Exodus 12:5–13
The lamb's blood on the doorposts spares Israel on the night of Passover
Study it word by word5Your lamb shall be without defect, a male, a year old; from the sheep or from the goats you shall take it.
6You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, and the whole assembly of the community of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight.
7They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.
8They shall eat the meat that night, roasted in fire, and unleavened bread; with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
9Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all in water, but roasted in fire, its head with its legs and with its inner parts.
10You shall not leave any of it until morning; and what is left of it until morning you shall burn in the fire.
11This is how you shall eat it: your waists belted, your sandals on your feet, and your walking stick in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste. It is the Passover of YHWH.
12I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and strike every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both people and animals; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments. I am YHWH.
13The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are; when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no destroying plague will be among you when I strike the land of Egypt.
In its context
3Speak to all the community of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth day of this month they shall take for themselves, each man, a lamb for each father’s house, a lamb for each household.
4If the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house shall take one according to the number of persons; you shall make your count for the lamb each according to what he eats.
…
14This day shall be for you a memorial, and you shall celebrate it as a festival to YHWH; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall celebrate it.
15Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. Indeed, on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses, for whoever eats anything leavened, that person shall be cut off from Israel, from the first day until the seventh day.
Its words in the original
- שֶׂהse· lamb, sheep
One animal of the flock: a lamb, a sheep or a young goat.
- תָמִיםtamim· blameless
Complete, whole, without defect. Said of a person, blameless: of one piece, without falseness. It does not mean that he has never sinned.
- זָכָרzachar· male
Male; a man, or a male animal.
- בֶּןben· son
Son. In the plural it can include sons and daughters, and also grandsons and descendants. "Son of..." also says what group someone belongs to ("sons of Israel" = Israelites).
- שָׁנָהshana· year
Year.
- יִהְיֶהyihye· be, become, happen
Be, exist; also "become" or "happen". It is the verb of "there was", "it was" and "it came to pass".
- כְּבָשִׂיםkevasim· lamb
Lamb: a young sheep, male (a young ram).
- עִזִּיםizim· goat
Goat, female goat; also goats' hair.
- תִּקָּחוּtikachu· take
Take: seize, take along, receive. Also "take a wife" (marry).
- מִשְׁמֶרֶתmishmeret· charge, duty
Charge, duty: what someone is entrusted to guard or carry out; also guard, watch, keeping.
- אַרְבָּעָהarbaa· four
Four.
- עָשָׂרasar· -teen (ten)
Ten, in the numbers from 11 to 19 (like the "-teen" in "thirteen"); also "-teenth".
- יוֹםyom· day
Day: the hours of light, or a whole day from one evening to the next. Also an indefinite time or age ("in the day that...", "in those days").
- חֹדֶשׁchodesh· month, new moon
Month. The Hebrew month begins with the new moon; so the same word also means "new moon".
- שָׁחֲטוּshachatu· slaughter
Slaughter: kill an animal, usually for a sacrifice or for food; also of killing people.
- קְהַלkehal· assembly
Assembly: a large group of people gathered; later, the people of Israel gathered before God.
- עֲדַתadat· community
Community: the whole people of Israel gathered as one body; also any gathered group or band.
- יִשְׂרָאֵלyisrael· Israel
Israel, the new name Jacob received from God, explained as "you have striven with God" (Genesis 32:28); then the name of the people that came from him and, after the division, of the northern kingdom.
- עַרְבָּיִםarbayim· evening
Evening, when the sun goes down. Each day of Genesis 1 is counted "evening and morning"; so in Israel the day begins at sunset.
- דָּםdam· blood
Blood. In the Bible blood stands for life; "shed blood" is to kill; "bloodguilt" is guilt for killing.
- נָתְנוּnatnu· give, put, set
Give, in a very wide sense: hand over, put, place, grant, allow, make something be.
- שְׁתֵּיshete· two
Two.
- מְּזוּזֹתmezuzot· doorpost
Doorpost: each of the two side posts of a door frame.
- מַּשְׁקוֹףmashkof· lintel
Lintel: the top beam of the door frame.
- בָּתִּיםbatim· house, household
House. Also the family that lives in it ("the house of Noah") and someone's descendants ("the house of David"); also a temple, "the house of God".
- יֹאכְלוּyochlu· eat
Eat; also consume, devour (said of fire or the sword).
- בָּשָׂרbasar· flesh
Flesh: the body, and the person as weak and mortal. "One flesh" is the union of husband and wife; "my flesh" can mean "my family". "All flesh" is every living being. In the Old Testament it does not mean something bad in itself.
- לַּיְלָהlayla· night
Night.
- צְלִיtseli· roasted
Roasted.
- אֵשׁesh· fire
Fire. In the Bible it often goes with the presence of God (the bush, Sinai).
- מַצּוֹתmatsot· unleavened bread
Unleavened bread, made quickly because the dough does not have to rise; also the feast of Unleavened Bread.
- מְרֹרִיםmerorim· bitter herbs
Bitter herbs, which recalled the bitterness of slavery (Exodus 1:14).
- נָאna· raw
Raw, half-cooked. It occurs only in Exodus 12:9.
- בָשֵׁלvashel· boiled
Boiled, cooked in water.
- מְבֻשָּׁלmevushal· ripen; boil
Cook, boil; also ripen.
- מָּיִםmayim· water
Water. In Hebrew it is always plural ("waters").
- רֹאשׁrosh· head, chief
Head. From there the first or the chief of a group, the top of a mountain, the beginning of something, or the sum; also the branches of a river.
- כְּרָעָיkeraay· legs
Legs (of an animal or of a locust), the lower part of the leg.
- קִרְבּkirb· inside, midst
The inside, what is within; "in the midst of", "within".
- תוֹתִירוּtotiru· be left, remain
Remain, be left over: what is left. In the causative form, leave over, spare; make abound.
- בֹּקֶרboker· morning
Morning, dawn.
- תִּשְׂרֹפוּtisrofu· burn
Burn; bake in the fire.
- מָתְנֵיmatne· waist, loins
Waist, loins.
- חֲגֻרִיםchagurim· gird
Gird: fasten a garment, a belt or a weapon around the waist for walking, working or fighting.
- נַעֲלֵיnaale· sandal
Sandal.
- רַגְלֵיragle· foot
Foot; the foot of an animal; also a step.
- מַקֶּלְmakel· rod, staff
Rod, branch; staff.
- יֶדְyed· hand, power
Hand. Figuratively, power or control ("into the hand of" = into the power of); also side, part, or share. Also a projecting piece, such as a tenon.
- חִפָּזוֹןchipazon· haste
Haste of one who has to flee.
- פֶּסַחpesach· Passover
Passover (pesach): the festival that recalls the night when God "passed over" the houses of Israel and brought them out of Egypt; also the animal sacrificed that night.
- יהוָהyhva· YHWH
The personal name of the God of Israel, written in Hebrew with four letters, Y-H-W-H, without vowels. Out of reverence Jews stopped pronouncing it and read "Adonai" (Lord), so many Bibles put "the LORD" or "Jehovah". This translation keeps the four letters. The name is related to the verb "to be" (Exodus 3:14-15). He is not a god other than Elohim: "YHWH Elohim" is the same Creator God, called by his name.
- עָבַרְתִּיavarti· pass, cross over
Pass by, pass through, cross over; also go beyond, transgress (a command). In the causative form, make pass, bring across, take away.
- אֶרֶץerets· earth, land
The earth, in two senses: the whole world in contrast with the heavens, or a particular country or region ("the land of Egypt").
- מִצְרַיִםmitsrayim· Egypt, Mizraim
Mizraim, the Hebrew name of Egypt; also the Egyptians. As a person, a son of Ham, ancestor of the Egyptians.
- הִכֵּיתִיhiketi· strike
Strike, hit, wound; often, kill; also strike down, defeat.
- בְּכוֹרbechor· firstborn
Firstborn: the first son, who had a special place in the family and in the inheritance; also the first young of an animal.
- אָדָםadam· human being, man, Adam
The Hebrew word "adam". It has three uses: (1) humanity in general, men and women alike: "human beings" (Genesis 1:27); (2) a particular man; in Genesis 2-4, the first man, "the man"; (3) the personal name of that first man, "Adam". In Hebrew "adam" sounds like "adamah", the ground he was formed from (Genesis 2:7).
- בְּהֵמָהbehema· livestock, beast
Four-footed animal, above all livestock and domestic animals; sometimes all animals in contrast with human beings.
- אֱלֹהֵיelohe· Elohim, God, gods
The Hebrew word usually translated "God". This translation keeps "Elohim" when it speaks of the one true God, the Creator, the God of Israel. The word ends like a plural, but it does not mean several: for him the verb is singular ("Elohim created"); the plural form expresses greatness. The same word as a common noun names the "gods" of other peoples, and there it is a true plural, translated "gods". It is also used of mighty ones or judges.
- אֶעֱשֶׂהeese· do, make
Do, make, in the widest sense: build, produce, carry out, keep (a command), prepare.
- שְׁפָטִיםshefatim· judgments
Judgments: acts by which God punishes and does justice.
- אֹתot· sign
Sign: something visible that serves to show or recall something else (a mark, a warning, a proof). The heavenly bodies are signs that mark days, seasons and years; in other passages it is an extraordinary deed by which God shows something.
- רָאִיתִיraiti· see
See. Also look, observe, notice, consider; in some forms, "appear" or "show".
- פָסַחְתִּיfasachti· pass over; limp
Pass over, go past without touching. From this verb comes "Passover". In other passages, limp, hobble (2 Samuel 4:4; 1 Kings 18:21).
- נֶגֶףnegef· plague, blow
Plague, deadly blow; also stumbling (Isaiah 8:14).
- מַשְׁחִיתmashchit· destroyer; destruction
The one who destroys; destruction, corruption.