Commentaries:
One cannot go out of Egypt by night (Exodus 12:51) and stay in his home until morning (Exodus 12:22; Deuteronomy 16:21) at the same time. One cannot "leave" and "stay" simultaneously. The events of Passover and the events of the Night To Be Much Observed (beginning of the first day of Unleavened Bread) occurred on two different nights.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Night to be Much Observed
Verse 51 comes at the end of a paragraph that begins in verse 43. This verse does not mean that the Israelite men were circumcised "the very same day," but rather it refers back to verse 41: "And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years."
At this point in the story, the males had already taken the Passover, and therefore the men had been circumcised previous to that. They could not have taken the Passover, which occurred at the beginning of Exodus 12, unless they had been circumcised. So this section then, from verse 43 through 51, is a reminder of an earlier command. They were not circumcised after Passover and immediately get up and leave Egypt! That would be physically impossible.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Wavesheaf and the Selfsame Day
Other commentary entries containing this verse:
Exodus 12:22
Exodus 12:51
Library resources that contain this verse:
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