1ST Day Passover (Exo 12:29-43)

The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn

29 At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock.

Rashi

The Lord—Wherever it is stated “the Lord” it signifies he and his celestial court, because the prefix “vav” expresses an addition, just as one says, “Mr. So-and-so and Mr. So-and-so” (Bereishit Rabbah 51:2; cf. Rashi on Gen 19:24).

Struck down all the firstborn—Even a firstborn of another people who happened to be in Egypt (Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael 12:29; cf. Rashi on v. 12).

From the firstborn of Pharaoh—Pharaoh too, was a firstborn, but he remained alive of the firstborn; and regarding this it states (Exo 9:16), “But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power” at the Read Sea (cf. Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael 12:29).

To the firstborn of the captive—Because they rejoiced at the misfortune of the Israelites (Midrash Tanchuma, Bo 7), and furthermore, so that they should not say, “Our god brought about this retribution” (Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael 12:29). The firstborn of the handmaid is included, because it enumerates here from the most important to the least important, and the firstborn of the handmaid is certainly more important than the firstborn of the captive (cf. Rashi on 11:5).

Yevamot 72a:4

The Sages taught in a baraita: All those forty years that the Jewish people were in the wilderness there was not a day in which the north wind did not blow at midnight, as it is stated: “At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt” (Exo 12:29). The Gemara asks: What is the biblical derivation? How is it derived from this verse that speaks of the exodus from Egypt that a north wind blew at midnight during the forty years that the Jewish people wandered in the wilderness? The Gemara answers: This comes to teach us that a time of favor is a significant matter. Since midnight had once been a time of divine favor at the beginning of the exodus from Egypt, it continued to be a time of favor throughout the forty years that the Jewish people sojourned in the wilderness.

2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

John Gill

For you yourselves are fully aware—With great exactness and accuracy, with great clearness and perspicuity, as a certain truth, which was made plain and evident to them, and about which there could be no question; and which perfect knowledge they had, either from the words of Christ (Mat 24:42-44), or from the ministration of the apostle and his fellow labourers, when among them.

That the day of the Lord—Of the Lord Jesus, when he will show himself to be King of kings, and Lord of lords, and the judge of the whole earth; and which is sometimes styled the day of the Son of man, and the day of God, for Christ will appear then most gloriously, both in his divine and human nature; the day of redemption, that is, of the body from the grave, and from corruption and mortality; and the last day in which will be the resurrection of the dead, and the day of judgment, in which Christ will come to judge the quick and dead.

Will come like a thief in the night—At an unawares, and the Lord himself in that day will come (Rev 3:3; 16:1), respect is had not to the character of the thief, nor to the end of his coming; but to the manner of it, in the dark, indiscernibly, suddenly, and when not thought of and looked for; and such will be the coming of Christ, it will be sudden, and unknown before hand, and when least thought of and expected: and since the Thessalonians knew this full well, it was needless for the apostle to write about the time and season of it; which they were sensible of, could no more be known and fixed, than the coming of a thief into anyone of their houses.

3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 1TH 5:2-3

John Gill

While people are saying—Or men shall say, that is, wicked and ungodly men, persons in a state of unregeneracy.

There is peace and security—when they shall sing a requiem, to themselves, promise themselves much ease and peace for years to come, and imagine their persons and property to be very secure from enemies and oppressors, and shall flatter themselves with much and long temporal happiness.

Then sudden destruction will come upon them—As on the men of the old world in the times of Noah, and on the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah in the days of Lot; for as these, will be the days of the Son of man, as at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, so at the last day; see (Luk 17:26-30) and as was the destruction of literal Babylon, so of Babylon in a mystical sense, or antichrist and his followers.

As labor pains come upon a pregnant woman—Whose anguish and pains are very sharp, the cause of which is within herself, and which come suddenly upon her, and are unavoidable; and so the metaphor expresses the sharpness and severity of the destruction of the wicked, thus the calamities on the Jewish nation are expressed by a word which signifies the sorrows, pangs, and birth throes of a woman in travail (Mat 24:8), and likewise that the cause of it is from themselves, their own sins and transgressions; and also the suddenness of it, which will come upon them in the midst of all their mirth, jollity, and security; and moreover, the inevitableness of it, it will certainly come at the full and appointed time, though that is not known.

And they will not escape—The righteous judgment of God, the wrath of the Lamb, or falling into his hands; to escape is impossible, rocks, hills, and mountains will not cover and hide them; before the judgment seat of Christ they must stand, and into everlasting punishment must they go.

By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them. HEB 11:28

John Gill

By faith he kept the Passover—Which Moses made, or appointed by divine direction; he kept it, with all its rites and ceremonies, and caused the people of Israel to observe it; and which he did, in faith of the speedy deliverance of the children of Israel, from the house of bondage; and in the faith of the Messiah, of whom the passover was a type; (See Gill on 1Co 5:7). The Syriac version reads, “by faith they kept the Passover”; that is, the Israelites.

And sprinkled the blood—Of the Passover lamb; which was received into a basin, and was sprinkled upon the lintel, and two side posts of the doors of the houses, in which the Israelites dwelt; which was done with a bunch of hyssop dipped into it.

So that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them—For the Lord, seeing the blood sprinkled, as above, when he smote the firstborn of Egypt, passed by the houses of the Israelites, so distinguished; and they were all safe within, and not one of them touched: this was typical of the blood of Christ being sprinkled upon the hearts and consciences of his people; whereby they are purified through faith; which blood is looked upon by Jehovah, so that justice passes by them; and they are all safe and secure, and will be, when others are destroyed; nor can they be hurt by the second death.

and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, HEB 12:23

31 Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said.”

Rashi

Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night—This tells us that he went round to the entrances leading into the city crying out, “Where does Moses reside? Where does Aaron reside?” (Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael 12:31).

Both you—The men.

And the children of Israel—The little children.

And go, serve the Lord, as you have said—Everything shall be as you have said and not as I have said. “And moreover, I will not let Israel go” (Exo 5:2) is annulled. “But which ones are to go?” (Exo 10:8) is annulled. “Only let your flocks and your herds remain behind” (Exo 10:24) is annulled. Instead, take also your flocks and also your herds. What is the meaning of “as you have said”? You must also let us have into our hands sacrifices and burnt offerings (cf. Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael 12:31).

37 And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children.

Rashi

From Rameses to Succoth—These were distant from one another 120 miles and yet they reached there in one moment, as it is said, “and I carried you on eagles’ wings” (cf. Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael 12:35 and Rashi on Exo 19:4).

Men—From twenty years old and upwards (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 3:6).

38 A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds.

Rashi

A mixed multitude—A mingling of various nations who had become proselytes.

41 At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.

You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come. JOH 7:8

He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.” ACT 1:7

Institution of the Passover

43 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it,”

Pesachim 3b:10

With regard to the investigation of the priestly lineage, the Gemara relates: A certain Gentile would ascend on the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, claiming he was Jewish, and eat Passover lambs in Jerusalem. He would then return home and boast about how he had tricked the Jews. He said: It is written: “This is the statute of the Passover lamb; no foreigner shall eat of it” (Exo 12:43), and another verse says: “Any uncircumcised man shall not eat of it” (Exo 12:48). And yet, I ate from the finest of the fine portions of the Passover lamb.

Pesachim 96a:17

The Gemara continues to question: However, if that is so, when the verse states: “No foreigner shall eat from it” (Exo 12:43), so too, should it be inferred that it is only from it, the Passover lamb sacrificed in Egypt, that he may not eat, but he may eat from the Passover lamb sacrificed in later generations? The Gemara answers that the verse states: “You shall perform,” which teaches that the halakhot of the Passover lamb sacrificed in Egypt apply to future generations as well. Consequently, anyone who was prohibited from eating the Passover lamb in Egypt may not eat it in subsequent years either.

Yevamot 62a:3

Moses broke the tablets following the sin of the golden calf. What did he interpret that led him to do so? Moses said: If in the case of the Passover lamb, which is only one of 613 commandments, the law states: “No foreigner shall eat of it” (Exo 12:43), excluding not only Gentiles but apostate Jews as well, then here, in the case of the golden calf, where the tablets represent the entire law and where the Jewish people are apostates, as they are worshiping the calf, all the more so must they be excluded from receiving them.