Exodus 11:1-12:51 Study Questions: The First Passover

Exodus Study Section 12: Exodus 11:1-12:51 –

Warning of the Tenth Plague

The First Passover Instituted

Leaving Egypt (finally)

Initial observation

1. Read the following passages from Exodus:

11:1 – 9    /    12:1-13     /    12:26-39

2. Underline or highlight frequently used words (or refer to your homework).

3. What words, phrases, or ideas make an impression on you?

In-depth Observation

4. Read and discuss the questions that the group wrote for homework.

5.  Why do the households need to share a lamb (verse 12:4)?  (See also verse 12:10.)

6.  Why do they need to eat the meal in a hurry?

7.  Why is the blood on the Israelite doorposts needed?  After all, God was able to bring plagues before which affected the Egyptians but not the Israelites, and no outward sign was required for God to tell the difference.

8.  In verse 12:32, Pharaoh asks Moses and Aaron to “bring a blessing on me too!”  Is this request a sign of Pharaoh’s repentance, or his egotism?

9.  We’ll talk about unleavened bread next time.

10. Write down the theme or topic of this section.

Interpretation and Application:

A. What do you learn about the nature of God from this passage?

B.  What do you learn about the other characters from this passage?

C.  What can we learn from this passage that applies to our own lives?

Vocabulary and notes

Verse 11:1 “he will drive you away”: that is, as he would divorce a bride.

Verse 11:5 “firstborn”:  means ‘firstborn male.’

Verse 11:5 “female slave”:  Egypt had other than Hebrew slaves.

Verse 12:5 “without blemish, a year-old male”: typical for sacrificial offerings.  See Lev 1:3, Num 28:3.

Verse 12:7 “some of the blood”:  The notion is that ritual blood prevents against destructive divine power, as for the circumcision in Exodus 4:25-26.

Verse 12:8 “Unleavened bread”: minimally cooked, biscuit-like bread used generally in ritual offerings.  Leavening further removes the flour from its natural, created state.

Verse 12:9 “do not eat any of it raw or boiled”: Roasting ensures that the blood, the protective element, is removed.  Blood, the symbol of life, is divine property and must be returned to the deity whenever meat is eaten.

Verse 12:10 “let none of it remain until the morning”: implies that the food will be profaned if it remains until the morning.    See Lev 7:15.