Page:Keil and Delitzsch,Biblical commentary the old testament the pentateuch, trad James Martin, volume 1, 1885.djvu/526

 =Chap. 12=

CONSECRATION OF ISRAEL AS THE COVENANT NATION. DELIVERANCE FROM EGYPT. CHAP. XII.— XIII. 16.
Institution of the Passover. - The deliverance of Israel from the bondage of Egypt was at hand; also their adoption as the nation of Jehovah (Exo 6:6-7). But for this a divine consecration was necessary, that their outward severance from the land of Egypt might be accompanied by an inward severance from everything of an Egyptian or heathen nature. This consecration was to be imparted by the Passover-a festival which was to lay the foundation for Israel's birth (Hos 2:5) into the new life of grace and fellowship with God, and to renew it perpetually in time to come. This festival was therefore instituted and commemorated before the Exodus from Egypt. Vv. 1-28 contain the directions for the Passover: viz., Exo 12:1-14 for the keeping of the feast of the Passover before the departure from Egypt, and Exo 12:15-20 for the seven days' feast of unleavened bread. In Exo 12:21-27 Moses communicates to the elders of the nation the leading instructions as to the former feast, and the carrying out of those instructions is mentioned in Exo 12:28.

verses 1-2
By the words, “in the land of Egypt,” the law of the Passover which follows is brought into connection with the giving of the law at Sinai and in the fields of Moab, and is distinguished in relation to the former as the first or foundation law for the congregation of Jehovah. The creation of