And Moses said unto the people,.... After the Lord had spoken to him, and said the above things:

remember this day in which ye came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; or "of servants" (x) where they had been servants to the Egyptians, by whom they had been made to serve with rigour, and their lives made bitter with hard bondage; that country had been like a prison house unto them, where they had been detained captives, and treated in a very cruel manner; but now they were come out of this place and state of servitude, even that very day, the fifteenth of Nisan; and which therefore it became them to remember, they and theirs, in all succeeding generations, as the Lord had directed, and which is afterwards repeated to impress it the more upon their, minds and memories:

for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out of this place; it was not by their own might and strength that they were redeemed from their state of bondage, but by the mighty hand of the Lord who wrought such signs and wonders before Pharaoh and his servants, and inflicted such plagues upon them, which none but an omnipotent hand could do, which obliged them at last to let them go: and if the Israelites were under obligation, on account of this redemption, to remember the day when it was in this wonderful manner wrought out, much, more reason have we to remember the redemption by Christ the mighty Redeemer, whose own arm wrought salvation for us, and delivered us out of the hands of our spiritual enemies, that were stronger than we, by frequently attending the ordinance of the Lord's supper, which is instituted to bring this amazing affair to our remembrance, and which is to be continued for that purpose unto the second coming of Christ:

there shall no leavened bread be eaten; as they then on this very day had no other but unleavened bread to eat, so they should eat no other on this day and the six days following, in successive ages unto the coming of the Messiah.

(x) "e domo servorum", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Vatablus, & Drusius.

The directions as to the seven days' feast of unleavened bread (Exodus 12:15-20) were made known by Moses to the people on the day of the exodus, at the first station, namely, Succoth; but in the account of this, only the most important points are repeated, and the yearly commemoration is enjoined. In Exodus 13:3, Egypt is called a "slave-house," inasmuch as Israel was employed in slave-labour there, and treated as a slave population (cf. Exodus 20:2; Deuteronomy 5:6; Deuteronomy 6:12, etc.). יד הזק "strength of hand," in Exodus 13:3, Exodus 13:14, and Exodus 13:16, is more emphatic than the more usual חזקה יד (Exodus 3:19, etc.). - On Exodus 13:5, see Exodus 3:8, and Exodus 12:25. In Exodus 13:6, the term "feast to Jehovah" points to the keeping of the seventh day by a holy convocation and the suspension of work (Exodus 12:16). It is only of the seventh day that this is expressly stated, because it was understood as a matter of course, that the first was a feast of Jehovah.

And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of {a} bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be {b} eaten.

(a) Where they were in most cruel slavery.

(b) To signify that they did not have time to leaven their bread.

bondage: Heb. servants

Ex 13:3-10. Memorial of the Passover.

3. Moses said unto the people, Remember this day-The day that gave them a national existence and introduced them into the privileges of independence and freedom, deserved to live in the memories of the Hebrews and their posterity; and, considering the signal interposition of God displayed in it, to be held not only in perpetual, but devout remembrance.

house of bondage-literally, "house of slaves"-that is, a servile and degrading condition.

for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place-The emancipation of Israel would never have been obtained except it had been wrung from the Egyptian tyrant by the appalling judgments of God, as had been at the outset of his mission announced to Moses (Ex 3:19).

There shall no leavened bread, &c.-The words are elliptical, and the meaning of the clause may be paraphrased thus:-"For by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place, in such haste that there could or should be no leavened bread eaten."

13:1-10 In remembrance of the destruction of the first-born of Egypt, both of man and of beast, and the deliverance of the Israelites out of bondage, the first-born males of the Israelites were set apart to the Lord. By this was set before them, that their lives were preserved through the ransom of the atonement, which in due time was to be made for sin. They were also to consider their lives, thus ransomed from death, as now to be consecrated to the service of God. The parents were not to look upon themselves as having any right in their first-born, till they solemnly presented them to God, and allowed his title to them. That which is, by special mercy, spared to us, should be applied to God's honour; at least, some grateful acknowledgment, in works of piety and charity, should be made. The remembrance of their coming out of Egypt must be kept up every year. The day of Christ's resurrection is to be remembered, for in it we were raised up with Christ out of death's house of bondage. The Scripture tells us not expressly what day of the year Christ rose, but it states particularly what day of the week it was; as the more valuable deliverance, it should be remembered weekly. The Israelites must keep the feast of unleavened bread. Under the gospel, we must not only remember Christ, but observe his holy supper. Do this in remembrance of him. Also care must be taken to teach children the knowledge of God. Here is an old law for catechising. It is of great use to acquaint children betimes with the histories of the Bible. And those who have God's law in their heart should have it in their mouth, and often speak of it, to affect themselves, and to teach others.