
Text -- Exodus 12:29 (NET)




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collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)
JFB -> Exo 12:29
JFB: Exo 12:29 - -- At the moment when the Israelites were observing the newly instituted feast in the singular manner described, the threatened calamity overtook the Egy...
At the moment when the Israelites were observing the newly instituted feast in the singular manner described, the threatened calamity overtook the Egyptians. It is more easy to imagine than describe the confusion and terror of that people suddenly roused from sleep and enveloped in darkness--none could assist their neighbors when the groans of the dying and the wild shrieks of mourners were heard everywhere around. The hope of every family was destroyed at a stroke. This judgment, terrible though it was, evinced the equity of divine retribution. For eighty years the Egyptians had caused the male children of the Israelites to be cast into the river [Exo 1:16], and now all their own first-born fell under the stroke of the destroying angel. They were made, in the justice of God, to feel something of what they had made His people feel. Many a time have the hands of sinners made the snares in which they have themselves been entangled, and fallen into the pit which they have dug for the righteous [Pro 28:10]. "Verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth" [Psa 58:11].
Clarke -> Exo 12:29
Clarke: Exo 12:29 - -- Smote all the first born - If we take the term first-born in its literal sense only, we shall be led to conclude that in a vast number of the houses...
Smote all the first born - If we take the term first-born in its literal sense only, we shall be led to conclude that in a vast number of the houses of the Egyptians there could have been no death, as it is not at all likely that every first-born child of every Egyptian family was still alive, and that all the first-born of their cattle still remained. And yet it is said, Exo 12:30, that there was not a house where there was not one dead. The word therefore must not be taken in its literal sense only. From its use in a great variety of places in the Scriptures it is evident that it means the chief, most excellent, best beloved, most distinguished, etc. In this sense our blessed Lord is called the First-Born of every creature, Col 1:15, and the First-Born among many brethren, Rom 8:29; that is, he is more excellent than all creatures, and greater than all the children of men. In the same sense we may understand Rev 1:5, where Christ is called the First-Begotten from the dead, i.e., the chief of all that have ever visited the empire of death, and on whom death has had any power; and the only one who by his own might quickened himself. In the same sense wisdom is represented as being brought forth before all the creatures, and being possessed by the Lord in the beginning of his ways, Pro 8:22-30; that is, the wisdom of God is peculiarly conspicuous in the production, arrangement, and government of every part of the creation. So Ephraim is called the Lord’ s First-Born, Jer 31:9. And the people of Israel are often called by the same name, see Exo 4:22 : Israel is my son, my First-Born; that is, the people in whom I particularly delight, and whom I will especially support and defend. And because the first-born are in general peculiarly dear to their parents, and because among the Jews they had especial and peculiar privileges, whatever was most dear, most valuable, and most prized, was thus denominated. So Mic 6:7 : Shall I give my First-Born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? Shall I give up the most beloved child I have, he that is most dear and most necessary to me, in order to make an atonement for my sins! In like manner the Prophet Zechariah, speaking of the conversion of the Jews to the Gospel of Christ, represents them as looking on him whom they have pierced, and being as one that is in bitterness for his First-Born; that is, they shall feel distress and anguish as those who had lost their most beloved child. So the Church triumphant in the kingdom of God are called, Heb 12:23, the general assembly and Church of the First-Born, i.e., the most noble and excellent of all human if not created beings. So Homer, Il. iv., ver. 102:
In a contrary sense, when the word first-born is joined to another that signifies any kind of misery or disgrace, it then signifies the depth of misery, the utmost disgrace. So the First-Born of the poor, Isa 14:30, signifies the most abject, destitute, and impoverished. The First-Born of death, Job 18:13, means the most horrible kind of death. So in the threatening against Pharaoh, Exo 11:5, where he informs him that he will slay all the first-born, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon the throne; to the first born of the maid-servant that is behind the mill, he takes in the very highest and lowest conditions of life. As there was no state in Egypt superior to the throne, so there was none inferior to that of the female slave that ground at the mill. The Prophet Habakkuk seems to fix this as the sense in which the word is used here; for speaking of the plagues of Egypt in general, and the salvation which God afforded his people, he says, Hab 3:13 : Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people - thou woundedst the Head (
Calvin -> Exo 12:29
Calvin: Exo 12:29 - -- 29.And it came to pass, that at midnight Lest the hand of God should be hidden in this miracle, as well in the preservation of the people as in takin...
29.And it came to pass, that at midnight Lest the hand of God should be hidden in this miracle, as well in the preservation of the people as in taking vengeance upon the Egyptians, Moses sets forth its power by many circumstances. For he both relates that the destruction took place at midnight, which was the time prescribed by God, and then adds, that all the first-born of the land were smitten, from the son of the king to the son of the captive in the dungeon. It is thus that he indicates proverbially the most abject persons, as he had said before, “unto the first-born of the maidservant that is behind the mill.” For it could only be by an extraordinary miracle that this calamity could affect every house without exception, at the same hour, especially when it extended even to the beasts. Thirdly, he recounts that all the Egyptians were aroused suddenly, and manifestly convinced that the God of Israel was wroth with them. Fourthly, that Pharaoh humbly prayed of Moses to lead forth the people in haste; nay, that he even importunately thrust them out. Yet not even by such clear and solid proofs has the dishonesty and impudence of some been prevented from attempting to upset by their falsehoods this memorable work of God. The calumnies are too well known which Josephus refutes in his reply to Apion the Grammarian; and it appears from Justin 144 that they were generally received. Nor can we wonder that the devil should have employed all sorts of artifices, so that by the introduction of various fables he might efface from men’s minds the redemption of the Church. But here also was manifested the admirable wisdom of God, that the futility of these absurdities refutes itself, without the use of any arguments against them. Perhaps there was no intention to deceive on the part of profane writers, when they reported these frivolous and silly stories about the Jews; for doubtless Strabo 145 desired to give the true history of the origin of circumcision when he wrote his foolish and unfounded fables. Nor did even Cornelius Tacitus, 146 although he wrote with malignant and virulent feelings, intentionally put himself to shame; but when by the impulse of Satan they obscured God’s glory, they were smitten with blindness and folly, so that their ridiculous want of truth might be discovered even by children; from whence, however, some sparks of fact may still be elicited, because God would not suffer so memorable an operation to be altogether forgotten, of which these blind men were the proclaimers, when the devil was using their aid to obliterate its memory.
TSK -> Exo 12:29
TSK: Exo 12:29 - -- at midnight : Exo 12:12, Exo 11:4, Exo 13:15; Job 34:20; 1Th 5:2, 1Th 5:3
the Lord smote : The infliction of this judgment on the Egyptians was most e...
at midnight : Exo 12:12, Exo 11:4, Exo 13:15; Job 34:20; 1Th 5:2, 1Th 5:3
the Lord smote : The infliction of this judgment on the Egyptians was most equitable; because, after their nation had been preserved by one of the Israelitish family, they had, contrary to all right, and in defiance of original stipulation, enslaved the people to whom they had been so much indebted, had murdered their offspring, and made their bondage intolerable. See Bryant, p. 160. Num 3:13, Num 8:17, Num 33:4; Psa 78:51, Psa 105:36, Psa 135:8, Psa 136:10; Heb 11:28; Heb 12:23
the firstborn of Pharaoh : Exo 4:23, Exo 11:5
dungeon : Heb. house of the pit, Isa 24:22, Isa 51:14; Jer 38:6, Jer 38:13; Zec 9:11

collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)
Barnes -> Exo 12:29
Barnes: Exo 12:29 - -- This plague is distinctly attributed here and in Exo 12:23 to the personal intervention of the Lord; but it is to be observed that although the Lord...
This plague is distinctly attributed here and in Exo 12:23 to the personal intervention of the Lord; but it is to be observed that although the Lord Himself passed through to smite the Egyptians, He employed the agency of "the destroyer"Exo 12:23, in whom, in accordance with Heb 11:28, all the ancient versions, and most critics, recognize an Angel (compare 2Ki 19:35; 2Sa 24:16).
Poole -> Exo 12:29
Poole: Exo 12:29 - -- At midnight a great aggravation of the plague; for then darkness itself strikes men with horror, and makes any calamity more terrible; then they were...
At midnight a great aggravation of the plague; for then darkness itself strikes men with horror, and makes any calamity more terrible; then they were. asleep and secure, and least expected such a stroke.
All the first-born both of man and beast, whether male or female. Some extend it to all that were first-born; and so many persons might be killed in one house, as both father and mother, and several sons, which might be the first-born by several mothers, and sons’ sons or daughters, &c. Others confine it to the first-born child in the family. I conceive the heads of the family are not included, for these, though they might be the firstborn children of their parents’ families, yet were not, nor ever are called or accounted, the first-born of their own families, but the heads and roots of them: but for all the rest, I conceive they are all included, because all such were really first-born, and did first open their mother’ s womb; and all such were to be set apart unto the Lord, instead of these first-born of the Egyptians now slain, Exo 13:12,15 , and therefore are in both places to be understood in the same latitude.
Gill -> Exo 12:29
Gill: Exo 12:29 - -- And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt,.... The midnight of the fifteenth of Nisan, as the Targum...
And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt,.... The midnight of the fifteenth of Nisan, as the Targum of Jonathan, when fast asleep, and thoughtless of any danger; and it being at such a time must strike with a greater horror and terror, when sensible of the blow, which might be attended with a great noise, that might awaken the rest:
from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne; the heir to his crown, who was to have sat upon his throne, or already did, being taken a partner with him in it:
unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; or prison, that was grinding at the mill there, Exo 11:5 which was the work and business the prisoners were often put to, as appears from the case of Samson, Jdg 16:21,
and all the firstborn of cattle; which were left of the other plagues, which had consumed great numbers of them.

expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

expand allCommentary -- Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis -> Exo 12:1-51
TSK Synopsis: Exo 12:1-51 - --1 The beginning of the year is changed.3 The passover is instituted.11 The import of the rite of the passover.15 Unleavened bread, etc.29 The firstbor...
MHCC -> Exo 12:29-36
MHCC: Exo 12:29-36 - --The Egyptians had been for three days and nights kept in anxiety and horror by the darkness; now their rest is broken by a far more terrible calamity....
Matthew Henry -> Exo 12:29-36
Matthew Henry: Exo 12:29-36 - -- Here we have, I. The Egyptians' sons, even their first-born, slain, Exo 12:29, Exo 12:30. If Pharaoh would have taken the warning which was given hi...
Keil-Delitzsch -> Exo 12:29-36
Keil-Delitzsch: Exo 12:29-36 - --
Death of the first-born, and Release of Israel. - The last blow announced to Pharaoh took place in "the half of the night,"i.e., at midnight, when a...
Constable: Exo 1:1--15:22 - --I. THE LIBERATION OF ISRAEL 1:1--15:21
"The story of the first half of Exodus, in broad summary, is Rescue. The ...

Constable: Exo 12:1--13:17 - --C. God's redemption of His people 12:1-13:16
Scholars differ in their opinions as to when Israel actuall...

Constable: Exo 12:29-36 - --2. The death of the first-born and the release of Israel 12:29-36
The angel struck the Egyptians...
Guzik -> Exo 12:1-51
Guzik: Exo 12:1-51 - --Exodus 12 - God Institutes Passover
A. Passover instructions.
1. (1-6) Each household should take a lamb.
Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in...
