Exodus 12 · Verse 21

Exodus 12:21

Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover.
Exodus 12:21, King James Version

Exodus 12:21 in other translations

BSBThen Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and told them, “Go at once and select for yourselves a lamb for each family, and slaughter the Passover lamb.
WEBThen Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said to them, “Draw out, and take lambs according to your families, and kill the Passover.
ASVThen Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out, and take you lambs according to your families, and kill the passover.
YLTAnd Moses calleth for all the elders of Israel, and saith unto them, ‘Draw out and take for yourselves from the flock, for your families, and slaughter the passover-sacrifice;
DARBYAnd Moses called all the elders of Israel, and said to them, Seize and take yourselves lambs for your families, and kill the passover.
BBEThen Moses sent for the chiefs of Israel, and said to them, See that lambs are marked out for yourselves and your families, and let the Passover lamb be put to death.
WebsterThen Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said to them, Draw out, and take you a lamb, according to your families, and kill the passover.

What does Exodus 12:21 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 12:21-25
21-25. Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, &c.--Here are given special directions for the observance.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 21 Kill the passover - That is, the lamb, which was called the paschal or passover lamb. The animal that was to be sacrificed on this occasion got the name of the institution itself: thus the word covenant is often put for the sacrifice offered in making the covenant; so the rock was Christ, 1Cor 10:4; bread and wine the body and blood of Christ, Mar 14:22, Mar 14:24. St. Paul copies the expression, 1Cor 5:7 : Christ our passover (that is, our paschal lamb) is sacrificed for us.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Exodus 12:21-28
That night, when the first-born were to be destroyed, no Israelite must stir out of doors till called to march out of Egypt. Their safety was owing to the blood of sprinkling. If they put themselves from under the protection of that, it was at their peril. They must stay within, to wait for the salvation of the Lord; it is good to do so. In after-times they should carefully teach their children the meaning of this service. It is good for children to ask about the things of God; they that ask for the way will find it. The keeping of this solemnity every year was, 1. To look backward, that they might remember what great things God had done for them and their fathers. Old mercies, to ourselves, or to our fathers, must not be forgotten, that God may be praised, and our faith in him encouraged. 2. It was designed to look forward, as an earnest of the great sacrifice of the Lamb of God in the fulness of time. Christ our passover was sacrificed for us; his death was our life.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Exodus 12:21 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיִּקְרָ֥אvai.yik.Ra'and he summonedH7121
מֹשֶׁ֛הmo.ShehMosesH4872
לְכָל\־le.khol<to> allH3605
זִקְנֵ֥יzik.Nei[the] elders ofH2205
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרvai.Yo.merand he saidH559
אֲלֵהֶ֑ם'a.le.Hemto themH413
מִֽשְׁכ֗וּmish.KhudrawH4900
וּקְח֨וּu.ke.Chuand takeH3947
לָכֶ֥םla.Khemfor <the> yourselves
צֹ֛אןtzonsheepH6629
לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתֵיכֶ֖םle.mish.pe.cho.tei.Khemto clans yourH4940
וְשַׁחֲט֥וּve.sha.cha.Tuand slaughterH7819
הַפָּֽסַח\׃ha.Pa.sachthe passoverH6453

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Exodus 12:21

  • Exodus 12:3

    Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:

  • 2 Kings 23:21

    And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the Lord your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant.

  • Mark 14:12-16

    And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover? And he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him. And wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the goodman of the house, The Master saith, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? And he will shew you a large upper room furnished and prepared: there make ready for us. …

  • Joshua 5:10

    And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.

  • Ezra 6:20

    For the priests and the Levites were purified together, all of them were pure, and killed the passover for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves.

  • Numbers 9:2-5

    Let the children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season. In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, ye shall keep it in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall ye keep it. And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the passover. And they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel.

  • 2 Chronicles 35:5-6

    And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the families of the fathers of your brethren the people, and after the division of the families of the Levites. So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

  • Luke 22:7-13

    Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed. And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat. And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare? And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in. …

  • Exodus 19:7

    And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him.

  • Exodus 17:5

    And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.

  • 2 Chronicles 30:15-17

    Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the second month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the Lord. And they stood in their place after their manner, according to the law of Moses the man of God: the priests sprinkled the blood, which they received of the hand of the Levites. For there were many in the congregation that were not sanctified: therefore the Levites had the charge of the killing of the passovers for every one that was not clean, to sanctify them unto the Lord.

  • Exodus 12:11

    And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s passover.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
elders.
3:16; 17:5; 19:7; Nu 11:16
and take.
3; Nu 9:2-5; Jos 5:10; 2Ki 23:21; 2Ch 30:15-17; 35:5,6; Ezr 6:20
Mt 26:17-19; Mr 14:12-16; Lu 22:7-13; 1Co 10:4
lamb. or, kid.
3; *marg:
the passover.That is, the lamb which was called the {paschal,} or passover lamb; the animal sacrificed obtaining the name of the institution. St. Paul copies the expression in 1 Co 5:7.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Exodus 12:20

    Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.

  • Exodus 12:21

    Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover.

  • Exodus 12:22

    And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.

Read all of Exodus 12

Exodus 12:21 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y Moisés convocó á todos los ancianos de Israel, y díjoles: Sacad, y tomaos corderos por vuestras familias, y sacrificad la pascua.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et Moïse appela tous les anciens d’Israël, et leur dit: Tirez à part et prenez du menu bétail selon vos familles, et égorgez la pâque.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und Mose rief alle Ältesten Israels und sprach zu ihnen: Greifet und nehmet euch Kleinvieh nach euren Familien und schlachtet das Passah;
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Vocavit autem Moyses omnes seniores filiorum Israël, et dixit ad eos: Ite tollentes animal per familias vestras, et immolate Phase.