Exodus 12:46

Exo 12:46 In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof.

Ver. 46. In one house.] To teach them unity; which, indeed, is not anywhere found but in the Church. "My dove is but ore." {Son 6:9}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12:46 do not break any of its bones: The apostle John makes reference to this instruction regarding the Passover lambs when reporting that Jesus’ legs were not broken on the cross (John 19:36).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

John 29:36

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 46. In one house shall it be eaten] In one family, if that be large enough; if not, a neighbouring family might be invited, Ex 12:4.

Thou shalt not carry forth aught of the flesh] Every family must abide within doors because of the destroying angel, none being permitted to go out of his house till the next day, Ex 12:22.

Neither shall ye break a bone thereof.] As it was to be eaten in haste, (Ex 12:11), there was no time either to separate the bones, or to break them in order to extract the marrow; and lest they should be tempted to consume time in this way, therefore this ordinance was given. It is very likely that, when the whole lamb was brought to table, they cut off the flesh without even separating any of the large joints, leaving the skeleton, with whatever flesh they could not eat, to be consumed with fire, Ex 12:10. This precept was also given to point out a most remarkable circumstance which 1500 years after was to take place in the crucifixion of the Saviour of mankind, who was the true Paschal Lamb, that Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world; who, though he was crucified as a common malefactor, and it was a universal custom to break the legs of such on the cross, yet so did the providence of God order it that a bone of HIM was not broken. See the fulfilment of this wondrously expressive type, Joh 19:33; Joh 19:36.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(46) Neither shall ye break a bone thereof.—In the case of all other victims, the limbs were to be separated from the body. Here the victim was to be roasted whole, and to remain whole, as a symbol of unity, and a type of Him through whom men are brought into unity with each other and with God. (See Joh_19:33-36.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

46. Three regulations designed to emphasize the unity of the company partaking of each passover (cf. vv. 4, 9; 1Co_10:17): one lamb was always to be eaten in one house; no part of the flesh was to be carried out of the house; and (in dressing the Paschal lamb) no bone in it was to be broken (cf. Num_9:12; also Joh_19:36, Psa_34:20).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thus did all the children of Israel,.... They slew a lamb, and roasted and ate it, with unleavened bread, and bitter herbs, and took a bunch of hyssop, and dipped it in the blood, and struck the lintel and the side posts of the doors of their houses: this they did on the night of their deliverance out of Egypt:

as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they; being instructed by them; which is an instance of their ready and cheerful obedience to the divine will, which they were under great obligation to perform, from a grateful sense of the wonderful mercy and favour they now were made partakers of.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

In one house - i. e. “in one company.” Each lamb was to be entirely consumed by the members of one company, whether they belonged to the same household or not.

Break a bone - The typical significance of this injunction is recognized by John, (see the margin reference.) It is not easy to assign any other satisfactory reason for it. This victim alone was exempt from the general law by which the limbs were ordered to be separated from the body.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Partly, because they were all obliged not to go out of the house till the morning, Exo 12:22, and to leave none of it till that time, Exo 12:10; partly, lest it should be either superstitiously or profanely abused; and partly, to signify that Christ and salvation are not to be had out of God’s house or church.

To take out and eat the marrow of it. This was required, partly to mind them of their hasty departure out of Egypt, wherein they had no leisure to break and empty the bones; and principally, that it might be an evident type of the Lord Jesus, in whom this was literally fulfilled, Joh 19:36. The bones were burnt with the other remainders of the lamb.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

In one house shall it be eaten. Compare the directions in vers. 3-10, which imply this, and see the comment on ver. 10. Neither shall ye break a bone of it. Kalisch thinks that the lamb was a symbol of the unity of the nation, and was therefore not to have any of its bones broken. This view may be a true one, without being exhaustive. It may have been to mark the unity of the Church in Christ that his bones were not broken, and in view especially of that unity, that the type was made to correspond in this particular with the antitype. (see Joh_19:33-36)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

בבית אחד יאכל IN ONE HOUSE SHALL IT BE EATEN — in one company (cf. שה לבית); meaning that those who have registered themselves for it (the Paschal offering) shall not form themselves afterwards into two companies and divide it. An objection was raised: You say that this means “in one company”, but perhaps this is not so, but it means “in one house” (or place) as it usually signifies, and it intends to teach that if they had begun to eat, for example, in the courtyard of a house and rain fell they may not enter the house to complete the eating of the offering? The reply was given: this cannot be so, because Scripture says, (v. 7) “[They shall put the blood] upon the houses (plural) wherein they shall eat it” — and from here it follows that one who is eating the Paschal offering may eat it in two places (consequently the only meaning of the term בית is “company”, as was suggested) (cf. Mekhilta and Onkelos).

לא תוציא מן הבית THOU SHALT NOT CARRY FORTH OUT OF THE HOUSE this must therefore mean away from the company (Mekhilta).

ועצם לא תשברו בו NEITHER SHALL YE BREAK A BONE THEREOF — any bone that is fitted for eating (for the purpose of the performing the command of eating the Paschal lamb) as, for instance, one upon which there is flesh of the size of an olive — to it there is (applies) the prohibition relating to the breaking of a bone, but if there is not upon it flesh of the size of an olive there does not apply to it the prohibition of breaking a bone (cf. Pesachim 84b).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.