Bible chapter guide

Exodus 12

The LORD institutes the Passover: each household kills a lamb, puts its blood on the doorposts and eats it in haste with unleavened bread. At midnight the firstborn of Egypt die, Pharaoh sends Israel away, and they set out from Rameses, about six hundred thousand men on foot.

Summary written for the Labs; read the chapter itself for the full text.

What happens in this chapter

God tells Moses and Aaron that this month will begin their year, and sets out the Passover: each household picks a lamb without blemish on the tenth day, kills it at evening on the fourteenth, brushes its blood on the doorposts and lintel with hyssop, and eats it roasted, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, dressed to leave. At midnight the LORD strikes the firstborn of Egypt, from Pharaoh's son to the prisoner's, and passes over the marked houses. Pharaoh calls Moses and Aaron in the night and tells them to go, and the Egyptians, hurrying them out, give them silver, gold and clothing. Israel sets out from Rameses for Succoth with a mixed multitude and their flocks, at the end of 430 years in Egypt, and the chapter closes with rules on who may eat the Passover.

What the lab shows, and where to look

The Exodus lab opens on this night. In The Passover night, look first at the doorway: blood on the lintel and both posts, brushed with hyssop from a basin at the threshold. The note beside it separates what the text gives from what is inferred, such as the full moon on the fourteenth. The meal in haste shows the family dressed to leave, staff in hand, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs on the table; the mud-brick house and street are reconstruction. Out of Egypt: Rameses to Succoth shows the crowd setting out next morning; it is drawn to suggest a multitude, not to count it. The Bible Time Map places Rameses at Qantir in the eastern Nile delta.

Questions people ask

How many Israelites left Egypt?

Exodus 12:37 says about 600,000 men on foot besides children, with a mixed multitude as well; read as ordinary numbers, that means two million people or more. The Hebrew eleph is the usual word for 'thousand', but it can also mean a clan or a unit (Judges 6:15), and scholars such as Petrie, Mendenhall and Humphreys, reading it that way, arrive at totals in the tens of thousands (Humphreys about 20,000). Both readings are held; the lab's crowd suggests a multitude without counting it.

Strongly supported

Were the Israelites in Egypt for 430 years?

The Hebrew text of Exodus 12:40, followed by KJV and the Chinese Union Version, says 430 years in Egypt. The Greek and Samaritan texts count the patriarchs' years in Canaan as well, which roughly halves the stay in Egypt. Paul's 430 years from the promise to Abraham to the law (Galatians 3:17) matches the Greek count, which starts with the patriarchs, and commentators are divided.

Strongly supported

Where was Rameses?

Most scholars identify it with Pi-Ramesse, the delta capital of Ramesses II, at Qantir and Tell el-Dab'a in the eastern Nile delta. The name fits the thirteenth century BC, but it could also be a later name given to an older place, so it does not settle the date of the exodus by itself.

Strongly supported

See it in the Labs

Follow the Exodus route in 3D, from the Red Sea to Sinai

Places

Rameses Succoth

Also in this chapter

Jacob's family moves to Egypt The Exodus The first Passover Booths in the wilderness About 600,000 men on foot

How sure can we be?

Textually stated
The blood was put on the two doorposts and the lintel of each house, applied with a bunch of hyssop.
Stated directly in the instructions and in Moses' words to the elders.
Textually stated
They ate standing ready to go: belts fastened, sandals on, staff in hand.
Exodus 12:11 describes how the meal was to be eaten.
Textually stated
The text says about 600,000 men on foot, besides children.
Exodus 12:37; the census of Numbers 1:46 gives 603,550.
Strongly supported
430 years "in Egypt", or in Egypt and Canaan?: KJV and the 和合本 both follow the Hebrew: 430 years in Egypt. The Greek and Samaritan texts count the patriarchs' time in Canaan as well, which halves the stay in Egypt. Paul's 430 years from the promise to the law (Galatians 3:17) agrees with the longer count; Benson's commentary makes the same link.
Strongly supported
430 years in Egypt, or in Canaan and Egypt? (Exodus 12:40): KJV and the 和合本 both follow the Hebrew. The longer reading counts from the patriarchs' time in Canaan; Benson links it with Paul's 430 years from the promise to the law (Galatians 3:17). The map counts the patriarchs back from the Exodus with the Hebrew figure.
Strongly supported
600,000: what is a "thousand"?: Both translations read "six hundred thousand" / 「六十萬」, and the text supports it. The question is the unit: the Hebrew eleph is the ordinary word for "thousand", but it can also mean a clan (Judges 6:15). Petrie, Mendenhall and Humphreys read the census lists in clans or units and arrive at about 5,000 to 6,000 fighting men, which Humphreys puts at about 20,000 people in all; other readings of eleph give somewhat larger totals. See "Competing views".

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King James Version (KJV) Chinese Union Version, 1919 (Wikisource)