Exodus 12:9

"They shall eat the meat in that night, roasted with fire, with unleavened bread. They shall eat it with bitter herbs."

Key Reflection

This verse symbolizes the Israelites' hurried departure from Egypt, where they were to eat the Passover lamb—roasted over fire—to mark their homes and protect their firstborn from the angel of death. The unleavened bread and bitter herbs represent the haste of their exodus and the bitterness of slavery they left behind, foreshadowing their liberation and journey toward freedom under God's covenant.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

Raw -i. e. “half-cooked.” Sodden ... with water -It was probably more common to seethe meat than to roast meat; hence, the regrets expressed by the Israelites for the seething pots of Egypt. The purtenance thereof -or its intestines. This verse directs that the lamb should be roasted and placed on the table whole. No bone was to be broken (seeExodus 12:46, and margin reference). The bowels were taken out, washed and then replaced. The Talmud prescribes the form of the oven of earthenware, in which the lamb was roasted, open above and below with a grating for the fire. Lambs and sheep are roasted whole in Persia, nearly in the same manner.

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