Exodus 12:38-39

12:38 A mixed multitude ¹  also went up with them, and flocks and herds – a very large number of cattle. ²  12:39 They baked cakes of bread without yeast using the dough they had brought from Egypt, for it was made without yeast – because they were thrust out ³  of Egypt and were not able to delay, they ⁴  could not prepare ⁵  food for themselves either.

[12:38]  ¹ tn The “mixed multitude” (עֵרֶב רַב, ’erev rav) refers to a great “swarm” (see a possible cognate in 8:21[17]) of folk who joined the Israelites, people who were impressed by the defeat of Egypt, who came to faith, or who just wanted to escape Egypt (maybe slaves or descendants of the Hyksos). The expression prepares for later references to riffraff who came along.

[12:38]  ² tn Heb “and very much cattle.”

[12:39]  ³ sn For the use of this word in developing the motif, see Exod 2:17, 22; 6:1; and 11:1.

[12:39]  ⁴ tn Heb “and also.”

[12:39]  ⁵ tn The verb is עָשׂוּ (’asu, “they made”); here, with a potential nuance, it is rendered “they could [not] prepare.”