Commentaries:
This is one of those places where the word "evening" is from the Hebrew term ben ha arbayim. In modern English, it means "twilight" or "dusk." This word describes the time when the sun has gone down, but light continues to linger for a time, and at this time of the year, light would have remained in the sky for probably close to about 45 minutes. Following that, it would be dark.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Wavesheaf and the Selfsame Day
God told each Israelite family to choose an unblemished lamb on the 10th day of the month Abib. On the 14th day at twilight (just after sundown as the 14th began), they killed the lamb, putting its blood on the doorpost and lintel of their homes. Then they roasted and ate the lamb.
Earl L. Henn (1934-1997)
Holy Days: Passover
Notice in verse 3 that on the tenth day each person was to take a lamb for himself. In verse 5, the lamb must be without blemish and a male of the first year.
Think of Jesus in reference to these instructions. The meat could be either from the sheep or the goats. Jesus is a type of both sheep and goat. In the atonement offering, one of the two goats typified Jesus.
Verses 6-8 show that the innocent lamb bled to death. Scripture also says that the bones were not to be broken, and it must be roasted whole. Jesus' bones were not broken either.
Through these verses, we see that Jesus was the perfect antitype of this lamb that was slain at the Passover service. By means of the blood that was smeared on the lintel and the doorposts, Israel was saved from the tenth plague, the death of the firstborn. The blood of the lamb redeemed, bought back, the firstborn of Israel. Otherwise, they too would have been killed.
Jesus' ghastly death and the terrible scourging He endured do the same for us; it redeems us , buys us back. Some Protestants say He died of a broken heart, but that is not true. Like the Passover lamb, He bled to death; His blood spilled onto the earth, and He expired an innocent and pure man. He had never sinned, just like the lamb without blemish and without spot.
Therefore, we call Him our Savior and Redeemer. Once we accept Him as our Savior, because He was sinless and He died for us, His blood covers our sins. He redeems us from the second death—from the death angel.
He is the firstborn among many brethren, and we are called the firstfruits. We are the firstfruits of spiritual Israel that are protected from that death angel, the second death.
God often works in dual stages, as shown here. The first is the type of the lamb slain at Passover, and the second is the antitype or the perfect fulfillment in Jesus Christ. For the type of the Passover lamb to be fulfilled perfectly and completely in the antitype of Jesus Christ, His crucifixion and death had to occur on Nisan 14. There is no other day in which the type would have been fulfilled because that is the day of the Passover.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Christ's Death, Resurrection, and Ascension
Other commentary entries containing this verse:
Genesis 15:1-6
Genesis 17:23
Exodus 12:41
Joshua 5:2-12
Zechariah 9:9
Galatians 3:16-18
Library resources that contain this verse:
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