Exodus 13:3

13:3 Moses said to the people, “Remember ¹  this day on which you came out from Egypt, from the place where you were enslaved, ²  for the Lord brought you out of there ³  with a mighty hand – and no bread made with yeast may be eaten. ⁴ 

Exodus 13:7

13:7 Bread made without yeast must be eaten ⁵  for seven days; ⁶  no bread made with yeast shall be seen ⁷  among you, and you must have no yeast among you within any of your borders.

[13:3]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “from this” [place].

[13:3]  ⁴ 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.

[13:7]  ⁵ tn The imperfect has the nuance of instruction or injunction again, but it could also be given an obligatory nuance.

[13:7]  ⁶ tn The construction is an adverbial accusative of time, answering how long the routine should be followed (see GKC 374 §118.k).

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