Exodus 12:14-20

12:14 This day will become ¹  a memorial ²  for you, and you will celebrate it as a festival ³  to the Lord – you will celebrate it perpetually as a lasting ordinance. ⁴  12:15 For seven days ⁵  you must eat ⁶  bread made without yeast. ⁷  Surely ⁸  on the first day you must put away yeast from your houses because anyone who eats bread made with yeast ⁹  from the first day to the seventh day will be cut off ¹⁰  from Israel.

12:16 On the first day there will be a holy convocation, ¹¹  and on the seventh day there will be a holy convocation for you. You must do no work of any kind ¹²  on them, only what every person will eat – that alone may be prepared for you. 12:17 So you will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because on this very ¹³  day I brought your regiments ¹⁴  out from the land of Egypt, and so you must keep this day perpetually as a lasting ordinance. ¹⁵  12:18 In the first month, ¹⁶  from the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, you will eat bread made without yeast until the twenty-first day of the month in the evening. 12:19 For seven days ¹⁷  yeast must not be found in your houses, for whoever eats what is made with yeast – that person ¹⁸  will be cut off from the community of Israel, whether a foreigner ¹⁹  or one born in the land. 12:20 You will not eat anything made with yeast; in all the places where you live you must eat bread made without yeast.’”

Exodus 13:3-7

13:3 Moses said to the people, “Remember ²⁰  this day on which you came out from Egypt, from the place where you were enslaved, ²¹  for the Lord brought you out of there ²²  with a mighty hand – and no bread made with yeast may be eaten. ²³  13:4 On this day, ²⁴  in the month of Abib, ²⁵  you are going out. ²⁶ 

13:5 When ²⁷  the Lord brings you to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, ²⁸  then you will keep ²⁹  this ceremony ³⁰  in this month. 13:6 For seven days ³¹  you must eat ³²  bread made without yeast, and on the seventh day there is to be ³³  a festival to the Lord. 13:7 Bread made without yeast must be eaten ³⁴  for seven days; ³⁵  no bread made with yeast shall be seen ³⁶  among you, and you must have no yeast among you within any of your borders.

Exodus 23:15

23:15 You are to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; seven days ³⁷  you must eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you, at the appointed time of the month of Abib, for at that time ³⁸  you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before ³⁹  me empty-handed.

Leviticus 23:6-14

23:6 Then on the fifteenth day of the same month ⁴⁰  will be the festival of unleavened bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 23:7 On the first day there will be a holy assembly for you; you must not do any regular work. ⁴¹  23:8 You must present a gift to the Lord for seven days, and the seventh day is a holy assembly; you must not do any regular work.’”

The Presentation of First Fruits

23:9 The Lord spoke to Moses: 23:10 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you enter the land that I am about to give to you and you gather in its harvest, ⁴²  then you must bring the sheaf of the first portion of your harvest ⁴³  to the priest, 23:11 and he must wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted for your benefit ⁴⁴  – on the day after the Sabbath the priest is to wave it. ⁴⁵  23:12 On the day you wave the sheaf you must also offer ⁴⁶  a flawless yearling lamb ⁴⁷  for a burnt offering to the Lord, 23:13 along with its grain offering, two tenths of an ephah of ⁴⁸  choice wheat flour ⁴⁹  mixed with olive oil, as a gift to the Lord, a soothing aroma, ⁵⁰  and its drink offering, one fourth of a hin of wine. ⁵¹  23:14 You must not eat bread, roasted grain, or fresh grain until this very day, ⁵²  until you bring the offering of your God. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations ⁵³  in all the places where you live.

Matthew 26:17

The Passover

26:17 Now on the first day of the feast of ⁵⁴  Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and said, ⁵⁵  “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?” ⁵⁶ 

Matthew 26:1

The Plot Against Jesus

26:1 When ⁵⁷  Jesus had finished saying all these things, he told his disciples,

Colossians 1:7-8

1:7 You learned the gospel ⁵⁸  from Epaphras, our dear fellow slave ⁵⁹  – a ⁶⁰  faithful minister of Christ on our ⁶¹  behalf – 1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

[12:14]  ¹ tn Heb “and this day will be.”

[12:14]  ² tn The expression “will be for a memorial” means “will become a memorial.”

[12:14]  ³ tn The verb וְחַגֹּתֶם (vÿkhaggotem), a perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive to continue the instruction, is followed by the cognate accusative חַג (khag), for emphasis. As the wording implies and the later legislation required, this would involve a pilgrimage to the sanctuary of Yahweh.

[12:14]  ⁴ tn Two expressions show that this celebration was to be kept perpetually: the line has “for your generations, [as] a statute forever.” “Generations” means successive generations (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 94). עוֹלָם (’olam) means “ever, forever, perpetual” – no end in sight.

[12:15]  ⁵ tn This expression is an adverbial accusative of time. The feast was to last from the 15th to the 21st of the month.

[12:15]  ⁶ tn Or “you will eat.” The statement stresses their obligation – they must eat unleavened bread and avoid all leaven.

[12:15]  ⁷ tn The etymology of מַצּוֹת (matsot, “unleavened bread,” i.e., “bread made without yeast”) is uncertain. Suggested connections to known verbs include “to squeeze, press,” “to depart, go out,” “to ransom,” or to an Egyptian word “food, cake, evening meal.” For a more detailed study of “unleavened bread” and related matters such as “yeast” or “leaven,” see A. P. Ross, NIDOTTE 4:448-53.

[12:15]  ⁸ tn The particle serves to emphasize, not restrict here (B. S. Childs, Exodus [OTL], 183, n. 15).

[12:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “every eater of leavened bread.” The participial phrase stands at the beginning of the clause as a casus pendens, that is, it stands grammatically separate from the sentence. It names a condition, the contingent occurrences of which involve a further consequence (GKC 361 §116.w).

[12:15]  ¹⁰ tn The verb וְנִכְרְתָה (vÿnikhrÿtah) is the Niphal perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; it is a common formula in the Law for divine punishment. Here, in sequence to the idea that someone might eat bread made with yeast, the result would be that “that soul [the verb is feminine] will be cut off.” The verb is the equivalent of the imperfect tense due to the consecutive; a translation with a nuance of the imperfect of possibility (“may be cut off”) fits better perhaps than a specific future. There is the real danger of being cut off, for while the punishment might include excommunication from the community, the greater danger was in the possibility of divine intervention to root out the evildoer (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 94). Gesenius lists this as the use of a perfect with a vav consecutive after a participle (a casus pendens) to introduce the apodosis (GKC 337 §112.mm).

[12:16]  ¹¹ sn This refers to an assembly of the people at the sanctuary for religious purposes. The word “convocation” implies that the people were called together, and Num 10:2 indicates they were called together by trumpets.

[12:16]  ¹² tn Heb “all/every work will not be done.” The word refers primarily to the work of one’s occupation. B. Jacob (Exodus, 322) explains that since this comes prior to the fuller description of laws for Sabbaths and festivals, the passage simply restricts all work except for the preparation of food. Once the laws are added, this qualification is no longer needed. Gesenius translates this as “no manner of work shall be done” (GKC 478-79 §152.b).

[12:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “on the bone of this day.” The expression means “the substance of the day,” the day itself, the very day (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 95).

[12:17]  ¹⁴ tn The word is “armies” or “divisions” (see Exod 6:26 and the note there; cf. also 7:4). The narrative will continue to portray Israel as a mighty army, marching forth in its divisions.

[12:17]  ¹⁵ tn See Exod 12:14.

[12:18]  ¹⁶ tn “month” has been supplied.

[12:19]  ¹⁷ tn “Seven days” is an adverbial accusative of time (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 12, §56).

[12:19]  ¹⁸ tn The term is נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh), often translated “soul.” It refers to the whole person, the soul within the body. The noun is feminine, agreeing with the feminine verb “be cut off.”

[12:19]  ¹⁹ tn Or “alien”; or “stranger.”

[13:3]  ²⁰ tn The form is the infinitive absolute of זָכַר (zakhar, “remember”). The use of this form in place of the imperative (also found in the Decalogue with the Sabbath instruction) stresses the basic meaning of the root word, everything involved with remembering (emphatic imperative, according to GKC 346 §113.bb). The verb usually implies that there will be proper action based on what was remembered.

[13:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “from a house of slaves.” “House” is obviously not meant to be literal; it indicates a location characterized by slavery, a land of slaves, as if they were in a slave house. Egypt is also called an “iron-smelting furnace” (Deut 4:20).

[13:3]  ²² tn Heb “from this” [place].

[13:3]  ²³ tn The verb is a Niphal imperfect; it could be rendered “must not be eaten” in the nuance of the instruction or injunction category, but permission fits this sermonic presentation very well – nothing with yeast may be eaten.

[13:4]  ²⁴ tn The word הַיּוֹם (hayyom) means literally “the day, today, this day.” In this sentence it functions as an adverbial accusative explaining when the event took place.

[13:4]  ²⁵ sn Abib appears to be an old name for the month, meaning something like “[month of] fresh young ears” (Lev 2:14 [Heb]) (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 106). B. Jacob (Exodus, 364) explains that these names were not precise designations, but general seasons based on the lunar year in the agricultural setting.

[13:4]  ²⁶ tn The form is the active participle, functioning verbally.

[13:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and it will be when.”

[13:5]  ²⁸ tn See notes on Exod 3:8.

[13:5]  ²⁹ tn The verb is וְעָבַדְתָּ (vÿ’avadta), the Qal perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive. It is the equivalent of the imperfect tense of instruction or injunction; it forms the main point after the temporal clause – “when Yahweh brings you out…then you will serve.”

[13:5]  ³⁰ tn The object is a cognate accusative for emphasis on the meaning of the service – “you will serve this service.” W. C. Kaiser notes how this noun was translated “slavery” and “work” in the book, but “service” or “ceremony” for Yahweh. Israel was saved from slavery to Egypt into service for God as remembered by this ceremony (“Exodus,” EBC 2:383).

[13:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “Seven days.”

[13:6]  ³² tn The imperfect tense functions with the nuance of instruction or injunction. It could also be given an obligatory nuance: “you must eat” or “you are to eat.” Some versions have simply made it an imperative.

[13:6]  ³³ tn The phrase “there is to be” has been supplied.

[13:7]  ³⁴ tn The imperfect has the nuance of instruction or injunction again, but it could also be given an obligatory nuance.

[13:7]  ³⁵ tn The construction is an adverbial accusative of time, answering how long the routine should be followed (see GKC 374 §118.k).

[13:7]  ³⁶ tn Or “visible to you” (B. Jacob, Exodus, 366).

[23:15]  ³⁷ tn This is an adverbial accusative of time.

[23:15]  ³⁸ tn Heb “in it.”

[23:15]  ³⁹ tn The verb is a Niphal imperfect; the nuance of permission works well here – no one is permitted to appear before God empty (Heb “and they will not appear before me empty”).

[23:6]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “to this month.”

[23:7]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “work of service”; KJV “servile work”; NASB “laborious work”; TEV “daily work.”

[23:10]  ⁴² tn Heb “and you harvest its harvest.”

[23:10]  ⁴³ tn Heb “the sheaf of the first of your harvest.”

[23:11]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “for your acceptance.”

[23:11]  ⁴⁵ sn See Lev 7:30 for a note on the “waving” of a “wave offering.”

[23:12]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “And you shall make in the day of your waving the sheaf.”

[23:12]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “a flawless lamb, a son of its year”; KJV “of the first year”; NLT “a year-old male lamb.”

[23:13]  ⁴⁸ sn See the note on Lev 5:11.

[23:13]  ⁴⁹ sn See the note on Lev 2:1.

[23:13]  ⁵⁰ sn See the note on Lev 1:9.

[23:13]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “wine, one fourth of the hin.” A pre-exilic hin is about 3.6 liters (= ca. 1 quart), so one fourth of a hin would be about one cup.

[23:14]  ⁵² tn Heb “until the bone of this day.”

[23:14]  ⁵³ tn Heb “for your generations.”

[26:17]  ⁵⁴ tn The words “the feast of” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied for clarity.

[26:17]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “the disciples came to Jesus, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) has been translated as a finite verb to make the sequence of events clear in English.

[26:17]  ⁵⁶ sn This required getting a suitable lamb and finding lodging in Jerusalem where the meal could be eaten. The population of the city swelled during the feast, so lodging could be difficult to find. The Passover was celebrated each year in commemoration of the Israelites’ deliverance from Egypt; thus it was a feast celebrating redemption (see Exod 12). The Passover lamb was roasted and eaten after sunset in a family group of at least ten people (m. Pesahim 7.13). People ate the meal while reclining (see the note on table in 26:20). It included, besides the lamb, unleavened bread and bitter herbs as a reminder of Israel’s bitter affliction at the hands of the Egyptians. Four cups of wine mixed with water were also used for the meal. For a further description of the meal and the significance of the wine cups, see E. Ferguson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, 523-24.

[26:1]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “And it happened when.” The introductory phrase καὶ ἐγένετο (kai egeneto, “it happened that”) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[1:7]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “learned it.” The Greek text simply has “you learned” without the reference to “the gospel,” but “the gospel” is supplied to clarify the sense of the clause. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[1:7]  ⁵⁹ tn The Greek word translated “fellow slave” is σύνδουλος (sundoulo"); the σύν- prefix here denotes association. Though δοῦλος is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:7]  ⁶⁰ tn The Greek text has “who (ὅς, Jos) is a faithful minister.” The above translation conveys the antecedent of the relative pronoun quite well and avoids the redundancy with the following substantival participle of v. 8, namely, “who told” (ὁ δηλώσας, Jo dhlwsa").

[1:7]  ⁶¹ tc ‡ Judging by the superior witnesses for the first person pronoun ἡμῶν (Jhmwn, “us”; Ì⁴⁶ א* A B D* F G 326* 1505 al) vs. the second person pronoun ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “you”; found in א² C D¹ Ψ 075 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy co), ἡμῶν should be regarded as original. Although it is possible that ἡμῶν was an early alteration of ὑμῶν (either unintentionally, as dittography, since it comes seventeen letters after the previous ἡμῶν; or intentionally, to conform to the surrounding first person pronouns), this supposition is difficult to maintain in light of the varied and valuable witnesses for this reading. Further, the second person is both embedded in the verb ἐμάθετε (emaqete) and is explicit in v. 8 (ὑμῶν). Hence, the motivation to change to the first person pronoun is counterbalanced by such evidence. The second person pronoun may have been introduced unintentionally via homoioarcton with the ὑπέρ (Juper) that immediately precedes it. As well, the second person reading is somewhat harder for it seems to address Epaphras’ role only in relation to Paul and his colleagues, rather than in relation to the Colossians. Nevertheless, the decision must be based ultimately on external evidence (because the internal evidence can be variously interpreted), and this strongly supports ἡμῶν.