Exodus 12:4

And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
household	הַבַּיִת֮ ha.ba.Yit	H1004	a house (in the greatest variation of applications · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
be	מִהְיֹ֣ת mih.Yot	H1961	to exist · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
little	יִמְעַ֣ט yim.'At	H4591	properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
lamb	מִשֶּׂה֒ mi.Seh	H7716	a member of a flock · preposition + noun, common both genders singular absolute
neighbour	וּשְׁכֵנ֛וֹ u.she.khe.No	H7934	a resident · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
next	הַקָּרֹ֥ב ha.ka.Ro	H7138	near (in place · definite article + adjective, masculine singular absolute
house	בֵּית֖וֹ bei.To	H1004	a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
take	וְלָקַ֣ח ve.la.Kach	H3947	to take (in the widest variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
number	בְּמִכְסַ֣ת be.mikh.Sat	H4373	an enumeration · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
souls	נְפָשֹׁ֑ת ne.fa.Shot	H5315	properly · noun, common feminine plural absolute
man	אִ֚ישׁ 'ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
according	לְפִ֣י le.Fi	H6310	the mouth (as the means of blowing) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
eating	אָכְל֔וֹ 'a.khe.Lo	H400	food · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
count	תָּכֹ֖סּוּ ta.Kho.su	H3699	to estimate · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
lamb	הַשֶּֽׂה ha.Seh	H7716	a member of a flock · definite article + noun, common both genders 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).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 12:1-20

Moses and Aaron here receive of the Lord what they were afterwards to deliver to the people concerning the ordinance of the passover, to which is prefixed an order for a new style to be observed in their months (Exo 12:1, Exo 12:2): This shall be to you the beginning of months. They had hitherto begun their year from the middle of September, but henceforward they were to begin it from the middle of March, at least in all their ecclesiastical computations. Note, It is good to begin the day, and begin the year, and especially to begin our lives, with God. This new calculation began the year with the spring, which reneweth the face of the earth, and was used as a figure of the coming of Christ,…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 12:4

if the household be too little for the lamb, &c.--It appears from JOSEPHUS that ten persons were required to make up the proper paschal communion. every man according to his eating--It is said that the quantity eaten of the paschal lamb, by each individual, was about the size of an olive.

Adam Clarke on Exodus 12:4

If the household be too little - That is, if there be not persons enough in one family to eat a whole lamb, then two families must join together. The rabbins allow that there should be at least ten persons to one paschal lamb, and not more than twenty. Take it, according to the number of the souls - The persons who were to eat of it were to be first ascertained, and then the lamb was to be slain and dressed for that number.

John Gill on Exodus 12:4

And if the household be too little for the lamb,.... That they cannot eat it up at once: let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; which Josephus (e) says were never fewer than ten, and were often twenty, but no man might feast alone; with which agrees the Jewish canon (f),"they do not kill the passover lamb for a single person, nor even for a society consisting of one hundred, that cannot eat the quantity of an olive:" every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb: that is, a man must reckon up how many he has in his own house to eat of the lamb, and what their appetites be, by which he will he able to judge whether…

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…
Frontlets — Occurs only in Ex. 13:16; Deut. 6:8, and 11:18. The meaning of the injunction to the Israelites, with regard to the statues and precepts given them, that they should “bind them for a sign upon their…
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…
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…
Egypt · History of Israel in: The passover instituted — History of Israel in: The passover instituted
Month · .Pas — .Pas
Passover · Institution of — Institution of
Symbols And Similitudes · ma — ma
Types Of Christ · Paschal lamb — Paschal lamb

Exodus 12:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 12:1-20

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 12:4

Adam Clarke on Exodus 12:4

John Gill on Exodus 12:4

Dictionary and topics

Exodus 12:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 12:1-20

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 12:4

Adam Clarke on Exodus 12:4

John Gill on Exodus 12:4

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Exodus 12:1-14

Keil & Delitzsch on Exodus 12:1-28

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Exodus 12:2

Rashi on Exodus 12:4