John Gill Commentary Exodus 12

And the Lord spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of
Egypt
Before they and the children of Israel came out of it, before the slaying of the firstborn, indeed, before Moses came from the presence of Pharaoh, and had given him notice of it; and it is very probable even before the three days darkness, since it seems necessary it should be four days before the passover, since on the tenth day the lamb was to be taken, and on the fourteenth slain (Exodus 12:3Exodus 12:6).

And by what follows it looks as if it was at the beginning or first day of the month, and so the words may be rendered, "the Lord had spoke" ^F25; and the following account is deferred to this place, that there might be no interruption of the history of the plagues, and that the passover, with all its rites and ceremonies, both at the first institution and observance of it, and in later times, might be laid together.

FOOTNOTES:

• F25: (rmayw) "alloquutus antem fuerat", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "dixerat autem"; so some in Drusius, and Ainsworth.

This month shall be to you the beginning of months
Not only the first, as after expressed, but the chief and principal of them, now famous for their coming out of Egypt in it, and would be more so for the sufferings and death of the Messiah, and redemption by him from sin, Satan, and the world, law, hell, and death, for he suffered at the time of the passover. This month was called Abib, (Exodus 13:4) (23:15) , which signifies an ear of corn, and at this time we find that the barley was in ear, (Exodus 9:31) which clearly shows in what month the above things were transacted; afterwards it was called Nisan, which seems to be the Chaldean name for it, (Nehemiah 2:1) (Esther 3:7) :

it shall be the first month of the year to you; which before was the seventh; while the Israelites were in Egypt they observed the same beginning of the year and course of months as the Egyptians, as Josephus ^F26 intimates; and with the Egyptians, the month Thot was the first month, which answered to Tisri with the Jews, and both to our September, or a part of it, so that the beginning of the year was then in the autumnal equinox, at which season it is thought the world was created; but now to the Israelites it was changed unto the vernal equinox, for this month of Abib or Nisan answers to part of our March and part of April; though indeed both beginnings of the year were observed by them, the one on ecclesiastic, the other on civil accounts; or, as Josephus ^F1 expresses it, the month of Nisan was the beginning with respect to things divine, but in buying and selling, and such like things, the ancient order was observed; and so the Targum of Jonathan here paraphrases it, ``from here you shall begin to reckon the feasts, the times, and the revolutions.''

Indeed the Jews had four beginnings of the year according to their Misnah ^F2 ; the first of Nisan (or March) was the beginning of the year for kings and for festivals; the first of Elul (or August) for the tithing of cattle; the first of Tisri (or September) for the sabbatical years, jubilees, and planting of trees and herbs; and the first of Shebet (or January) for the tithing the fruit of trees.

FOOTNOTES:

• F26: Antiqu. l. 1. c. 3. sect. 3.
• F1: Antiqu. l. 1. c. 3. sect. 3.
• F2: Misn. Roshhashanah, c. 1. sect. 1.

Speak to all the congregation of Israel That is, to the elders of the people, and heads of families; unless we can suppose that they had been gradually gathered, and were now gathered together in a body by the direction of Moses, by whom they were assured that their departure was at hand; and the rather it may be thought that so it was, since the following order concerned the whole and every individual:

saying, in the tenth [day] of this month ; the month Abib or Nisan, which shows that this direction must be given before that day, and so very probably on the first of the month, as before observed:

they shall take to them every man a lamb ; not every individual person, but every master of a family, or head of a house, as follows: according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house ; if large enough to eat up a whole lamb, otherwise they were to do as next directed:

The Targum of Jonathan suggests that this direction of taking a lamb on the tenth day of the month was only for this time, and not for following ages. So the Jewish doctors ^F3 commonly understand it as being peculiar to the passover in Egypt, and not in later times, for they ^F4 say: "What difference is there between the passover in Egypt and the passover in later ages? The passover in Egypt was taken within the tenth day, was obliged to sprinkling with a bunch of hyssop upon the lintel and upon the two side posts, and was eaten with haste in one night. But the passover in later ages was kept all the seven days."

The ground and reason for this special direction for taking a lamb on the tenth day was that they might have a lamb ready. Also, that through the multiplicity of business and the hurry they would be in at their departure, they might not forget and neglect it. Furthermore, that they might have time enough to examine whether it had all the prerequisites and qualifications that were necessary. And that while they had it in view, they might be led to meditate upon, talk of, expect, and firmly believe their deliverance. Yes, that their faith might be directed to a far greater deliverance by the Messiah, which this was only typical of (Hebrews 11:28).

But some of these reasons would hold good in later times, and it seems by some circumstances that this rule was attended to.

FOOTNOTES:

• F3: Ben Gersom in loc. Maimon. Korban Pesach. c. 10. sect. 15.
• F4: Misn. Pesach. c. 9. sect. 5.

And if the household be too little for the lamb That they cannot eat it up at once; let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls ; which Josephus ^F5 says were never fewer than ten, and were often twenty, but no man might feast alone; with which agrees the Jewish canon ^F6 , ``they do not kill the passover lamb for a single person, nor even for a society consisting of one hundred, that cannot eat the quantity of an olive:''

every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb : that is, a man must reckon up how many he has in his own house to eat of the lamb, and what their appetites be, by which he will be able to judge whether he can dispense with a lamb himself, or whether he must take in some of his neighbours, and how many, so as to eat up the whole lamb, for, for such persons the lamb was to be slain.

The rule is, ``if a man slays it for those that do not eat of it, or for those that are not counted, for the uncircumcised, and the unclean, it was wrong, and not allowed of ^F7 .'' The taking in his neighbours may respect the call of the Gentiles to partake of Christ with the Jews, see (Ephesians 3:5Ephesians 3:6) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F5: De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 9. sect. 3.
• F6: Misn. Pesach. c. 8. sect. 7.
• F7: lbid. c. 5. sect. 3.

Your lamb shall be without blemish Without any spot or defect in it. Maimonides ^F8 reckons no less than fifty blemishes in a creature, anyone of which makes it unfit for sacrifice, see (Leviticus 21:21–24) . This lamb was a type of Christ, who is therefore said to be our passover sacrificed for us, (1 Corinthians 5:7) comparable to a lamb for his innocence and harmlessness, for his meekness, humility, and patience, for usefulness both for food and raiment, as well as for being fit for sacrifice; and who is a lamb without spot and blemish, either of original sin, or actual transgression, holy in his nature, harmless in his life:

a male of the first year anyone within that time, but not beyond it; denoting the strength and vigour of Christ, in the flower of his age, his short continuance among men, and his being tender and savoury food for the faith of his people:

you shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats it might be either a lamb, or a kid of the goats; for the most part, or generally, it was a lamb that was taken; so the Jewish canon runs ^F9 , ``he that says to his servant, go and slay for me the passover, if he slays a kid he may eat it; if he slays a lamb he may eat of it; if he slays a kid and a lamb, he may eat of the first.''

The goat being of an ill smell may denote Christ being made sin, and a sin offering for his people; and the taking of a lamb from these may signify the choice of Christ from among the people in the council and covenant of God; the preordination of him to be the lamb slain from the foundation of the world; the preservation of him from the infection of sin in his incarnation, and the separation of him from sinners in his conversation.

FOOTNOTES:

• F8: Hilchot Biath Hamikdash, c. 7. sect. 1.
• F9: Misn. Pesach. c. 8. sect. 2.