have no yeast among you within any of your borders.
13:8 You are to tell your son 37 on that day, 38 ‘It is 39 because of what 40 the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 13:9 41 It 42 will be a sign 43 for you on your hand and a memorial 44 on your forehead, 45 so that the law of the Lord may be 46 in your mouth, 47 for 48 with a mighty hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt. 13:10 So you must keep 49 this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year. 50
Keluaran 23:14-15
Konteks23:14 “Three times 51 in the year you must make a pilgrim feast 52 to me. 23:15 You are to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; seven days 53 you must eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you, at the appointed time of the month of Abib, for at that time 54 you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before 55 me empty-handed.
[12:14] 1 tn Heb “and this day will be.”
[12:14] 2 tn The expression “will be for a memorial” means “will become a memorial.”
[12:14] sn The instruction for the unleavened bread (vv. 14-20) begins with the introduction of the memorial (זִכָּרוֹן [zikkaron] from זָכַר [zakhar]). The reference is to the fifteenth day of the month, the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. B. Jacob (Exodus, 315) notes that it refers to the death blow on Egypt, but as a remembrance had to be held on the next day, not during the night. He also notes that this was the origin of “the Day of the
[12:14] 3 tn The verb וְחַגֹּתֶם (vÿkhaggotem), a perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive to continue the instruction, is followed by the cognate accusative חַג (khag), for emphasis. As the wording implies and the later legislation required, this would involve a pilgrimage to the sanctuary of Yahweh.
[12:14] 4 tn Two expressions show that this celebration was to be kept perpetually: the line has “for your generations, [as] a statute forever.” “Generations” means successive generations (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 94). עוֹלָם (’olam) means “ever, forever, perpetual” – no end in sight.
[12:15] 5 tn This expression is an adverbial accusative of time. The feast was to last from the 15th to the 21st of the month.
[12:15] 6 tn Or “you will eat.” The statement stresses their obligation – they must eat unleavened bread and avoid all leaven.
[12:15] 7 tn The etymology of מַצּוֹת (matsot, “unleavened bread,” i.e., “bread made without yeast”) is uncertain. Suggested connections to known verbs include “to squeeze, press,” “to depart, go out,” “to ransom,” or to an Egyptian word “food, cake, evening meal.” For a more detailed study of “unleavened bread” and related matters such as “yeast” or “leaven,” see A. P. Ross, NIDOTTE 4:448-53.
[12:15] 8 tn The particle serves to emphasize, not restrict here (B. S. Childs, Exodus [OTL], 183, n. 15).
[12:15] 9 tn Heb “every eater of leavened bread.” The participial phrase stands at the beginning of the clause as a casus pendens, that is, it stands grammatically separate from the sentence. It names a condition, the contingent occurrences of which involve a further consequence (GKC 361 §116.w).
[12:15] 10 tn The verb וְנִכְרְתָה (vÿnikhrÿtah) is the Niphal perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; it is a common formula in the Law for divine punishment. Here, in sequence to the idea that someone might eat bread made with yeast, the result would be that “that soul [the verb is feminine] will be cut off.” The verb is the equivalent of the imperfect tense due to the consecutive; a translation with a nuance of the imperfect of possibility (“may be cut off”) fits better perhaps than a specific future. There is the real danger of being cut off, for while the punishment might include excommunication from the community, the greater danger was in the possibility of divine intervention to root out the evildoer (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 94). Gesenius lists this as the use of a perfect with a vav consecutive after a participle (a casus pendens) to introduce the apodosis (GKC 337 §112.mm).
[12:15] sn In Lev 20:3, 5-6, God speaks of himself as cutting off a person from among the Israelites. The rabbis mentioned premature death and childlessness as possible judgments in such cases, and N. M. Sarna comments that “one who deliberately excludes himself from the religious community of Israel cannot be a beneficiary of the covenantal blessings” (Exodus [JPSTC], 58).
[12:16] 11 sn This refers to an assembly of the people at the sanctuary for religious purposes. The word “convocation” implies that the people were called together, and Num 10:2 indicates they were called together by trumpets.
[12:16] 12 tn Heb “all/every work will not be done.” The word refers primarily to the work of one’s occupation. B. Jacob (Exodus, 322) explains that since this comes prior to the fuller description of laws for Sabbaths and festivals, the passage simply restricts all work except for the preparation of food. Once the laws are added, this qualification is no longer needed. Gesenius translates this as “no manner of work shall be done” (GKC 478-79 §152.b).
[12:17] 13 tn Heb “on the bone of this day.” The expression means “the substance of the day,” the day itself, the very day (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 95).
[12:17] 14 tn The word is “armies” or “divisions” (see Exod 6:26 and the note there; cf. also 7:4). The narrative will continue to portray Israel as a mighty army, marching forth in its divisions.
[12:17] 15 tn See Exod 12:14.
[12:18] 16 tn “month” has been supplied.
[12:19] 17 tn “Seven days” is an adverbial accusative of time (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 12, §56).
[12:19] 18 tn The term is נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh), often translated “soul.” It refers to the whole person, the soul within the body. The noun is feminine, agreeing with the feminine verb “be cut off.”
[12:19] 19 tn Or “alien”; or “stranger.”
[13:3] 20 tn The form is the infinitive absolute of זָכַר (zakhar, “remember”). The use of this form in place of the imperative (also found in the Decalogue with the Sabbath instruction) stresses the basic meaning of the root word, everything involved with remembering (emphatic imperative, according to GKC 346 §113.bb). The verb usually implies that there will be proper action based on what was remembered.
[13:3] sn There is a pattern in the arrangement of vv. 3-10 and 11-16. Both sections contain commands based on the mighty deliverance as reminders of the deliverance. “With a mighty hand” occurs in vv. 3, 9, 14, 16. An explanation to the son is found in vv. 8 and 14. The emphases “sign on your hand” and “between your eyes” are part of the conclusions to both halves (vv. 9, 16).
[13:3] 21 tn Heb “from a house of slaves.” “House” is obviously not meant to be literal; it indicates a location characterized by slavery, a land of slaves, as if they were in a slave house. Egypt is also called an “iron-smelting furnace” (Deut 4:20).
[13:3] 22 tn Heb “from this” [place].
[13:3] 23 tn The verb is a Niphal imperfect; it could be rendered “must not be eaten” in the nuance of the instruction or injunction category, but permission fits this sermonic presentation very well – nothing with yeast may be eaten.
[13:4] 24 tn The word הַיּוֹם (hayyom) means literally “the day, today, this day.” In this sentence it functions as an adverbial accusative explaining when the event took place.
[13:4] 25 sn Abib appears to be an old name for the month, meaning something like “[month of] fresh young ears” (Lev 2:14 [Heb]) (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 106). B. Jacob (Exodus, 364) explains that these names were not precise designations, but general seasons based on the lunar year in the agricultural setting.
[13:4] 26 tn The form is the active participle, functioning verbally.
[13:5] 27 tn Heb “and it will be when.”
[13:5] 28 tn See notes on Exod 3:8.
[13:5] 29 tn The verb is וְעָבַדְתָּ (vÿ’avadta), the Qal perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive. It is the equivalent of the imperfect tense of instruction or injunction; it forms the main point after the temporal clause – “when Yahweh brings you out…then you will serve.”
[13:5] 30 tn The object is a cognate accusative for emphasis on the meaning of the service – “you will serve this service.” W. C. Kaiser notes how this noun was translated “slavery” and “work” in the book, but “service” or “ceremony” for Yahweh. Israel was saved from slavery to Egypt into service for God as remembered by this ceremony (“Exodus,” EBC 2:383).
[13:6] 31 tn Heb “Seven days.”
[13:6] 32 tn The imperfect tense functions with the nuance of instruction or injunction. It could also be given an obligatory nuance: “you must eat” or “you are to eat.” Some versions have simply made it an imperative.
[13:6] 33 tn The phrase “there is to be” has been supplied.
[13:7] 34 tn The imperfect has the nuance of instruction or injunction again, but it could also be given an obligatory nuance.
[13:7] 35 tn The construction is an adverbial accusative of time, answering how long the routine should be followed (see GKC 374 §118.k).
[13:7] 36 tn Or “visible to you” (B. Jacob, Exodus, 366).
[13:8] 37 tn The form is the Hiphil perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive, carrying the sequence forward: “and you will declare to your son.”
[13:8] sn A very important part of the teaching here is the manner in which the memory of the deliverance will be retained in Israel – they were to teach their children the reasons for the feast, as a binding law forever. This will remind the nation of its duties to Yahweh in gratitude for the great deliverance.
[13:8] 38 tn Heb “day, saying.” “Tell…saying” is redundant, so “saying” has not been included in the translation here.
[13:8] 39 tn “it is” has been supplied.
[13:8] 40 tn The text uses זֶה (zeh), which Gesenius classifies as the use of the pronoun to introduce a relative clause after the preposition (GKC 447 §138.h) – but he thinks the form is corrupt. B. S. Childs, however, sees no reason to posit a corruption in this form (Exodus [OTL], 184).
[13:9] 41 sn This passage has, of course, been taken literally by many devout Jews, and portions of the text have been encased in phylacteries and bound on the arm and forehead. B. Jacob (Exodus, 368), weighing the pros and cons of the literal or the figurative meaning, says that those who took it literally should not be looked down on for their symbolic work. In many cases, he continues, it is the spirit that kills and the letter makes alive – because people who argue against a literal usage do so to excuse lack of action. This is a rather interesting twist in the discussion. The point of the teaching was obviously meant to keep the Law of Yahweh in the minds of the people, to remind them of their duties.
[13:9] 42 tn That is, this ceremony.
[13:9] 43 tn Heb “for a sign.”
[13:9] 44 tn Heb “for a memorial.”
[13:9] 45 tn Heb “between your eyes” (KJV and ASV both similar); the same expression occurs in v. 16.
[13:9] sn That these festivals and consecrations were to be signs and memorials is akin to the expressions used in the book of Proverbs (Prov 3:3, “bind them around your neck…write them on your heart”). The people were to use the festivals as outward and visible tokens to remind them to obey what the Law required.
[13:9] 46 tn The purpose of using this ceremony as a sign and a memorial is that the Law might be in their mouth. The imperfect tense, then, receives the classification of final imperfect in the purpose clause.
[13:9] 47 sn “Mouth” is a metonymy of cause; the point is that they should be ever talking about the Law as their guide as they go about their duties (see Deut 6:7; 11:19; Josh 1:8).
[13:9] 48 tn This causal clause gives the reason for what has just been instructed. Because Yahweh delivered them from bondage, he has the strongest claims on their life.
[13:10] 49 tn The form is a perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive, functioning as the equivalent of an imperfect of instruction or injunction.
[13:10] 50 tn Or “every year,” or “year after year.”
[23:14] 51 tn The expression rendered “three times” is really “three feet,” or “three foot-beats.” The expression occurs only a few times in the Law. The expressing is an adverbial accusative.
[23:14] 52 tn This is the word תָּחֹג (takhog) from the root חָגַג (khagag); it describes a feast that was accompanied by a pilgrimage. It was first used by Moses in his appeal that Israel go three days into the desert to hold such a feast.
[23:15] 53 tn This is an adverbial accusative of time.
[23:15] 55 tn The verb is a Niphal imperfect; the nuance of permission works well here – no one is permitted to appear before God empty (Heb “and they will not appear before me empty”).
