1._And the Lord spake. _Although the institution of the Passover in some degree appertains to the Fourth Commandment, where the Sabbath and Feast-days will be treated of; yet, in so far as it was a solemn symbol (308) of their redemption, whereby the people professed their obligation to God their de... [ Continue Reading ]
3._Speak ye unto all. _A question is asked on this passage, why, when one Lamb alone was offered in sacrifice for the reconciliation of the Church, and God was propitiated by the blood of one Christ alone, He should have commanded a lamb to be slain in every house, as if there were to be a special s... [ Continue Reading ]
5._Your lamb shall be without blemish. _We shall see elsewhere, that in all their sacrifices prescribed by the Law they were diligently to beware, lest there should be any spot or fault in them; and by this the people were reminded, that the expiation was not legitimate, unless it possessed the utmo... [ Continue Reading ]
12._For I will pass through the land. _This refers to the first passover, the night in which they were to be delivered from Egypt; and God expressly declares that He will be the judge against the false gods, because it then especially appeared how utterly unable they were to help, and how vain and f... [ Continue Reading ]
14._And this day shall be unto you. _This is spoken of its annual celebration, which was as well a monument of their exodus as a symbol of their future deliverance. As to its being called a rite, or ordinance for ever, _(edictum soeculi,) _I admit that by this expression perpetuity is meant, but onl... [ Continue Reading ]
15._Whosoever eateth leavened bread. _This law specially refers to the keeping of the Passover. God had before forbidden the use of leaven; and He now enacts the punishment to be inflicted, if any should neglect the prohibition, and mingle leaven with the Paschal feast. But it is not without reason... [ Continue Reading ]
I have here omitted what Moses has related in the beginning of the chapter up to this verse, because it pertains to the perpetual doctrine of the Law. I shall hereafter insert it in its proper place. But., since here also God gave precepts as to the observation of the Passover, I have thought it rig... [ Continue Reading ]
23._For the Lord will pass through. _He forbids them to go out during the night, lest they should mix themselves with the Egyptians, but commands them to keep quietly under the protection of the blood. By this sign they were admonished that they also were exposed to destruction, if they did not sepa... [ Continue Reading ]
24._And ye shall observe this thing. _He again repeats the precept as to its annual celebration, and expressly says, that, when they have come into the land, the recollection of their deliverance is yearly to be revived by this rite. He adds, however, what he had not before touched upon, that they s... [ Continue Reading ]
25._When ye come into the land. _He now adds that this rite must be annually observed, in order that the memory of this extraordinary grace might never perish. But since a commandment is given respecting the continual observation (142) of the Sabbath, I postpone its explanation to a more appropriate... [ Continue Reading ]
29._And it came to pass, that at midnight. _Lest the hand of God should be hidden in this miracle, as well in the preservation of the people as in taking vengeance upon the Egyptians, Moses sets forth its power by many circumstances. For he both relates that the destruction took place at midnight, w... [ Continue Reading ]
31._And he called for Moses. _It is not probable that God’s servants were recalled into the presence of Pharaoh; but the sense of this passage must be sought for in the prediction of Moses. Pharaoh, therefore, is said to have called them, when, by sending to them his chief courtiers, he compelled th... [ Continue Reading ]
37._And the children of Israel journeyed. _Although it is probable that they were more widely dispersed, since that district could not have contained so great a multitude, especially when the Egyptians occupied it together with them; still because the recollection of the promise remained among them,... [ Continue Reading ]
38._And a mixed multitude. _Although Abraham possessed many servants, yet is it scarcely probable that in the famine Jacob maintained any other persons in his family besides his own children, whom he could hardly so sustain as to preserve them from dying of hunger. And since Moses, in relating their... [ Continue Reading ]
40._Now the sojourning of the children of Israel. _The beginning of this period is not reckoned from the coming down of Jacob, for it is very clear from other passages, that, from the time that Jacob entered into Egypt to the Exodus, not more than 230 years at most had passed. (147) The Jews general... [ Continue Reading ]
42._It is a night to be much observed. _He shows that the Israelites have good cause for sacrificing to God with a solemn ceremony year by year for ever, and for celebrating the memory of that night; and that the Passover was instituted in token of their gratitude. But this admonition was very usefu... [ Continue Reading ]
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, sinc... [ Continue Reading ]
46._Neither shall ye break a bone thereof. _I am not certain why God desired no bone to be broken; unless that this might also be a sign of haste; because people at table seldom partake of the marrow, unless when their entertainment is protracted. For I fear there is too much subtlety in the explana... [ Continue Reading ]
50._Thus did all the children of Israel. _This chiefly refers to the slaying of the Paschal lamb with its adjuncts, although I do not deny that allusion is also made to the other circumstances attending their sudden departure. But it is not so much their promptitude and alacrity which are praised, a... [ Continue Reading ]