Exodus 12:29

And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
midnight	בַּחֲצִ֣י ba.cha.Tzi	H2677	the half or middle · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD	וַֽיהוָה֮ va.Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · conjunction + proper noun, a title
smote	הִכָּ֣ה hi.Kah	H5221	to strike (lightly or severely · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
firstborn	בְּכוֹר֮ be.khOr	H1060	firstborn · noun, common masculine singular absolute
land	בְּאֶ֣רֶץ be.'E.retz	H776	the earth (at large · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
Egypt	מִצְרַיִם֒ mitz.ra.Yim	H4714	Mitsrajim · proper noun, a place name
firstborn	מִבְּכֹ֤ר mi.be.Khor	H1060	firstborn · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
Pharaoh	פַּרְעֹה֙ par.'Oh	H6547	Paroh · noun, masculine singular absolute
sat	הַיֹּשֵׁ֣ב hai.yo.Shev	H3427	properly · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
throne	כִּסְא֔וֹ kis.'O	H3678	properly · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
firstborn	בְּכ֣וֹר be.Khor	H1060	firstborn · noun, common masculine singular construct
captive	הַשְּׁבִ֔י ha.she.Vi	H7628	exiled · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
dungeon	בְּבֵ֣ית be.Veit	H1004	a house (in the greatest variation of applications · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
firstborn	בְּכ֥וֹר be.Khor	H1060	firstborn · noun, common masculine singular construct
cattle	בְּהֵמָֽה be.he.Mah	H929	properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute

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

Psalms 78:51 And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham:
Exodus 4:23 And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.
Psalms 105:36 He smote also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength.
Psalms 135:8 Who smote the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and beast.
Exodus 11:4-5 And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:
Psalms 136:10 To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Exodus 12:12 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…
Numbers 8:17 For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I…

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 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 him of this plague, and would thereupon have released Israel, what a great many dear and valuable lives might have been preserved! But see what obstinate infidelity brings upon men. Observe, 1. The time when this blow was given: It was at midnight, which added to the terror of it. The three preceding nights were made dreadful by the additional plague of darkness, which might be felt, and doubtless disturbed their repose; and now, when they hoped for one quiet night's rest, at midnight was the alarm given. When the destroying angel drew his sword ag…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 12:29

at midnight the Lord smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt--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…

Read the whole note in the console

Adam Clarke on Exodus 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 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 calle…

The Church Fathers

"He that has opened a pit and dug it." We do not find the name of "pit" (lakkos) ever assigned in the divine Scriptures in the case of something good, nor a "well" of water (phrear) in the case of something bad. That into which Joseph was thrown by his brothers is a pit (lakkos). And there is a slaughter "from the firstborn of Pharaoh unto the firstborn of the captive woman that was in the prison (lakkos)."
— Basil of Caesarea, EXEGETIC HOMILIES 11.8

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

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…
Exodus, The — of the Israelites from Egypt. the common chronology places the date of this event at B.C. 1491, deriving it in this way:—In (1 Kings 6:1) it is stated that the building of the temple, in the forth…
First-born — Sons enjoyed certain special privileges (Deut. 21:17; Gen. 25:23, 31, 34; 49:3; 1 Chr. 5:1; Heb. 12:16; Ps. 89:27). (See BIRTHRIGHT.) The “first-born of the poor” signifies the most miserable of the…
Herd — Gen. 13:5; Deut. 7:14. (See CATTLE.)
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…
Anger Of God, The · Exemplified against: Egyptians — Exemplified against: Egyptians
Bereavement · From Go — From Go
Criminals · In dungeons — In dungeons
Egypt · History of Israel in: Destruction of the first-born — History of Israel in: Destruction of the first-born
Egyptians · Firstborn of — Firstborn of
Firstborn · Of Egyptians kille

Exodus 12:29

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 12:29-36

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 12:29

Adam Clarke on Exodus 12:29

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Exodus 12:29

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 12:29-36

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 12:29

Adam Clarke on Exodus 12:29

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Exodus 12:29

John Calvin on Exodus 12:29–end

Keil & Delitzsch on Exodus 12:29-36

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Exodus 12:28-30

Rashi on Exodus 12:29