Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Exodus 12:15-20
Instructions Concerning the Later Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exodus 12:15).
These instructions had the future in mind. They would not be in their houses in order to observe it in Egypt, although it may well have been a feast that they previously observed. But now it was to be directly connected with the Passover, and with the haste in which they left Egypt.
a They were to eat unleavened bread for seven days, and on the first day put all unleavened bread out of their houses, for whoever eats unleavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person will be cut off from Israel (Exodus 12:15).
b On the first day was to be a holy gathering and on the seventh day was to be a holy gathering, and no manner of work was to be done except what a man must eat (Exodus 12:16).
c The feast of unleavened bread was to be observed on the selfsame day as Yahweh brought their hosts out of Egypt (Exodus 12:17 a).
c Which is why they will observe this day throughout their generations by an ordinance for ever (Exodus 12:17 b).
b On the first month, on the fourteenth day in the evening they were to eat unleavened bread, until the twenty first day in the evening (Exodus 12:18).
a For seven days no leaven was to be found in their houses, for whoever ate what was leavened, that person was to be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether a resident alien or one born in the land. Nothing leavened was to be eaten. In all their dwellings they must eat unleavened bread (Exodus 12:19).
We note in ‘a' the parallels. In both the feast was to be for seven days when there was to be no leaven, and any who ate of unleavened bread was to be cut off from among the people. In the former the leaven is to be put out of their houses, and in the latter they must eat unleavened bread in all their houses. In ‘b' we have the mention in both, in different ways, of the first and the seventh day, described in the parallel as the fourteenth and twenty first day. In ‘c' the day to be celebrated is stressed in both cases.
“Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread. Even the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh that person shall be cut off from Israel.”
The earlier patriarchal family tribe under Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would certainly have observed a number of feasts (for example the sheep shearing - see on Genesis 31:19), and as they produced crops this would have included a celebration of the beginning of the barley harvest which, in Canaan, would have taken place at this time of the year. It is probable that these feasts had been continued in Egypt, as part of their tradition, to retain a connection with their roots. But it would be linked to something else, so that, apart from the connection with unleavened bread, a seven day feast may already have been observed at this time. Such customs are notoriously tenacious even over long periods of time.
But this time the deliverance would not give the children of Israel time to leaven their bread (Exodus 12:34; Exodus 12:37). Thus from this time on this feast, which had in Canaan been connected with the beginning of the barley harvest, (and would be again), but in Egypt was probably connected with some other reason for celebration, was to be observed with unleavened bread to remind them of their deliverance from Egypt. It would be a feast to which all the children of Israel gathered. This feast is now given a special meaning and connected with the Passover, although shown as a distinctive feast. (Notice how the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are dealt with separately in Exodus 12:43 and Exodus 13:3. Later they would be seen as one as a result of the passage of time, but that is not yet).
“Seven days.” A divinely perfect period. We do not know whether at this stage the children of Israel observed the ‘seven day week' as we know it. Probably not for no mention is made of the institution of the weekly Sabbath until Exodus 16. But it would be wrong to assume that ‘seven days' necessarily anywhere indicates a recognised week. ‘Seven days' was commonly recognised as a sacred period not necessarily directly connected to the calendar, for the number seven had a sacred significance throughout the Near East. Thus the Babylonian flood story had a seven day flood. But they did not have a seven day week. The Philistines held a seven day wedding feast (Judges 14:17) but did not observe the Sabbath. And while this seven day period begins and ends with a sabbath, these sabbaths were not what came to be the regular Sabbath.
“You shall eat unleavened bread (cakes).” This is bread (plural) made from dough to which yeast had not been introduced, baked in the form of flat cakes. The initial significance of this in context was that they would go in haste without leaving time for the bread to be leavened (Exodus 12:34; Exodus 12:39). Thus the feast would be a continual reminder of that hasty departure. But it probably also gained a new significance from the fact that leaven had a ‘corrupting' influence on the dough, unleavened bread thus signifying the necessity for purity. The escape from Egypt rescued them from the leaven of Egypt, the corrupting influence of Egypt, and their being united in the covenant was intended to deliver them from the leaven of sin. It thus continued to indicate deliverance from the world's influence and from sin.
“The first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses.” All leaven had to be removed from each house so that only unleavened bread remained. We are probably justified in seeing in this a picture of the need for the removal of all corrupting tendencies from the lives of partakers.
“Whoever eats --- that person shall be cut off from Israel.” Unity with Jacob (Israel) in the covenant of Yahweh requires obedience to the demands of the covenant God. Thus to deliberately partake of leavened bread during the seven day period would be to signify an unwillingness to belong to the covenant community, and would result in removal from ‘the congregation of Israel'. Such a person might even, at this stage, be put to death (Numbers 15:27). To have become a member of the covenant was a serious matter. But being ‘cut off' may simply indicate expulsion.
“And on the first day there shall be for you a holy gathering, and on the seventh day a holy gathering, no manner of work shall be done in them except what every man must eat, that only may be done for you.”
The seven day period was to begin on day one and end on day seven with both days being observed as days of rest from labour, apart from that necessary for the feast. They were holy days. On these days they would gather for feasting and worship. They were days set apart for God later to become known as ‘sabbaths'. Thus such set apart days (both the first and the last of the seven) were to be seen as times when no work must be done. This was to be as a reminder of the bondage that had been theirs in Egypt. The idea of a seventh day sabbath would later develop into a regular Sabbath day every seven days (Exodus 16:5; Exodus 16:23; Exodus 16:25; Exodus 16:29; Exodus 20:8), a sign that they were continually His free people, provided for by Him. But they would not have been able to observe such a regular Sabbath in Egypt. Thus after the regular Sabbath was instituted there could in the feast of unleavened bread be three sabbaths, the day one sabbath, the day seven sabbath, and the regular Sabbath.
“And you shall observe the Mazzoth (unleavened bread). For on this selfsame day have I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations by an ordinance for ever.”
From this day on the first day of this feast would be a reminder of their being freed from slavery. As they ceased from work they would remember how they had been freed from slavery in Egypt. So from this day on the fifteenth day of Abib was a day set apart, a day on which the Passover would be eaten (having been killed on the fourteenth between the two evenings) and as a day of cessation from labour.
12:18-20
“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month when evening comes, you will eat unleavened bread, until the twenty first day in the evening. Seven days there will be no leaven in your houses, for whoever eats what is leavened that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a sojourner or one born in the land. You shall eat nothing leavened. In all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.”
The details are now repeated so that the listeners are reminded of them. (In the first place Moses and Aaron, but finally all who listen to this account read out at a feast). The ban on unleavened bread begins on the fourteenth day of the month as the next evening approaches and the Passover lamb is killed, and goes on until the end of the twenty first day, a period of just over seven days.
“Whether he be a sojourner or one born in the land.” This is looking forward to the ideal day when the land promised to their fathers, and to them in Exodus 3:8, finally belongs to them in its totality. All would know of the land that God had promised to give to the seed of Abraham (Genesis 13:15 etc.). This was confirmation that these promises were to be fulfilled in the not too distant future. Then every one in that land, whether born there, or living there having been born elsewhere, will be subject to these regulations. This is a message of hope for it guarantees that they are to receive the land promised to their fathers. God has promised that He is delivering them so as to give them the land (Exodus 3:8). This is spoken in anticipation of, and guarantee of, that day. Their inheritance is guaranteed to them on this their day of deliverance.
“In all your dwellings.” Every household among the people will be involved.