The Exodus
Exodus 12:31-42
Exo.12.31 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויקרא: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- למשה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ולאהרן: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לילה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- קומו: VERB,qal,impv,2,pl
- צאו: VERB,qal,impv,2,pl
- מתוך: PREP
- עמי: NOUN,m,sg,abs+1s
- גם: ADV
- אתם: PRON,2,m,pl
- גם: ADV
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ולכו: VERB,qal,imp,2,pl
- עבדו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- כדברכם: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs,2p
Parallels
- Exod.12.33 (structural): Immediate narrative continuation: Pharaoh urges Moses, Aaron and the Israelites to leave Egypt that night — essentially the same action as v.31 described.
- Exod.12:51 (structural): Summary statement that the LORD brought the Israelites out of Egypt on that same night — completes the event begun when Pharaoh commanded them to go.
- Exod.9:28-35 (verbal): Earlier episode where Pharaoh tells Moses to pray and says the men may go (using the 'let my people go' formula), then hardens his heart — parallels the pattern of a temporary concession.
- Ps.105:36-37 (thematic): Poetic retelling of the Exodus: God strikes Egypt and brings Israel out with plunder — recalls Pharaoh releasing the people and their departure.
- 1 Cor.10:1-2 (allusion): Paul alludes to Israel’s passing through the sea and their deliverance under Moses as the defining Exodus event — theological reference to the people’s departure from Egypt.
Alternative generated candidates
- And he called to Moses and to Aaron by night and said: 'Rise, go out from the midst of my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, serve YHWH, as you have spoken.'
- And he called to Moses and to Aaron by night and said, 'Rise, go out from the midst of my people, both you and the sons of Israel, and go, serve YHWH as you have spoken.'
Exo.12.32 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- גם: ADV
- צאנכם: NOUN,m,pl,abs,prsfx:2,m,pl
- גם: ADV
- בקרכם: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- קחו: VERB,qal,impv,2,pl
- כאשר: CONJ
- דברתם: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,pl
- ולכו: VERB,qal,imp,2,pl
- וברכתם: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,2,m,pl
- גם: ADV
- אתי: PRON,1,sg
Parallels
- Exod.10:24 (verbal): Pharaoh’s earlier instruction to let Israel go but to leave their flocks and herds — provides a direct verbal contrast to his later permission here to take livestock.
- Exod.11:2 (thematic): God instructs Israelites to ask Egyptians for valuables (‘borrow’), thematically linked to taking possessions when departing Egypt.
- Exod.3:21-22 (allusion): God’s promise that the Egyptians would give the Israelites silver, gold and clothing so they would not go empty-handed — background theological promise for taking livestock and goods.
- Exod.12:36 (structural): Immediate narrative parallel: the Egyptians gave the Israelites valuables and they plundered Egypt, describing the fulfillment of taking goods on departure.
- Gen.15:14 (allusion): Divine promise to Abraham that his descendants would come out of Egypt with great possessions — a foundational prophetic precedent for Israel leaving with wealth.
Alternative generated candidates
- 'Also your flocks, also your herds, take as you have spoken, and go; and bless me also.'
- 'Also your flocks, also your herds, take as you have spoken, and go; and also bless me.'
Exo.12.33 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ותחזק: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- מצרים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- על: PREP
- העם: NOUN,m,sg,def
- למהר: VERB,qal,inf
- לשלחם: PREP+VERB,qal,inf,3,m,pl
- מן: PREP
- הארץ: NOUN,f,sg,def
- כי: CONJ
- אמרו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- כלנו: PRON,1,pl
- מתים: ADJ,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Exod.12.34 (structural): Immediate narrative continuation: Egyptians urge the people to depart in haste and the Israelites depart, taking their unleavened dough (direct sequence and consequence).
- Exod.12.35-36 (verbal): Directly connected consequence: these verses describe Egyptians giving silver, gold and clothing to the Israelites — the material result of Egypt urging them to leave and the LORD granting favor to Israel.
- Ps.105:37 (quotation): Psalm retells the Exodus and echoes the motif of God bringing Israel out 'with silver and gold,' reflecting the same transfer of wealth and divine favor narrated in Exodus 12.
- Acts 7:36 (thematic): Stephen's retelling of Israel's deliverance in the New Testament; summarizes God bringing the people out of Egypt after wonders and signs, echoing the urgency and divine action surrounding the Exodus.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the Egyptians pressed upon the people to hurry to send them out of the land, for they said, 'We are all dead men.'
- And Egypt pressed hard upon the people to hasten to send them out of the land, for they said, 'We are all dead men.'
Exo.12.34 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וישא: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- העם: NOUN,m,sg,def
- את: PRT,acc
- בצקו: NOUN,m,sg,poss3mp
- טרם: ADV
- יחמץ: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- משארתם: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,poss3mp
- צררת: NOUN,f,pl,poss3mp
- בשמלתם: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,poss3mp
- על: PREP
- שכמם: NOUN,m,pl,poss3mp
Parallels
- Exod.12.39 (verbal): Same narrative moment: the Israelites bake unleavened bread from the dough they brought out of Egypt because there was no time for it to become leavened — near-verbatim parallel to v.34.
- Exod.13:3-7 (structural): Command to remember the day of departure and to remove leaven for seven days; provides the ritual and legal context for Hebrews taking unrisen dough at the exodus.
- Deut.16:3 (thematic): Instruction to eat unleavened bread as a memorial of the haste of the exodus — connects the practical detail of v.34 to later liturgical prescription and memory.
- Luke 22:7-15 (allusion): The Last Supper is held on the day of Unleavened Bread/Passover and involves unleavened bread; echoes the Passover setting and sacramental reuse of the unleavened-bread motif from Exod.12.
- 1 Cor.5:7-8 (allusion): Paul uses the imagery of unleavened bread (and removing leaven) as a moral/eschatological metaphor rooted in the Passover tradition described in Exod.12.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the people carried their dough before it leavened, their kneading bowls bound up in their garments on their shoulders.
- And the people took up their dough before it had leavened, their kneading bowls bound up in their garments upon their shoulders.
Exo.12.35 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ובני: CONJ+NOUN,m,pl,cons
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עשו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- כדבר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- משה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וישאלו: VERB,qal,imf,3,m,pl
- ממצרים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- כלי: NOUN,m,pl,const
- כסף: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וכלי: NOUN,m,pl,const
- זהב: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ושמלת: CONJ+NOUN,f,pl,abs
Parallels
- Exod.12.36 (verbal): Immediate parallel in the narrative: the Egyptians gave the Israelites silver, gold, and raiment — a direct continuation/confirmation of 12:35.
- Exod.11:2 (verbal): Moses' prior instruction to the people to ask (borrow) jewels of silver and gold from the Egyptians — the command that 12:35 reports them carrying out.
- Exod.3:21-22 (verbal): God's promise that He would give the Egyptians' possessions to Israel and that Egyptian women would borrow items — the theological basis for the taking of goods.
- Ps.105:37 (verbal): Poetic retelling of the Exodus: 'He brought them forth also with silver and gold,' echoing the motif of Israel leaving Egypt with Egyptian wealth.
- Gen.15:14 (thematic): Divine prophecy that the descendants would be afflicted in a foreign land and afterward 'go out' with great substance — a foreshadowing of the spoiling of Egypt motif.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the sons of Israel did according to the word of Moses, and they asked from the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold, and garments.
- And the sons of Israel did according to the word of Moses, and they asked from the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold, and garments.
Exo.12.36 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויהוה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נתן: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- חן: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- העם: NOUN,m,sg,def
- בעיני: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs
- מצרים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- וישאלום: CONJ+VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,pl+OBJ:3,m,pl
- וינצלו: CONJ+VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,pl
- את: PRT,acc
- מצרים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
Parallels
- Exodus 3:21-22 (quotation): God's prior promise that He would give the Israelites favor in the sight of the Egyptians so they would ask and plunder the Egyptians — the fulfillment of that promise.
- Exodus 12:35 (structural): Immediate narrative context: Israelites 'borrow' or request silver, gold, and garments from the Egyptians just before 12:36, showing the practical outcome of the favor granted.
- Genesis 39:21 (thematic): Similar theme of the LORD granting favor to a righteous Israelite in a foreign land (Joseph in prison), demonstrating divine provision through favor.
- Psalm 105:37 (allusion): Poetic retelling of the Exodus that explicitly mentions bringing Israel out with silver and gold taken from Egypt, echoing the plundering/transfer of wealth described in 12:36.
Alternative generated candidates
- And YHWH gave the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians, and they gave them what they asked; thus they plundered Egypt.
- And YHWH gave the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians, and they granted them what they asked; and they plundered Egypt.
Exo.12.37 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויסעו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מרעמסס: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- סכתה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- כשש: PREP+NUM,card,m,sg
- מאות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- אלף: NUM,m,sg
- רגלי: NOUN,f,pl,construct
- הגברים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- לבד: PREP
- מטף: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Exod.13:18 (structural): Repeat of the itinerary: both verses state Israel departed from Rameses and went to Succoth, linking the narrative movement out of Egypt.
- Num.1:46 (verbal): Gives the same figure for fighting men—603,550—explicitly echoing the population count implicit in the Exodus departure (verbal/numeric parallel).
- Ps.105:37-38 (thematic): Poetic retelling of the Exodus; recalls God bringing Israel out of Egypt in great numbers and Egypt's reaction, paralleling the departure and mass of the people in Exod 12:37.
- Deut.10:22 (allusion): Summarizes Israel’s growth from the seventy who entered Egypt to a multitudinous nation—the theme of numerical increase that underlies the statement of 'about six hundred thousand' in Exod 12:37.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the sons of Israel set out from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot, the men, apart from the little ones.
- And the sons of Israel set out from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot, the men, besides the little ones.
Exo.12.38 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וגם: CONJ
- ערב: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- רב: ADJ,m,sg
- עלה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אתם: PRON,2,m,pl
- וצאן: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ובקר: CONJ,NOUN,m,pl,abs
- מקנה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כבד: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- מאד: ADV
Parallels
- Num.11.4 (verbal): Uses the same phrase ערב רב ('a mixed/miscellaneous multitude') as present in Exod 12:38; links the presence of non-Israelite followers to later complaints in the wilderness.
- Exod.12.35-36 (structural): Immediate narrative context: Israelites ask and plunder Egyptian goods before departure—Exod 12:38 continues this departure motif by adding the mixed multitude and large numbers of livestock.
- Gen.46.6 (thematic): Jacob and his household 'took their cattle and goods' when going to Egypt; parallels the motif of a people moving with flocks and herds during a major migration.
- Ps.105.37 (allusion): The psalm retells the Exodus and notes that God brought the people out with silver and gold, echoing the Exodus tradition of leaving Egypt with possessions and a mixed company (cf. Exod 12:35–38).
Alternative generated candidates
- And also a mixed multitude went up with them, and flocks and herds—a very large amount of livestock.
- And also a mixed multitude went up with them, and flocks and herds, very much livestock.
Exo.12.39 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאפו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- את: PRT,acc
- הבצק: NOUN,m,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- הוציאו: VERB,hiphil,impv,2,pl
- ממצרים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- עגת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- מצות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- כי: CONJ
- לא: PART_NEG
- חמץ: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כי: CONJ
- גרשו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- ממצרים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ולא: CONJ
- יכלו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- להתמהמה: VERB,hit,inf
- וגם: CONJ
- צדה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- עשו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- להם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Exodus 12:34 (verbal): Describes the same moment—Israelites taking dough out of Egypt and baking unleavened cakes—verbal and narrative overlap with 12:39's report of baking without leaven because of the flight.
- Exodus 12:11 (thematic): Passover eating-in-haste instruction ('eat it in haste') parallels 12:39's emphasis that they could not delay because they were driven out of Egypt.
- Exodus 13:3-7 (structural): Later legislation remembering the exodus links the absence of leaven and the haste of departure to the institution of Unleavened Bread, explaining the theological and ritual significance behind 12:39's detail.
- Deuteronomy 16:3 (verbal): Direct command to eat unleavened bread because you came out of Egypt in haste; echoes 12:39's causal formula connecting the exodus' urgency to eating unleavened bread.
- 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 (allusion): Paul uses Passover/unleavened imagery ('Christ our Passover… let us keep the feast with sincerity and truth, unleavened') drawing on Exodus traditions about haste and unleavened bread as theological metaphor.
Alternative generated candidates
- And they baked the dough that they had brought out of Egypt into cakes of unleavened bread, for it had not leavened, for they were driven out of Egypt and could not delay; and also they had not made provisions for themselves.
- And they baked the dough that they had brought out of Egypt into cakes of unleavened bread, for it had not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not delay; and also provisions they had not made for themselves.
Exo.12.40 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ומושב: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אשר: PRON,rel
- ישבו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- במצרים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- שלשים: NUM,m,pl,abs
- שנה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- וארבע: CONJ,NUM,card,f,sg
- מאות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- שנה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Genesis 15:13 (verbal): God's promise to Abraham states his offspring will be 'strangers in a land not theirs' for 400 years — a closely related statement about the duration of Israel's sojourn before deliverance.
- Acts 7:6 (quotation): Stephen recounts Israel's history, explicitly citing the 400 years of affliction and slavery, echoing the chronology behind Exodus 12:40.
- Galatians 3:17 (allusion): Paul cites a 430-year interval between God's promise to Abraham and the giving of the Law, using the same chronological tradition that Exodus 12:40 expresses.
- Exodus 12:40 (Septuagint / Samaritan Pentateuch reading) (structural): The LXX and Samaritan Pentateuch read the 430 years as 'in Egypt and in the land of Canaan,' a textual variant that broadens the scope of the sojourn and affects chronological interpretation.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the length of time of the sons of Israel who dwelt in Egypt was thirty years and four hundred years.
- And the time of the sojourning of the sons of Israel who dwelt in Egypt was thirty years and four hundred years.
Exo.12.41 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויהי: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- מקץ: PREP
- שלשים: NUM,m,pl,abs
- שנה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- וארבע: CONJ,NUM,card,f,sg
- מאות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- שנה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ויהי: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- בעצם: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- היום: NOUN,m,sg,def
- הזה: DEM,m,sg
- יצאו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- כל: DET
- צבאות: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- מארץ: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- מצרים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
Parallels
- Exod.12:40 (verbal): Immediate parallel in the same book stating the length of the sojourn (430 years/400 years) and linking the timeframe to Israel's stay in Egypt/Canaan — essentially the same chronological claim.
- Gen.15:13-16 (allusion): God's prophecy to Abraham that his descendants will be strangers and enslaved for a long period (400 years) before being brought out, providing the promise/background for the Exodus timetable.
- Gal.3:17 (thematic): Paul cites the 430-year interval between God's promise to Abraham and the giving of the law to show the law does not annul the earlier promise — uses the same chronology as Exodus.
- Acts 7:6-7 (quotation): Stephen recounts the ancestral timeline (400 years of sojourn and affliction) and God's promise of deliverance and inheritance, echoing Exodus/Genesis chronology and meaning.
- Acts 13:19 (thematic): Paul's retelling of Israel's history emphasizes God bringing the people out of Egypt and giving them the land, linking the Exodus departure (the 'hosts of the LORD' going out) to the conquest and inheritance.
Alternative generated candidates
- And it happened at the end of thirty years and four hundred years—on that very day—all the hosts of YHWH went out from the land of Egypt.
- And it came to pass at the end of thirty years and four hundred years, on that very day, that all the hosts of YHWH went out from the land of Egypt.
Exo.12.42 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ליל: NOUN,m,sg,cs
- שמרים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- הוא: PRON,3,m,sg
- ליהוה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,def
- להוציאם: VERB,hiphil,inf,3,m,pl
- מארץ: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- מצרים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- הוא: PRON,3,m,sg
- הלילה: NOUN,m,sg,def
- הזה: DEM,m,sg
- ליהוה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,def
- שמרים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- לכל: PREP
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לדרתם: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs+3mp
Parallels
- Exod.12.27 (verbal): Explains the Passover night as belonging to the LORD and instructs Israelites to recount its meaning—directly tied to the purpose and explanation of the night in 12:42.
- Exod.13:8-10 (thematic): Commands telling future generations about the LORD's deliverance and keeping the ordinance—echoes the language of observing the Passover 'throughout your generations.'
- Num.9:1-5 (quotation): Recounts the first Passover observed in the wilderness, repeating the command to keep the Passover night and demonstrating continuity of the observance.
- Deut.16:1-8 (thematic): Prescribes observing the Passover in the appointed month and removing leaven, framing the festival as an annual, multigenerational memorial of the Exodus similar to Exod 12:42.
Alternative generated candidates
- A night of vigil it is to YHWH for bringing them out from the land of Egypt; this is that night for YHWH, a vigil for all the sons of Israel throughout their generations.
- It is a night of keeping-watch for YHWH to bring them out from the land of Egypt; this is that night for YHWH, a keeping-watch for all the sons of Israel throughout their generations.
And he called to Moses and to Aaron by night and said: 'Rise, go out from the midst of my people, both you and the sons of Israel, and go, serve YHWH as you have said.
Both your flocks and your herds take, as you have spoken, and go; and bless me also.' And Egypt pressed upon the people, to hasten to send them out of the land, for they said, 'We are all dead men.' And the people took up their dough before it leavened, their kneading bowls bound up in their garments upon their shoulders. And the sons of Israel did according to the word of Moses, and they asked from the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold and garments. And YHWH gave the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians, and they let them have what they asked; thus they plundered Egypt. And the sons of Israel set out from Rameses to Sukkoth, about six hundred thousand on foot, the men, besides little ones. And also a mixed multitude went up with them, and flocks and herds—very much livestock. And they baked the dough that they had brought out of Egypt into cakes of unleavened bread, for it had not leavened, for they were driven out of Egypt and could not delay; and also provisions they had not made for themselves. And the time of the sojourn of the sons of Israel in Egypt was four hundred thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of four hundred thirty years, even on that very day, that all the hosts of YHWH went out from the land of Egypt.
A night of vigil it is for YHWH, for bringing them out from the land of Egypt; this is that night for YHWH, a vigil for all the sons of Israel throughout their generations.