Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 12:6
And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
6. ye shall keep it up ] Heb. it shall be to you for a keeping: cf. Exo 16:23; Exo 16:32-34, Num 17:10 [Heb. 25], Exo 19:9.
the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel ] Cf. for the pleonasm Num 14:5.
between the two evenings ] one of P’s technical expressions: of the Passover, as here, Lev 23:5, Num 9:3; Num 9:5; Num 9:11; of the time for offering the evening burnt-offering, Exo 29:39; Exo 29:41, Num 28:4; Num 28:8; of the time for lighting the lamps in the Tabernacle, Exo 30:8; and Exo 16:12 . The meaning is disputed. (1) Onkelos renders ‘between the two suns,’ which is explained in the Talm. to mean the time between sunset and the stars becoming visible; cf. Ibn Ezra (as cited by Kalisch), ‘We have two evenings; the first, sunset, the second, the ceasing of the light which is reflected in the clouds; and the interval between them is about an hour and 20 minutes’ (so Ges. Keil). The Italian astronomer, Schiaparelli ( Astronomy in the O.T., 1905, p. 92 f.), arrives at nearly the same explanation. He supposes that the expression arose out of the custom of watching for the first appearance of the crescent moon to mark the beginning of the new month; and thinks that the ‘first’ evening would be the half-hour between sunset and the average time at which in the latitude of Palestine the crescent moon would appear, and that the ‘second’ evening would be the hour afterwards, from the appearance of the crescent to complete darkness: ‘ between the two evenings’ would thus mark the time about half-an-hour after sunset. Cf. Deu 16:6, where the Passover is to be sacrificed ‘at the going down of the sun,’ i.e. at sunset. (2) Saadiah (d. a.d. 942), Rashi and Kimchi understand the ‘first’ evening to be the time when the sun first begins to decline to the west, and the shadows begin to lengthen, and the ‘second’ evening to be the beginning of night. But this interpretation gives a very forced sense to the ‘first’ evening. (3) The traditional explanation, adopted by the Pharisees and the Talmudists ( Pesim 61 a ) was that the ‘first’ evening was when the heat of the sun begins to decrease, about 3 p.m., and that the ‘second’ evening began with sunset. So Josephus ( BJ. vi. 9. 3) says that in his day the Passover was sacrificed ‘from the 9th to the 11th hour’ (i.e. from 3 to 5 p.m.). The Mishna ( Pesim v. 1) seems to imply that the Passover was usually killed half-an-hour after the 8th hour, i.e. at 2.30 p.m. 1 [128] : the time however appears to have been variable; for ibid. 3 it is merely said that if offered ‘before noon,’ it was not valid. (1) is the most natural explanation of the Heb. expression, and has also the support of Deu 16:6: but (3) is certainly the sense that was traditionally attached to it.
[128] In Exo 29:39; Exo 29:41 ‘between the two evenings’ is also assigned as the time at which the daily burnt-offering was to be offered: when the two collided, the daily burnt-offering was offered an hour earlier (slaughtered, half-an-hour after the 7th hour, and sacrificed half-an-hour after the 8th hour). Pes. v. 1.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Until the fourteenth day – It should be observed that the offering of our Lord on the self-same day is an important point in determining the typical character of the transaction. A remarkable passage in the Talmud says: It was a famous and old opinion among the ancient Jews that the day of the new year which was the beginning of the Israelites deliverance out of Egypt should in future time be the beginning of the redemption by the Messiah.
In the evening – The Hebrew has between the two evenings. The meaning of the expression is disputed. The most probable explanation is that it includes the time from afternoon, or early eventide, until sunset. This accords with the ancient custom of the Hebrews, who killed the paschal lamb immediately after the offering of the daily sacrifice, which on the day of the Passover took place a little earlier than usual, between two and three p.m. This would allow about two hours and a half for slaying and preparing all the lambs. It is clear that they would not wait until sunset, at which time the evening meal would take place. The slaying of the lamb thus coincides exactly with the death of our Saviour, at the ninth hour of the day Mat 27:46.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 6. Ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day] The lamb or kid was to be taken from the flock on the tenth day, and kept up and fed by itself till the fourteenth day, when it was to be sacrificed. This was never commanded nor practised afterwards. The rabbins mark four things that were required in the first passover that were never required afterwards:
1. The eating of the lamb in their houses dispersed through Goshen.
2. The taking the lamb on the tenth day.
3. The striking of its blood on the door posts and lintels of their houses. And,
4. Their eating it in haste. These things were not required of the succeeding generations.
The whole assembly – shall kill it] Any person might kill it, the sacrificial act in this case not being confined to the priests.
In the evening] beyn haarbayim, “between the two evenings.” The Jews divided the day into morning and evening: till the sun passed the meridian all was morning or fore-noon; after that, all was afternoon or evening. Their first evening began just after twelve o’clock, and continued till sunset; their second evening began at sunset and continued till night, i.e., during the whole time of twilight; between twelve o’clock, therefore, and the termination of twilight, the passover was to be offered.
“The day among the Jews had twelve hours, Joh 11:9. Their first hour was about six o’clock in the morning with us. Their sixth hour was our noon. Their ninth hour answered to our three o’clock in the afternoon. By this we may understand that the time in which Christ was crucified began at the third hour, that is, at nine o’clock in the morning, the ordinary time for the daily morning sacrifice, and ended at the ninth hour, that is, three o’clock in the afternoon, the time of the evening sacrifice, Mr 15:25; Mr 15:33; Mr 15:34-37. Wherefore their ninth hour was their hour of prayer, when they used to go into the temple at the daily evening sacrifice, Ac 3:1; and this was the ordinary time for the passover. It is worthy of remark that God sets no particular hour for the killing of the passover: any time between the two evenings, i.e., between twelve o’clock in the day and the termination of twilight, was lawful. The daily sacrifice (see Ex 29:38-39) was killed at half past the eighth hour, that is, half an hour BEFORE three in the afternoon; and it was offered up at half past the ninth hour, that is, half an hour AFTER three. In the evening of the passover it was killed at half past the seventh hour, and offered at half past the eighth, that is, half an hour BEFORE three: and if the evening of the passover fell on the evening of the Sabbath, it was killed at half past the SIXTH hour, and offered at half past the SEVENTH, that is, half an hour BEFORE two in the afternoon. The reason of this was, they were first obliged to kill the daily sacrifice, and then to kill and roast the paschal lamb, and also to rest the evening before the passover. Agreeably to this Maimonides says ‘the killing of the passover is after mid-day, and if they kill it before it is not lawful; and they do not kill it till after the daily evening sacrifice, and burning of incense: and after they have trimmed the lamps they begin to kill the paschal lambs until the end of the day.’ By this time of the day God foreshowed the sufferings of Christ in the evening of times or in the last days, Heb 1:2; 1Pe 1:19-20: and about the same time of the day, when the paschal lamb ordinarily died, HE died also, viz., at the ninth hour; Mt 27:46-50.” See Ainsworth.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Ye shall keep it up; separate it from the rest of the flock, and keep it in a safe place; the reasons of which, Exo 12:3.
The whole assembly; or rather, every assembly, to wit, every such society as meet together for eating of the lamb. And the assembly is said to kill it, because one person did it in their name, and by their appointment; in which manner, and upon which reason, the whole congregation is said to stone a man, Lev 24:14,16; Num 15:35; Deu 22:21. It is probable it was killed by the master of the family, who was a priest in his own family, &c.
In the evening; Heb. between the evenings, or the two evenings, i.e. between the beginning and end of the evening. The evening is one third part of the day, and one of the appointed and usual times of devotion, as appears from Psa 55:17; Dan 6:10; and it begun at their ninth or our third hour, as may be gathered from Act 3:1; for then the sun began more sensibly to decline, whence that time is fitly called by the Jews the first evening, and that was the time of the evening sacrifice; the second evening was when the sun was setting or set. Between these it was to be killed. This had a respect both to the time of the worlds age when Christ came, which was its evening, or declining time, or end, Heb 1:2; 9:26; 1Pe 1:20; and the time of the day in which Christ our Passover was killed, Mat 27:46-50; Mar 15:25,33,34.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
6. keep it up until the fourteenthday, c.Being selected from the rest of the flock, it was to beseparated four days before sacrifice and for the same length of timewas Christ under examination and His spotless innocence declaredbefore the world.
kill it in the eveningthatis, the interval between the sun’s beginning to decline, and sunset,corresponding to our three o’clock in the afternoon.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month,…. In their houses; this may denote the preservation of Christ in his infancy, and to the appointed time of his sufferings and death; and it is remarkable, that on this very day, the tenth of Nisan, four days before the passover, and so as many days before his sufferings and death, he made his entry into Jerusalem, near to which he was to be offered up, Joh 12:1:
and the whole assembly of the congregation shall kill it in the evening; that is, of the fourteenth of Nisan; not between the two suns, as the Targum of Jonathan, between the sun setting and the sun rising; nor between the setting of the sun, and the entire disappearance of its rays of light reflecting in the air and clouds after it, as Aben Ezra; so it is said in the Talmud k, after the sun is set, all the time that the face of the east is red; others say as long as a man can walk half a mile after sun setting; and others, the twinkling of an eye; but “between the two evening’s” l, as it may be rendered; which respects that space of time after the sun begins to decline, and the entire setting of it; when the sun begins to decline, as it does after noon, that is the first evening, and when it is set, that is the second; and the middle space between the one and the other is about the nineth hour of the day, according to the Jewish computation, and, with us, about three o’clock in the afternoon, about which time the passover used to be killed; for they say m,
“the daily sacrifice was slain at eight and a half, and offered at the nineth; but on the evening of the passover it was slain at seven and a half, and offered at eight and a half, whether on a common day, or on a sabbath; and if the evening of the passover happened to be on the evening of the sabbath, it was slain at six and a half, and offered up at seven and a half, and after that the passover;”
which was done, that there might be time before the last evening for the slaying of the passover lamb. Josephus n says, at the passover they slew the sacrifice from the nineth hour to the eleventh;
[See comments on Mt 26:17], and it being at the nineth hour that our Lord was crucified, the agreement between him and the paschal lamb in this circumstance very manifestly appears, Mt 27:46 though it may also in general denote Christ’s appearing in the last days, in the end of the world, to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself: the slaying of the paschal lamb is ascribed to the “whole assembly of the congregation”, because it was to be slain by their order, and in their name, for their use, and they present; and thus the crucifixion of Christ, his sufferings and death, are attributed to the men of Israel, and all the house of Israel, Ac 2:22.
k T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 34. 2. l “inter duas vesperas”, Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Ainsworth. m Misn. Pesach. c. 5. sect. 1. n De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 9. sect. 3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(6) Ye shall keep it up.Heb., ye shall have it in custody: separate it, i.e., from the flock, and keep it in or near your house for four days. During this time it could be carefully and thoroughly inspected. (Comp. Exo. 12:3.)
The whole assembly of the congregation . . . shall kill it.Every head of a family belonging to the congregation was to make the necessary arrangements, to have the victim ready, and to kill it on the fourteenth day, the day of the full moon, at a time described as that between the two evenings. There is some doubt as to the meaning of this phrase. According to Onkelos and Aben Ezra, the first evening was at sunset, the second about an hour later, when the twilight ended and the stars came out. With this view agrees the direction in Deu. 16:6 :Thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun. It is objected that, according to Josephus (Bell. Jud., vi. 9, 3), the actual time of the sacrifice was from the ninth to the eleventh houri.e., from three oclock to fiveand that there would not have been time for the customary ceremonies during the short twilight of Palestine. The ceremonies consisted in the slaughter of the lambs at the tabernacle door, and the conveyance of the blood in basins to the altar, in order that it might be sprinkled upon it. For this operation a period of several hours duration would seem to have been necessary: hence the time came gradually to be extended; and when this had been done, a new interpretation of the phrase between the evenings grew up. The first evening was explained to begin with the decline of the sun from the zenith, and the second with the sunset; but this can scarcely have been the original idea.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6. Until the fourteenth day For three days, which were, as we suppose, the days of darkness in the land of Egypt, the devoted lamb was kept for the sacrifice in each family the centre of prayerful and grateful meditations as they talked together of the great morning of deliverance that was about to dawn on them.
The whole assembly Each family in its own house, that the sacrifice might be simultaneous in all the land.
In the evening Literally, Between the two evenings; the time which was afterward specified for the evening sacrifice, Num 28:4, and described in Deu 16:6, as the time of the “going down of the sun . ” The Rabbies understand that the first of the “two evenings” is when the sun begins to decline and the heat to decrease, or about three o’clock, and that the second is sunset, so that “between the two evenings” would be, at the fourteenth of Abib, between three and six . Kimchi, Rashi, and others, interpret the period of the declining sun as the first evening, and that of twilight as the second; so that the moment of sunset is the point “between the two evenings.” Whichever view be adopted, “about sunset” is the time fixed, allowing some latitude on both sides, as became necessary afterwards when the lambs were offered in the temple.
The Lamb of God was offered at the time of the paschal feast, and at the paschal hour, for “at the ninth hour,” three in the afternoon, he “cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.” Mar 15:34; Mar 15:37.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exo 12:6. And ye shall keep it up, &c. Keep it up apart from the flock. And the whole assembly shall kill it, i.e. any person of the whole assembly of Israel shall have liberty to kill it: the slaying of the passover was not appropriated to the priesthood, as the offering of the blood was. See Lev 2:5. It was to be killed in the evening; according to the Hebrew, between the two evenings. The first evening with the Hebrews, or, as we call it, afternoon, was calculated from the time of the sun’s passing the meridian to his setting; when the second evening began, and lasted till night, i.e. till the twilight was gone. Between these two evenings was the passover offered; i.e. according to Maimonides, about half an hour after three, when the daily evening sacrifice, and all belonging to it, was over, then the paschal sacrifice began, and continued till sun-setting. It should be observed, that, about this time of the day, JESUS CHRIST, the true Passover, was sacrificed on the cross. He also suffered at this time of the year; and there was a tradition among the Jews, that, as they were redeemed from Egypt on the fifteenth day of Abib, or Nisan, so they should on the same day be redeemed by the Messiah.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
The whole congregation being concerned in the Jewish sacrifice, became a striking figure that the whole synagogue of the Jews should engage their hands in the death of Jesus. Luk 22:1-2 . And still more striking: all the congregation of Israel being concerned in the sacrifice of the lamb, became a precious token that all the Lord’s spiritual Israel have an interest in the sacrifice of Jesus. Joh 17:12 . That the Lamb among the Jews was to be killed in the evening, became a figure also of what the apostle calls the evening or end of the world. For the Lord Jesus gave up the Ghost at the ninth hour, which is three o’clock in the afternoon. See Dan 9:21 compared with Mar 15:34 , etc. and Heb 9:26 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 12:6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
Ver. 6. Until the fourteenth day. ] See Trapp on “ Exo 12:3 “
In the evening.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Israel. Some codices, with Samaritan Pentateuch, The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, Septuagint, and Syriac, read “of the sons of Israel”.
kill. Hebrew. shahat. See App-43.
in the evening. Hebrew between the two evenings, or, according to Lightfoot, between the decline of the sun (after noon) and its setting.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
fourteenth: Lev 23:5, Num 9:3, Num 28:16, Num 28:18, Deu 16:1-6, 2Ch 30:15, Eze 45:21
the whole: 2Ch 30:15-18, Isa 53:6, Mat 27:20, Mat 27:25, Mar 15:1, Mar 15:8, Mar 15:11, Mar 15:25, Mar 15:33, Mar 15:34, Luk 23:1, Luk 23:18, Act 2:23, Act 3:14, Act 4:27
in the evening: Heb. between the two evenings, The Jews divided the day into morning and evening: till the sun passed the meridian, all was morning or forenoon; after that, all was evening or afternoon. Their first evening began just after twelve o’clock, and continued till sunset; their second evening began at sunset, and continued till night, i.e., during the whole time of twilight; between twelve o’clock, therefore, and the termination of twilight, the passover was to be offered – see parallel passages. Exo 16:12, Mat 27:46-50
Reciprocal: Exo 12:3 – in the tenth Exo 12:47 – All the Exo 19:1 – the third Exo 30:8 – at even Num 9:2 – his appointed Num 28:4 – at even Deu 16:6 – at even 2Ch 30:3 – at that time 2Ch 30:17 – the killing 2Ch 35:1 – the fourteenth 2Ch 35:6 – So kill Ezr 6:19 – kept Pro 7:9 – evening Mat 26:17 – the first Mar 14:1 – the passover Mar 14:12 – the first Luk 22:1 – General Luk 22:7 – General Joh 2:13 – passover Joh 6:4 – General 1Co 5:7 – Christ
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 12:6. Ye shall keep it up Keep it apart from the rest of the flock. The whole assembly, shall kill it That is, any man of the whole assembly might kill it. For slaying the passover was not appropriated to the priests.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
12:6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the {e} whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
(e) Every one his house.