Exodus 12 · Verse 26

Exodus 12:26

And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?
Exodus 12:26, King James Version

Exodus 12:26 in other translations

BSBWhen your children ask you, ‘What does this service mean to you?’
WEBIt will happen, when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’
ASVAnd it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?
YLTand it hath come to pass when your sons say unto you, What is this service ye have?
DARBYAnd it shall come to pass, when your children shall say to you, What mean ye by this service?
BBEAnd when your children say to you, What is the reason of this act of worship?
WebsterAnd it shall come to pass, when your children shall say to you, What mean you by this service?

What does Exodus 12:26 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
26. when your children shall say, ... What mean ye by this service--Independently of some observances which were not afterwards repeated, the usages practised at this yearly commemorative feast were so peculiar that the curiosity of the young would be stimulated, and thus parents had an excellent opportunity, which they were enjoined to embrace, for instructing each rising generation in the origin and leading facts of the national faith.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 26 What mean ye by this service? - The establishment of this service annually was a very wise provision to keep up in remembrance this wonderful deliverance. From the remotest antiquity the institution of feasts, games, etc., has been used to keep up the memory of past grand events. Hence God instituted the Sabbath, to keep up the remembrance of the creation; and the passover to keep up the remembrance of the deliverance from Egypt. All the other feasts were instituted on similar reasons. The Jews never took their sons to the tabernacle or temple till they were twelve years of age, nor suffered them to eat of the flesh of any victim till they had themselves offered a sacrifice at the temple, which they were not permitted to do before the twelfth year of their age. It was at this age that Joseph and Mary took our blessed Lord to the temple, probably for the first time, to offer his sacrifice. See Calmet.

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…

Read the full comment on Exodus 12:21-28 →

Exodus 12:26 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.

וְהָיָ֕הve.ha.Yahand it will beH1961
כִּֽי\־ki-thatH3588
יֹאמְר֥וּyo.me.Ruthey will sayH559
אֲלֵיכֶ֖ם'a.lei.Khemto youH413
בְּנֵיכֶ֑םbe.nei.Khemchildren yourH1121
מָ֛הmahwhat?H4100
הָעֲבֹדָ֥הha.'a.vo.Dah[is] the serviceH5656
הַזֹּ֖אתha.Zot<the> thisH2063
לָכֶֽם\׃la.Khemto <the> you

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

Cross references for Exodus 12:26

  • Exodus 13:14-15

    And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage: And it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the Lord slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of beast: therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all that openeth the matrix, being males; but all the firstborn of my children I redeem.

  • Deuteronomy 32:7

    Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.

  • Psalms 145:4

    One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.

  • Psalms 78:3-6

    Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:

  • Joshua 4:21-24

    And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over: That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever.

  • Isaiah 38:19

    The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.

  • Ephesians 6:4

    And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

  • Joshua 4:6-7

    That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.

  • Deuteronomy 11:19

    And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

  • Exodus 10:2

    And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son’s son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am the Lord.

  • Deuteronomy 6:7

    And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

  • Exodus 13:22

    He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
your children.
13:8,9,14,15,22; De 6:7; 11:19; 32:7; Jos 4:6,7,21-24; Ps 78:3-6
Ps 145:4; Isa 38:19; Eph 6:4

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

Context

  • Exodus 12:25

    And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the Lord will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service.

  • Exodus 12:26

    And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?

  • Exodus 12:27

    That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.

Read all of Exodus 12

Exodus 12:26 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y cuando os dijeren vuestros hijos: ¿Qué rito es este vuestro?
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et quand vos enfants vous diront: Que signifie pour vous ce service?
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und es soll geschehen, wenn eure Kinder zu euch sagen werden: Was soll euch dieser Dienst?
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et cum dixerint vobis filii vestri: Quæ est ista religio?