Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 12:43
And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This [is] the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof:
43. no alien ] or foreigner, i.e. a foreigner temporarily resident in Israel. It was a distinctively Israelitish observance.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And the Lord said – From this verse to Exo 13:16 are instructions regarding the Passover. Such instructions were needed when the Israelites were joined by the mixed multitude: of strangers; and they were probably given at Succoth, on the morning following the departure from Rameses.
No stranger – Literally, son of a stranger. The term is general; it includes all who were aliens from Israel, until they were incorporated into the nation by circumcision.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Exo 12:43-48
The ordinance of the Passover.
Minute instructions in reference to the observance of the Passover
I. That God not only institutes ordinances for men, but also shows in what way they are to be observed.
II. That God will not allow any stranger to the death of Christ to partake of His Holy Sacrament. There shall no stranger eat thereof.
III. That a mere hired and nominal relation to the Church does not give a true right to the Holy Sacrament. An hired servant shall not eat thereof.
IV. That circumcision of heart is necessary (Exo 12:48). (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 43. This is the ordinance of the passover] From the last verse of this chapter it appears pretty evident that this, to the 50th verse inclusive, constituted a part of the directions given to Moses relative to the proper observance of the first passover, and should be read conjointly with the preceding account beginning at Ex 12:21. It may be supposed that these latter parts contain such particular directions as God gave to Moses after he had given those general ones mentioned in the preceding verses, but they seem all to belong to this first passover.
There shall no stranger eat thereof] ben nechar, the son of a stranger or foreigner, i.e., one who was not of the genuine Hebrew stock, or one who had not received circumcision; for any circumcised person might eat the passover, as the total exclusion extends only to the uncircumcised, see Ex 12:48. As there are two sorts of strangers mentioned in the sacred writings; one who was admitted to all the Jewish ordinances, and another who, though he dwelt among the Jews, was not permitted to eat the passover or partake of any of their solemn feasts; it may be necessary to show what was the essential point of distinction through which the one was admitted and the other excluded.
In treatises on the religious customs of the Jews we frequently meet with the term proselyte, from the Greek , a stranger or foreigner; one who is come from his own people and country to sojourn with another. All who were not descendants of some one of the twelve sons of Jacob, or of Ephraim and Manasseh, the two sons of Joseph, were reputed strangers or proselytes among the Jews. But of those strangers or proselytes there were two kinds, called among them proselytes of the gate, and proselytes of injustice or of the covenant. The former were such as wished to dwell among the Jews, but would not submit to be circumcised; they, however, acknowledged the true God, avoided all idolatry, and observed the seven precepts of Noah, but were not obliged to observe any of the Mosaic institutions. The latter submitted to be circumcised, obliged themselves to observe all the rites and ceremonies of the law, and were in nothing different from the Jews but merely in their having once been heathens. The former, or proselytes of the gate, might not eat the passover or partake of any of the sacred festivals; but the latter, the proselytes of the covenant, had the same rights, spiritual and secular, as the Jews themselves. See Ex 12:48.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This which here followeth is the law or appointment of God concerning the celebration of the passover.
No stranger, or, foreigner, who is so both by nation and religion; for if he were circumcised, he might eat of it, Exo 12:44,48.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron,…. At the same time he acquainted them with the above things:
this is the ordinance of the passover; as before delivered, and these the laws and rules, according to which it is to be observed, as now related, both with respect to the lamb, and to the unleavened bread; and the following is an account of the persons that were to partake of it:
there shall no stranger eat thereof, one that is of another country, an entire Heathen, and unacquainted with, and does not profess the Jewish religion, which was the religion of God.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Regulations Concerning the Participants in the Passover. – These regulations, which were supplementary to the law of the Passover in Exo 12:3-11, were not communicated before the exodus; because it was only by the fact that a crowd of foreigners attached themselves to the Israelites, that Israel was brought into a connection with foreigners, which needed to be clearly defined, especially so far as the Passover was concerned, the festival of Israel’s birth as the people of God. If the Passover was still to retain this signification, of course no foreigner could participate in it. This is the first regulation. But as it was by virtue of a divine call, and not through natural descent, that Israel had become the people of Jehovah, and as it was destined in that capacity to be a blessing to all nations, the attitude assumed towards foreigners was not to be an altogether repelling one. Hence the further directions in Exo 12:44: purchased servants, who had been politically incorporated as Israel’s property, were to be entirely incorporated by circumcision, so as even to take part in the Passover. But settlers, and servants working for wages, were not to eat of it, for they stood in a purely external relation, which might be any day dissolved. , lit., to eat at anything, to take part in the eating (Lev 22:11). The deeper ground fore this was, that in this meal Israel was to preserve and celebrate its unity and fellowship with Jehovah. This was the meaning of the regulations, which were repeated in Exo 12:46 and Exo 12:47 from Exo 12:4, Exo 12:9, and Exo 12:10, where they had been already explained. If, therefore, a foreigner living among the Israelites wished to keep the Passover, he was first of all to be spiritually incorporated into the nation of Jehovah by circumcision (Exo 12:48). : “ And he has made (i.e., made ready) a passover to Jehovah, let every male be circumcised to him (i.e., he himself, and the male members of his house), and then he may draw near (sc., to Jehovah) to keep it.” The first denotes the wish or intention to do it, the second, the actual execution of the wish. The words , , and , are all indicative of non-Israelites. was applied quite generally to any foreigner springing from another nation; was a foreigner living for a shorter or longer time in the midst of the Israelites; , lit., a dweller, settler, was one who settled permanently among the Israelites, without being received into their religious fellowship; was the non-Israelite, who worked for an Israelite for wages.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Directions Concerning the Passover. | B. C. 1491. |
43 And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof: 44 But every man’s servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof. 45 A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof. 46 In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof. 47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. 48 And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof. 49 One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you. 50 Thus did all the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. 51 And it came to pass the selfsame day, that the LORD did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.
Some further precepts are here given concerning the passover, as it should be observed in times to come.
I. All the congregation of Israel must keep it, v. 47. All that share in God’s mercies should join in thankful praises for them. Though it was observed in families apart, yet it is looked upon as the act of the whole congregation; for the smaller communities constituted the greater. The New-Testament passover, the Lord’s supper, ought not to be neglected by any who are capable of celebrating it. He is unworthy the name of an Israelite that can contentedly neglect the commemoration of so great a deliverance. 1. No stranger that was uncircumcised might be admitted to eat of it, Exo 12:43; Exo 12:45; Exo 12:48. None might sit at the table but those that came in by the door; nor may any now approach to the improving ordinance of the Lord’s supper who have not first submitted to the initiating ordinance of baptism. We must be born again by the word ere we can be nourished by it. Nor shall any partake of the benefit of Christ’s sacrifice, or feast upon it, who are not first circumcised in heart, Col. ii. 11. 2. Any stranger that was circumcised might be welcome to eat of the passover, even servants, v. 44. If, by circumcision, they would make themselves debtors to the law in its burdens, they were welcome to share in the joy of its solemn feasts, and not otherwise. Only it is intimated (v. 48) that those who were masters of families must not only be circumcised themselves, but have all their males circumcised too. If in sincerity, and with that zeal which the thing required and deserves, we give up ourselves to God, we shall, with ourselves, give up all we have to him, and do our utmost that all ours may be his too. Here is an early indication of favour to the poor Gentiles, that the stranger, if circumcised, stands upon the same level with the home-born Israelite. One law for both, v. 49. This was a mortification to the Jews, and taught them that it was their dedication to God, not their descent from Abraham, that entitled them to their privileges. A sincere proselyte was as welcome to the passover as a native Israelite, Isa 56:6; Isa 56:7.
II. In one house shall it be eaten (v. 46), for good-fellowship sake, that they might rejoice together, and edify one another in the eating of it. None of it must be carried to another place, nor left to another time; for God would not have them so taken up with care about their departure as to be indisposed to take the comfort of it, but to leave Egypt, and enter upon a wilderness, with cheerfulness, and, in token of that, to eat a good hearty meal. The papists’ carrying their consecrated host from house to house is not only superstitious in itself, but contrary to this typical law of the passover, which directed that no part of the lamb should be carried abroad.
The chapter concludes with a repetition of the whole matter, that the children of Israel did as they were bidden, and God did for them as he promised (Exo 12:50; Exo 12:51); for he will certainly be the author of salvation to those that obey him.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 43-51:
Jehovah placed four certain restrictions upon the annual observance of the Passover. These included: (1) No foreigner could partake of the ordinance, unless he first became a proselyte and submit to circumcision; (2) the ordinance must be observed by family units, see verses 3-10; (3) no bone of the paschal lamb could be broken; (4) the restrictions were the same for native born Israelis as for Gentile proselytes.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
43. This is the ordinance of the passover. Since the passover was the sacred bond whereby God would hold the elect people in obligation to Himself, He forbids all strangers from partaking of it; because a promiscuous permission to eat of it would have been an unworthy profanation. And in fact, since this is a supplement to the First Commandment, it only addresses itself to those unto whom is directed the preface of the Law, “Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord.” We know that among the Gentiles none but the initiated (318) were admitted to their sacred rites. This was an absurd imitation (319) of this true and lawful ordinance; because such a condition is only applicable to the institution of God, lest strangers should promiscuously usurp the testimonies of His grace, with which He honors His Church alone. For circumcision was then like a hedge, which should distinguish heathen nations from the holy race of Abraham; if, then, any should wish to celebrate the passover together with the elect people, it was necessary that he should be circumcised, so as to attach himself to the true God; though God did not merely refer to the outward sign, but to the object, viz., that all who were circumcised should promise to study sincere piety. Moses, therefore, first of all, excludes all strangers who were unclean through their uncircumcision; and then he adds two exceptions, viz., that servants bought with money should be circumcised, (which was a necessary requirement;) and that free and independent persons, if they chose to embrace the same alternative, should also be received to the passover. Hence it appears that this rite was not only peculiar to God’s people, but that it was a sign of the future redemption. For strangers could not testify that they were sharers in that redemption which had been promised to the race of Abraham alone; and, therefore, the ceremony of the sacred feast would have been vain and useless to them. Nor does Moses refer only to that mixed multitude which had followed the Israelites out of Egypt; but prescribes a law respecting all strangers, who for many succeeding ages should come on business into the land. No doubt but that, in celebrating the passover, they would have expected another redemption; since that which was already vouchsafed to the children of Abraham had not extended to them. For although they might be reckoned among the people, yet did no portion of the land in consequence fall to their lot, nor was their condition improved as to temporal rights; (320) but it was only that they might become members of the Church. From the analogy between the Holy Supper and the Passover, this law remains in force now, viz., that no polluted or impure person should intrude himself at the Lord’s table, but that only the faithful should be received, after they have professed themselves to be followers of Christ. (321) And this is expressed also in the words, “One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger,” etc., Exo 12:49; viz., that the ordinance of the sacrament should be solemnly observed by all, and that thus they should equally participate in the grace offered to them in common, and that in this respect the condition of all should be equal, though it differed as to their inheritance of the land.
(318) “Ceux qui y estoyent sollennellement introduits, et comme emmatriculez;” those who had been solemnly introduced to them, and as it were, matriculated. — Fr.
(319) “Vray est que cela n’a este qu’une singerie: mais tant y a que le diable a voulu contrefaire ce qui est du vray ordre et legitime, lequel doit estre observe en tous sacremens, c’est puis qu’ils sont tesmoinages de la grace speciale de Dieu envers son Eglise, qu’on ne les doit pas prostituer a tons venans;” it is true that this was but a monkey-like imitation; but whilst the devil has thus wished to counterfeit the true and legitimate, order, which should be preserved in all sacraments, it is because they are the testimonies of the special favor of God to His Church, that they must not be prostituted to all comers. — Fr.
(320) Omitted in the French.
(321) “Fait protestation de leur roy et Chrestiente;” made open profession of their faith and Christianity. — Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Exo. 12:43-51
MINUTE INSTRUCTIONS IN REFERENCE TO THE OBSERVANCE OF THE PASSOVER
I. That God not only institutes ordinances for men, but also shows in what way they are to be observed. God had instituted the Passover, and now He gives to the Israelites clear injunctions as to the manner in which they are to observe it. The ordinances of Heaven are not to be kept according to the fearful and arbitrary dictates of the human mind, but according to the revelation and will of God. God tells men how they are to keep His ordinances. Thus they are protected against unwisdom and presumption in reference to them. Men are liable to error in the worship of the Eternal, especially at the Sacrament of the Lords Supper. This is a solemn feast, and must be observed after a pattern Divinely made known.
II. That God will not allow any stranger to the death of Christ to partake of His Holy Sacrament. There shall no stranger eat thereof. It would be impossible for a stranger to enter fully into the meaning of the Passover; he would know but little or nothing of Israels deliverance from the bondage of Egypt by the mighty hand of God. He would not, therefore, be in sympathy with the ordinance. And so those who are strangers to the death of Christ ought not, and cannot, truly come to the sacramental table of the Lord. That sacrament finds its explanation in the Cross, and no one can enter into it who has not realised in his inner nature the deliverance and blessing consequent on the death of Christ. The believer in the atonement alone can fully realise the blessing of the Lords table.
III. That a mere hired and nominal relation to the Church does not give a, true right to the Holy Sacrament. And an hired servant shall not eat thereof. There would be many sustaining this relationship to Israel, as there are in relation to the Church in our own age. There are many hired servants of the Church; they are nominally, and perhaps officially, connected with Christian people, but they are not of the true Israel, either by birth or by circumcision; hence they have no right to take part in the Passover, or in the Supper of the Lord.
IV. That circumcision of heart is necessary in order to partake of this Holy Sacrament. (Exo. 12:48.) If the stranger wished to keep the Passover, he was to be circumcised; no uncircumcised person was to eat thereof. Nor should any one eat of the Supper of the Lord unless he be circumcised in heart, and be brought into deep sympathy with the sign of the Christian life, the Cross. None are excluded from the sacrament of the Lords Supper who are willing to comply with the moral requirements of the service.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Exo. 12:43-51. Faith and obedience make all proselytes as home-born, as the children of the Church.
The table of the Lord must not be profaned by unhallowed communicants.
All Gods Israel must observe His ordinance of worship, especially His Passover.
One law of God unites them that be nigh and afar off in Passover worship.
One law of God makes one heart of His people in obedience.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
REV. WM. ADAMSON
Freedom! Exo. 12:51. Stretching from one end to the other of the mighty continent of South America are the lofty mountains of the Cordilleras. On the summit of a spur of the main chain, at a distance from the city of Lima in Peru, was perched a house of ancient construction, originally built as a fortification to command the pass through the mountains. Behind it rose range above range of mountains, the more distant lowering to the sky, and covered with eternal snows; while from its windows could be seen the fertile plains of Peru stretching away to the ocean, distinguishable on clear days by a silvery line in the horizon. During the rebellion of the hapless Indian descendants of the Incas of Peru against the cruel oppressions of the Spanish conquerors, this building, occupied by an English merchant, became the centre of a terrible struggle. While the army of the Incas rushed impetuously down the mountain side, the Spaniards pressed up to gain possession of the building, as the key to the mountain pass. The English owner and his family remained passive spectators, feeling that the first to reach would be the masters of the situation. The Spanish soldiers gained first the house; but no sooner had they barricaded their positions, than the Indian warriors surrounded and besieged them. Desperate was the struggle; but, step by step, the oppressed natives gained possession of the outworks, walls, gardens, and at last of the building itself. All this was through the bravery, prudence, and resolution of their noble leader Manco. Thus, step by step, did the oppressed people of Israel gain their liberty, through the undaunted courage, matchless judgment, and iron resolution of Moses, their leader; who depended, however, not on human arms, but on weapons from the Divine Armoury, and the dread artillery of heaven. A like deliverance, after prolonged struggles, is at hand for the Christian Church
Already she is on her august way,
And marching upward to her final goal.
Percival
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(43) No stranger.Comp, Exo. 12:48 for limitations. If a stranger wished to join, and would accept circumcision for himself and the males of his family, he might partake in the rite.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
FURTHER DIRECTIONS RESPECTING THE PASSOVER.
(43-51) This is the ordinance.These directions, together with those which follow with respect to the sanctification of the firstborn (Exo. 13:1-16), seem to have been given to Moses at Succoth, and were consequently recorded at this point of the narrative. They comprise three principal points:(1) The exclusion of all uncircumcised persons from the Passover (Exo. 12:43); (2) the admission of all full proselytes (Exo. 12:48-49); and (3) the injunction that no bone of the lamb should be broken (Exo. 12:46).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
ADDITIONAL PASSOVER REGULATIONS, Exio 12:43-50.
This additional ordinance, defining the character of the participants in the passover feast, now became necessary, since aliens and strangers of various nations attached themselves to Israel. Exo 12:38. Israel was called to be a blessing to all nations, and, therefore, aliens were not excluded from the covenant privileges if they would take upon them the covenant sign, but this was an essential condition. Transient settlers or labourers for wages were not to be admitted to the passover; but all who had become incorporated into the families of Israel by marriage or by purchase (and who bore the covenant sign) became spiritually as well as outwardly one with the covenant people. Concerning Hebrew servitude see on Exodus 21.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
EXPOSITION
SUPPLEMENTARY ORDINANCE WITH RESPECT TO THE PASSOVER. The position of these verses is curious. We should have expected them to have followed immediately on Exo 12:20, or else to have been reserved for the further consideration of the subject in Exo 23:1-33. It is suggested, in order to account for their place, that they formed the matter of a special revelation made to Moses at Succoth. They comprise three main points:
1. The absolute exclusion of all uncircumcised persons from participation in the passover rite;
2. The extension of the rite (implied in Exo 23:19) to all full proselytes; and,
3. The injunction that not a bone of the lamb should be broken. (This last is repeated in Num 9:12)
Exo 12:43
This is the ordinance of the passoveri.e; “This is the law, in respect of the persons who are to partake of it”there shall no stranger eat thereof, or literally, “No son of a stranger shall eat thereof.” By a “stranger” here is meant one of a foreign race who wishes to retain his foreign character and to remain uncircumcised. Compare Exo 12:48.
Exo 12:44
Every man’s servant that is bought for money. Or “every man’s slave.” The Mosaic Law found servitude existing, and left it existing, only guarding against its extreme abuses (Exo 21:20-27). It put no check on the traffic in slaves. When thou hast circumcised him. The Jewish commentators say, that the desire of the slave to receive the rite and become a Jew is here implied. But it would seem rather, that opposition and refusal is not thought of as possible (see Gen 17:13, Gen 17:17). The case is like that of baptism among the barbarous nations, where no sooner was the king converted than a general order went forth for the baptism of his subjects, which no one thought of resisting. Then shall he eat thereof. It was a principle of the Jewish law that the slaves should be admitted to complete religious equality with the native Israelites. (compare Le Exo 22:11).
Exo 12:45
A foreigner. Literally “a so-journer”i.e; a foreigner who is merely passing through the land, or staying for a time, without intending to become a permanent resident. The Septuagint well expresses the meaning. An hired servant. It is assumed that the “hired servant” will be a foreigner; and intended to guard against any compulsion being put upon him.
Exo 12:46
In one house shall it be eaten. Compare the directions in Exo 12:3-10, which imply this, and see the comment on Exo 12:10. Neither shall ye break a bone of it. Kalisch thinks that the lamb was a symbol of the unity of the nation, and was therefore not to have any of its bones broken. This view may be a true one, without being exhaustive. It may have been to mark the unity of the Church in Christ that his bones were not broken, and in view especially of that unity, that the type was made to correspond in this particular with the antitype. (See Joh 19:33-36.)
Exo 12:47
All the congregation shall keep it. Rather “shall sacrifice it.” (Compare Exo 12:6.)
Exo 12:48, Exo 12:49
And when a stranger, etc. Here we have the positive ordinance corresponding to the implied permission in Exo 12:19, and modifying in the most important and striking way the prohibitive enactment of Exo 12:43. The “stranger,” even if he only “sojourned” in the land, was to be put on exactly the same spiritual footing as the Israelite (“One law shall be,” etc.) if only he and his would be circumcised, and so enter into covenant,
Exo 12:50
Thus did all the children of Israeli.e; the Israelites, at their first passover, acted in accordance with these precepts, especially in admitting to the feast all circumcised persons, whether natives or foreigners, and rejecting all the uncircumcised.
Exo 12:51
This verse should be transferred to the commencement of the next chapter, which should run as follows:”And it came to passon the self-same day that the Lord brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armiesthat the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,” etc. The word “armies,” which at first sight may seem inappropriate, occurs also in Exo 6:26. It is probably intended to mark that the people were thoroughly organised, and marshalled in divisions resembling those of an army.
HOMILETICS
Exo 12:41-50
Passover precepts realised in Christian practice.
The precepts were:
I. THAT NO UNCIRCUMCISED STRANGER, NOT EVEN THOUGH A HIRED SERVANT IN A HEBREW FAMILY, SHOULD EAT OF IT. Formally, baptism corresponds to circumcision, both of them admitting into covenant with God; and thus the rule of Christian communities generally, that the reception of baptism must precede that of the Lord’s Supper, is a carrying out of this precept. But it is also carried out in another way. Spiritually, the correspondent to the circumcision of the flesh is the circumcision of the spirit; and thus all Churches which warn the wicked from approaching the Lord’s table, do their best to enforce the precept, “No uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.” Hired servants of the Church, unless circumcised in heart, are as unfit to communicate as those who have no external connection with Divine things. Nay, may we not say more unfit?
II. THAT ALL THE CONGREGATION OF ISRAEL, FREEMEN AND SLAVES ALIKE, SHOULD EAT OF IT. The frequent exhortation of all Christian Churches to all their members to receive the Communion, especially at Easter-time, and the general allowance of the duty by those who have any real sense of religion constitute a realisation, to a considerable extent, of this precept in Christian practice. It is to be wished that the realisation were complete. The joint participation of freemen with slaves has always charactcrised the Christian Church; and though there have been Christian communities which have acted differently, the cases are too exceptional to deserve much notice, and are disappearing as slavery disappears.
III. THAT IT SHOULD BE EATEN IN ONE PLACE, AND NONE OF IT CARRIED FORTH. Churches which allow not only reservation, but the carrying forth of the holy elements to the bedsides of the sick, break at any rate the letter of this precept. But the Reformed Churches, which disallow even reservation, keep close to it.
IV. THAT NOT A BONE OF IT SHOULD BE BROKEN. This precept can only be spiritually observed, for in the Christian passover, the “flesh” to be eaten has no “bones.” But it is spiritually kept wherever communicants are warned against dividing Christ in their thoughts, against separating his humanity from his Divinity, or against practising special devotion to any separate portion of his person, as to his “Sacred Heart” or his “Five wounds.” It was the essence of one of the early forms of heresy to “divide Christ;” and on this account the Church of England protests in her second article of religion, that in him “two whole and perfect natures are joined together in one person, never to be divided, whereof is One Christ.”
HOMILIES BY J. ORR
Exo 12:43-51
The spirit of the Passover ordinance.
The features to be specified reappear in the Lord’s Supper. The ordinance was
I. EXCLUSIVE. (Exo 12:43, Exo 12:45, Exo 12:48.) A stranger, an uncircumcised person, and a hired servant, were not to be permitted to oat of it. Their relation to Israel was wholly external. In like manner, the Lord’s Supper is exclusive. It excludes the stranger to the death of Christ, the uncircumcised in heart, and those who sustain a merely legal and hireling relation to the Church. These have “neither part nor lot” in the matter.
II. YET CATHOLIC. (Exo 12:48, Exo 12:49.) The sojourning stranger who wished to keep the passover had only to be circumcisedhe and his malesto be admitted to the ordinance. He was then to be as one born in the land. This catholicity of spirit, and kindliness to foreigners, blending with a stern exclusiveness in religion, is characteristic of the whole Mosaic code. Cf. Vinet on the tolerance and intolerance of the Christian religion (“Vital Christianity”). The Lord’s Supper is the most catholic of ordinances. It overleaps all barriers of race, nationality, clime, and religion. At the Lord’s table there is neither Greek, nor Jew, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free.
III. EQUALISING. (Exo 12:44.) The master and slave sat down at the same board. See last homily. Christianity is the great social equaliser.
IV. UNIFYING. (Exo 12:46, Exo 12:47.)It taught the congregation to feel its unity.
1. The lamb was to be eaten in one house.
2. Not a bone of it was to be broken. “Through the unity and integrity of the lamb given them to eat, the participants were to be joined into an undivided unity and fellowship with the Lord, who had provided them with the meal” (Keil).
3. All the congregation were to eat it. The Lord’s Supper, in like manner, is a social meal, in which the Church, eating “one bread,” and drinking “one cup,” declares itself to be “one body” (cf. 1Co 10:16, 1Co 10:17). “The preservation of Christ, so that not a bone was broken, had the same signification; and God ordained this that he might appear as the true Paschal Lamb, that was slain for the sins of the world.”J.O.
HOMILIES BY J. URQUHART
Exo 12:43-51
The Law of the Passover.
I. WHAT GOD REQUIRES IN ITS OBSERVANCE.
1. God demands purity of communion. No stranger is to cat of it.
(1) Our holy things are not to be profaned. The life of Christ is lowered and endangered by indiscriminate admission to the Lord’s table.
(2) They are not to be degraded into superstitious rites. When they are given as if salvation resided in them, we are substituting idols for the unseen Saviour. The only safeguard for purity of worship is purity of communion.
2. It is not to be carried out from the midst of the household of faith. The peace and fellowship of the Gospel are only for the circumcised in heart.
3. Communion with Christ to be characterised by reverence and holy awe: not a bone of him is to be broken.
4. Every wall of partition is removed. All who believe have a right to join in the feast (Exo 12:41-49); but they must come with the mark of God’s people,a circumcised heart.
II. THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH IS BLESSED NOT ONLY WITH SAFETY BUT ALSO WITH DELIVERANCE. “Thus did all the children of Israel and on the self-same day” they passed out of Egypt (Exo 12:50, Exo 12:51). Fellowship with Christ is deliverance from the bondage of evil.U.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Let us pause to remark that in the old church, as well as in the new, there could be no communion with God without an union with Christ. 1Co 10:21 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 12:43 And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This [is] the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof:
Ver. 43. There shall no stranger, &c. ] Strangers are excluded; to show that the faithful only have fellowship with Christ; contra quam Lutherani ineptiunt, saith one.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the LORD (Hebrew. Jehovah. said. See note on Exo 3:7, and compare note on Exo 6:10.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
There shall: Exo 12:48, Lev 22:10, Num 9:14, Eph 2:12
Reciprocal: Exo 12:14 – by an ordinance Exo 12:19 – whether Exo 23:15 – the feast Num 9:11 – fourteenth Num 9:12 – according Num 15:15 – an ordinance Num 28:16 – General Deu 14:21 – the stranger 2Ch 30:18 – the passover 2Ch 30:25 – the strangers
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE PASSOVER
This is the ordinance of the passover.
Exo 12:43
Between the announcement of the closing plague and the night of its actual accomplishment, a considerable interval must have elapsed. Time was given, in the wise delay of God, for the widespread preparations that were necessary; a last opportunity was afforded Pharaoh to realise the awful consequences of his obstinacy; and Moses was instructed, in this lull before the storm, how to celebrate the Passover Feast, so that it should not only answer the purpose of the moment, but be a witness to succeeding generations. What, then, was to be the manner of this feast? It was to be a feast, not of leisure, but of haste. It was not to be eaten at ease and with happy lingering; men were not to be dressed as if for some quiet repast. Loins must be girded, shoes must be on the feet, the hand of every man must grasp a staff; it was a feast of expectancy and eagerness; of men on the point of starting on a journey. Everyone knows what the feast itself consisted ofit was a lamb without blemish, a male of the first year. The lamb was to be roasted with fire, and unleavened bread was to be prepared, then with the unleavened bread and bitter herbs it was to be eaten. But first, the blood of the lamb was to be gathered in a basin, and with that blood the doorposts and the lintels of every house which sheltered a family of Israelites was to be sprinkled.
I. Such, then, were the directions of Moses, and they were loyally and literally obeyed. From north to south, wherever the Hebrews dwelt, all things were ready on the fateful night. A deepening sense of doom spread over Egypt, a growing certainty of deliverance stirred in Israel; everything pointed to the striking of an hour when the arm of Almighty God would be revealed. And as before a storm there is often an ominous hush, and Nature seems conscious of impending ruin, so was it in the doomed country of the Pharaoh. At midnight on the fourteenth of Nisam the blow fell. In the palace, in the lonely cottage, in the prison-cell, wherever there was a bloodless lintel there was death. And such a cry arose of agony and heartbreak as rang in the Hebrews ears for many a day. To the Egyptians it was a cry of woe; but to the Israelites it was the call of freedomwhat strange diversities of meaning God can bring out of the accents of a single voice! The wail that spoke of desolated homes spoke also of release from bitter hardship. For Pharaoh rose up in the night with all his servants, and he called for Moses and Aaron there and then. He said, Rise up, get you forth from among my people, and go, serve the Lord as ye have said. So on the early dawn of the fifteenth day of Nisam the children of Israel started on the journey of which they had dreamed through many a weary day, but which was to be so different from their dream.
II. There were both safety and sustenance in the lamb.On the night of the Passover God commanded the Israelites that none of them should stir beyond the door. Outsidein the streetthere was no promise of protection; inside, they were absolutely safe. Now why was that? Was it lest in the darkness the angel of destruction might misknow them? Not so; it was that all might learn that nowhere was there safety but behind the blood. And what was that blood that was sprinkled on the doorposts? It was the blood of the lamb that had been slain. And what was the flesh that the waiting people fed on? It was the flesh of that same lamb whose blood was sprinkled. So through the one lamb they were redeemed from death, and sustained for the labours and trials of their journey. Is not that true also of the Lamb of God?a name that immediately recalls this scene. He does not merely redeem us and then leave us. He saves us and He satisfies us too. Sprinkled with His blood we fear no destroying angel; fed with His flesh we are strong to take our journey:
Bread of Heaven, on Thee we feed,
For Thy flesh is Meat indeed.
III. We should make a study of the Lamb as it occurs in Scripture.In that parable and picture of the Saviour, there is a widening and expanding glory. First, we have the lamb for the individual, when Abel offered the firstlings of his flock. Then here, in the story of the Passover, we have an instance of the lamb for the family. In a later chapter (Exo 29:38-39) we meet with the lamb for the people; in the words of the Baptist we have the Lamb for the world; and the glorious expansion reaches its greatest in Revelation (Rev 7:14) where we find the Lamb for all heaven.
Illustration
(1) Let me be sure that I have clear conceptions of Christ my Passover. If one should ask me what meanings I attach to Him and to His work and redemption, I would have a definite answer to return.
And let me ring out my joy in Christ my Passover. A greater deliverance than the exodus from Egypt He has wrought for me. How cowardly it is, how sinful, to be silent regarding His mighty deeds! Nay, come and hear, children, friends, neighbours, all; and I will tell what He has done, and is doing, and will continue to do for ever and ever.
(2) Is it not well for me to recall the years of the right hand of the Most High? Is it not wise to remember my Lords mighty doings in the past? It is a night to be much observed.
The God of those who went before me was a living God. People question to-day whether there is any Maker and Governor of the world. But my fathers, for whom He did great things, were sure of Him, and would have doubted their own personality sooner than doubt His. They bid me believe and be persuaded that He lives.
And the God of the ancient saints was an accessible God. In their hours of need they spoke to Him, spoke simply and fervently and every day. And they were confident that He answered them; they had innumerable convincing proofs of it.
And the God of my progenitors was a promise-keeping God. They leaned on His engagements. They pleaded them at His throne. They ensnared and enmeshed Him in His own words, as Luther says the Syrophenician mother entangled Christ. And soon He rose from His place; He girt His Church with strength and beauty. So I am rebuked for fainting on the day of adversity; I am sent on my way with a merry heart.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
12:43 And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This [is] the ordinance of the passover: {t} There shall no stranger eat thereof:
(t) Unless he is circumcised, and professes your religion only.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
4. Regulations regarding the Passover 12:43-51
Before any male could eat the Passover he had to undergo circumcision. Moses stressed this requirement strongly in this section. The rationale behind this rule was that before anyone could observe the memorial of redemption he first had to exercise faith in the promises God had given to Abraham. Furthermore he had to demonstrate that faith by submitting to the rite of circumcision, the sign of the Abrahamic Covenant. This requirement should have reminded the Israelites and all other believers who partook of the Passover that the Passover rite did not make a person acceptable to God. Faith in the promises of God did that. Foreigners who were non-Israelites could and did become members of the nation by faith in the Abrahamic Covenant promises and participation in the rite of circumcision. There were both circumcised and uncircumcised foreigners who lived among the Israelites during the wilderness march.
Here Moses revealed the requirement that the Passover host was not to break a bone of the paschal lamb (Exo 12:46; cf. Exo 12:3-9). Not a bone of the Lamb of God was broken either (Joh 19:36).