NOTES for Exo 12:29-51
29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharoah that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. |
30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead. |
31 And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said. |
32 Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also. |
33 And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men. |
34 And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders. |
35 And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: |
36 And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians. |
37 And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. |
38 And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle. |
39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual. |
40 Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. |
41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. |
42 It is a night to be much observed unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the LORD to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations. |
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. |
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The death of the firstborn was the last straw: Pharaoh lets the people go. More than that, he hurries the Hebrews to leave. Why? Did Pharaoh think the Hebrews would want to leave Egypt? Later events will show clearly: no, he did not. The expectation was that the people would go to Beersheba, where there was an old Yahwist sanctuary that had existed since the time of Abraham, to Beersheba, which was then under Egyptian control. From the delta region it was about a three-day journey one way.
Pharaoh hoped that the Hebrews would go to Beersheba, offer the required sacrifices to their God, celebrate their feast, and return. Pharaoh now understood: otherwise he would not be rid of the wrath of Moses' God. Ordinary Egyptians thought the same. The story mentions that the Hebrews "plundered" the Egyptians. They certainly could not have done any such thing by force. Something else was quite possible: the Egyptians brought them offerings for their God.
That was an old Egyptian custom, and not only Egyptian: in order to be healed from illness or to avoid death, one had to bring an offering to the god who was probably or clearly the cause of the misfortune. As a rule, it was an amulet that directly or symbolically depicted what one wanted to get rid of. Amulets were made of gold, silver, or copper; and if a person could not afford anything of the sort, then of clay. Something else could also be donated if the cause of the misfortune was not exactly known: why, for example, the firstborn had died was rather hard for the Egyptians to determine. Often people donated the same gold or silver items so that the god's wrath would not touch the donor.
The Egyptians, as we see, had already become convinced: whoever Moses' God was, He was not to be trifled with. Simple people, untrained in theological subtleties, might consider Him some stern spirit of the desert, one of those whom, according to their ideas, nomads worshiped. In any case, this unknown god or spirit had to be appeased, for death had entered every house, and no one knew what to expect next. Both the authorities and ordinary people now looked at Moses as a savior, the only one who could save the country from otherwise inevitable destruction.
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Readings for 19 March 2026
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