Charles Ellicott Commentary Exodus 13:5

"And it shall be, when Jehovah shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month." — Exodus 13:5 (ASV)

The Canaanites, and the Hittites ... — The full number of the Canaanite nations was seven, five of which are enumerated here. The other two were the Perizzites and the Girgashites, which seem to have been the least important. The most important were the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites; and these are consequently almost always placed first. At the time of the Exodus, and for many centuries afterward, the Hittites actually appear to have been the most powerful nation. (1 Kings 10:29; 2 Kings 7:6; and compare the Egyptian and Assyrian remains in various places.)

A land flowing with milk and honey. —See Note on Exodus 3:8.

Thou shalt keep this service. —Kalisch concludes from this verse, and from Exodus 12:25, that there was no obligation on the Israelites to keep the Passover until they obtained possession of Canaan. He holds that only two Passovers were celebrated before that event—one by Moses in the wilderness of Sinai (Numbers 9:1–5), and the other by Joshua at Gilgal, in the plain of Jericho (Joshua 5:10–11).