Exodus 12:23

For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
LORD	יְהוָה֮ Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
through	וְעָבַ֣ר ve.'a.Var	H5674	to cross over · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
smite	לִנְגֹּ֣ף lin.Gof	H5062	to push · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
Egyptians	מִצְרַיִם֒ mitz.ra.Yim	H4714	Mitsrajim · proper noun, a place name
seeth	וְרָאָ֤ה ve.ra.'Ah	H7200	to see · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
blood	הַדָּם֙ ha.Dam	H1818	blood (as that which when shed causes death) of man or… · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
lintel	הַמַּשְׁק֔וֹף ha.mash.Kof	H4947	a lintel · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
two	שְׁתֵּ֣י she.Tei	H8147	two · cardinal number, feminine dual construct
posts	הַמְּזוּזֹ֑ת ha.me.zu.Zot	H4201	a door-post (as prominent) · definite article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
LORD	יְהוָה֙ Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
over	וּפָסַ֤ח u.fa.Sach	H6452	to hop · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
door	הַפֶּ֔תַח ha.Pe.tach	H6607	an opening (literally) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
suffer	יִתֵּן֙ yi.Ten	H5414	to give · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
destroyer	הַמַּשְׁחִ֔ית ha.mash.Chit	H7843	to decay · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
come	לָבֹ֥א la.Vo'	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
houses	בָּתֵּיכֶ֖ם ba.tei.Khem	H1004	a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
smite	לִנְגֹּֽף lin.Gof	H5062	to push · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Revelation 7:3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
Revelation 9:4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men wh…
Hebrews 11:28 Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
Exodus 12:12-13 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against…
1 Corinthians 10:10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
Ezekiel 9:6 Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my san…
2 Samuel 24:16 And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destro…
Isaiah 37:36 Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 12:21-28

I. Moses is here, as a faithful steward in God's house, teaching the children of Israel to observe all things which God had commanded him; and no doubt he gave the instructions as largely as he received them, though they are not so largely recorded. It is here added, 1. That this night, when the first-born were to be destroyed, no Israelite must stir out of doors till morning, that is, till towards morning, when they would be called to march out of Egypt, Exo 12:22. Not but that the destroying angel could have known an Israelite from an Egyptian in the street; but God would intimate to them that their safety was owing to the blood of sprinkling; if they put themselves from under the protecti…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 12:22

hyssop--a small red moss [HASSELQUIST]; the caper-plant [ROYLE]. It was used in the sprinkling, being well adapted for such purposes, as it grows in bushes--putting out plenty of suckers from a single root. And it is remarkable that it was ordained in the arrangements of an all-wise Providence that the Roman soldiers should undesignedly, on their part, make use of this symbolical plant to Christ when, as our Passover, He was sacrificed for us [Joh 19:29]. none . . . shall go out at the door of his house until the morning--This regulation was peculiar to the first celebration, and intended, as some think, to prevent any suspicion attaching to them of being agents in the impending destructio…

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Adam Clarke on Exodus 12:22

A bunch of hyssop - The original word אזוב ezob has been variously translated musk, rosemary, polypody of the wall, mint, origanum, marjoram, and Hyssop: the latter seems to be the most proper. Parkhurst says it is named from its detersive and cleansing qualities, whence it was used in sprinkling the blood of the paschal lamb, in cleansing the leprosy, Lev 14:4, Lev 14:6, Lev 14:51, Lev 14:52; in composing the water of purification, Num 19:6, and sprinkling it, Num 19:18. It was a type of the purifying virtue of the bitter sufferings of Christ. And it is plain, from Psa 51:7, that the psalmist understood its meaning. Among botanists hyssop is described as "a genus of the gymnospermia (naked-…

The Church Fathers

And who else could be the destroyer in Exodus, which Moses wrote, except the one who is the cause of destruction to those who obey him and who do not resist and struggle against his wickedness?
— Origen of Alexandria, AGAINST CELSUS 6.43

This [cross] we have been given as a sign on our forehead, just as Israel was given the circumcision. For by it we faithful are set apart from the infidels and recognized. It is a shield and armor and a trophy against the devil. It is a seal that the destroyer may not strike us, as Scripture says.
— John Damascene, ORTHODOX FAITH 4.11

We must also inquire who that being was of whom it is said in Exodus that he wished to kill Moses because he was setting out for Egypt. And afterwards, who is it that is called the "destroying angel"? And who also is he who in Leviticus is described as Apopompeus, that is, the Averter, of whom the Scripture speaks thus: "One lot for the Lord, and one lot for Apopompeus"?
— Origen of Alexandria, ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 3.2.1

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Angel — A word signifying, both in the Hebrew and Greek, a “messenger,” and hence employed to denote any agent God sends forth to execute his purposes. It is used of an ordinary messenger (Job 1:14: 1 Sam.…
Blood — (1.) As food, prohibited in Gen. 9:4, where the use of animal food is first allowed. Comp. Deut. 12:23; Lev. 3:17; 7:26; 17:10-14. The injunction to abstain from blood is renewed in the decree of the…
Destroyer — (Ex. 12:23), the agent employed in the killing of the first-born; the destroying angel or messenger of God. (Comp. 2 Kings 19:35; 2 Sam. 24:15, 16; Ps. 78:49; Acts 12:23.)
Law of Moses — Is the whole body of the Mosaic legislation (1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 23:25; Ezra 3:2). It is called by way of eminence simply “the Law” (Heb. Torah, Deut. 1:5; 4:8, 44; 17:18, 19; 27:3, 8). As a written…
Lintel — (1.) Heb. mashkoph, a projecting cover (Ex. 12:22, 23; ver. 7, “upper door post,” but R.V. “lintel”); the head-piece of a door, which the Israelites were commanded to mark with the blood of the…
Passover — The name given to the chief of the three great historical annual festivals of the Jews. It was kept in remembrance of the Lord’s passing over the houses of the Israelites (Ex. 12:13) when the first…
Pentecost — I.e., “fiftieth”, found only in the New Testament (Acts 2:1; 20:16; 1 Cor. 16:8). The festival so named is first spoken of in Ex. 23:16 as “the feast of harvest,” and again in Ex. 34:22 as “the day…
Sacrifice — The offering up of sacrifices is to be regarded as a divine institution. It did not originate with man. God himself appointed it as the mode in which acceptable worship was to be offered to him by…
Blood · .Sprinkled on door posts — .Sprinkled on door posts
Communion Of The Lord’s Supper · Prefigured — Prefigured

Exodus 12:23

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 12:21-28

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 12:22

Adam Clarke on Exodus 12:22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Exodus 12:23

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 12:21-28

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 12:22

Adam Clarke on Exodus 12:22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Exodus 12:23

John Calvin on Exodus 12:21-23

Keil & Delitzsch on Exodus 12:1-28

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Exodus 12:22

Rashi on Exodus 12:23