Exodus 12:43

And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

FURTHER DIRECTIONS RESPECTING THE PASSOVER.

(43-51) This is the ordinance.—These directions, together with those which follow with respect to the sanctification of the firstborn (Exodus 13:1-16), seem to have been given to Moses at Succoth, and were consequently recorded at this point of the narrative. They comprise three principal points:—(1) The exclusion of all uncircumcised persons from the Passover (Exodus 12:43); (2) the admission of all full proselytes (Exodus 12:48-49); and (3) the injunction that no bone of the lamb should be broken (Exodus 12:46).

(43) No stranger.—Comp, Exodus 12:48 for limitations. If a stranger wished to join, and would accept circumcision for himself and the males of his family, he might partake in the rite.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

12:43-51 In times to come, all the congregation of Israel must keep the passover. All that share in God's mercies should join in thankful praises for them. The New Testament passover, the Lord's supper, ought not to be neglected by any. Strangers, if circumcised, might eat of the passover. Here is an early indication of favour to the gentiles. This taught the Jews that their being a nation favoured by God, entitled them to their privileges, not their descent from Abraham. Christ our passover is sacrificed for us, 1Co 5:7; his blood is the only ransom for our souls; without the shedding of it there is no remission; without the sprinkling of it there can be no salvation. Have we, by faith in him, sheltered our souls from deserved vengeance under the protection of his atoning blood? Do we keep close to him, constantly depending upon him? Do we so profess our faith in the Redeemer, and our obligations to him, that all who pass by may know to whom we belong? Do we stand prepared for his service, ready to walk in his ways, and to separate ourselves from his enemies? These are questions of vast importance to the soul; may the Lord direct our consciences honestly to answer them.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And the Lord said - From this verse to Exodus 13:16 are instructions regarding the Passover. Such instructions were needed when the Israelites were joined by the "mixed multitude:" of strangers; and they were probably given at Succoth, on the morning following the departure from Rameses.

No stranger - Literally, "son of a stranger." The term is general; it includes all who were aliens from Israel, until they were incorporated into the nation by circumcision.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

41. even the selfsame day—implying an exact and literal fulfilment of the predicted period.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

This which here followeth is the law or appointment of God concerning the celebration of the passover.

No stranger, or, foreigner, who is so both by nation and religion; for if he were circumcised, he might eat of it, Exodus 12:44,48.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron,.... At the same time he acquainted them with the above things:

this is the ordinance of the passover; as before delivered, and these the laws and rules, according to which it is to be observed, as now related, both with respect to the lamb, and to the unleavened bread; and the following is an account of the persons that were to partake of it:

there shall no stranger eat thereof, one that is of another country, an entire Heathen, and unacquainted with, and does not profess the Jewish religion, which was the religion of God.

Geneva Study Bible

And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: {t} There shall no stranger eat thereof:

(t) Unless he is circumcised, and professes your religion only.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

43. no alien] or foreigner, i.e. a foreigner temporarily resident in Israel. It was a distinctively Israelitish observance.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 43-51. - SUPPLEMENTARY ORDINANCE WITH RESPECT TO THE PASSOVER. The position of these verses is curious. We should have expected them to have followed immediately on ver. 20, or else to have been reserved for the further consideration of the subject in ch. 23. It is suggested, in order to account for their place, that they formed the matter of a special revelation made to Moses at Succoth. They comprise three main points: -

1. The absolute exclusion of all uncircumcised persons from participation in the passover rite;

2. The extension of the rite (implied in ver. 19) to all full proselytes; and,

3. The injunction that not a bone of the lamb should be broken. (This last is repeated in Numbers 9:12) Verses 43. - This is the ordinance of the passover - i.e., "This is the law, in respect of the persons who are to partake of it" - there shall no stranger eat thereof, or literally, "No son of a stranger shall eat thereof." By a "stranger" here is meant one of a foreign race who wishes to retain his foreign character and to remain uncircumcised. Compare ver. 48. Exodus 12:43

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Regulations Concerning the Participants in the Passover. - These regulations, which were supplementary to the law of the Passover in Exodus 12:3-11, were not communicated before the exodus; because it was only by the fact that a crowd of foreigners attached themselves to the Israelites, that Israel was brought into a connection with foreigners, which needed to be clearly defined, especially so far as the Passover was concerned, the festival of Israel's birth as the people of God. If the Passover was still to retain this signification, of course no foreigner could participate in it. This is the first regulation. But as it was by virtue of a divine call, and not through natural descent, that Israel had become the people of Jehovah, and as it was destined in that capacity to be a blessing to all nations, the attitude assumed towards foreigners was not to be an altogether repelling one. Hence the further directions in Exodus 12:44 : purchased servants, who had been politically incorporated as Israel's property, were to be entirely incorporated by circumcision, so as even to take part in the Passover. But settlers, and servants working for wages, were not to eat of it, for they stood in a purely external relation, which might be any day dissolved. בּ אכל, lit., to eat at anything, to take part in the eating (Leviticus 22:11). The deeper ground fore this was, that in this meal Israel was to preserve and celebrate its unity and fellowship with Jehovah. This was the meaning of the regulations, which were repeated in Exodus 12:46 and Exodus 12:47 from Exodus 12:4, Exodus 12:9, and Exodus 12:10, where they had been already explained. If, therefore, a foreigner living among the Israelites wished to keep the Passover, he was first of all to be spiritually incorporated into the nation of Jehovah by circumcision (Exodus 12:48). פס ועשׂה: "And he has made (i.e., made ready) a passover to Jehovah, let every male be circumcised to him (i.e., he himself, and the male members of his house), and then he may draw near (sc., to Jehovah) to keep it." The first עשׂה denotes the wish or intention to do it, the second, the actual execution of the wish. The words בּן־נכר, גּר, תּושׁב and שׂכיר, are all indicative of non-Israelites. בּן־נכר was applied quite generally to any foreigner springing from another nation; גּר was a foreigner living for a shorter or longer time in the midst of the Israelites; תּושׁב, lit., a dweller, settler, was one who settled permanently among the Israelites, without being received into their religious fellowship; שׂכיר was the non-Israelite, who worked for an Israelite for wages.