Exodus 12:12 New English Translation
12 ‘I will pass through[a] the land of Egypt in the same[b] night, and I will attack[c] all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both of humans and of animals,[d] and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment.[e] I am the Lord.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Exodus 12:12 tn The verb וְעָבַרְתִּי (veʿavarti) is a Qal perfect with vav (ו) consecutive, announcing the future action of God in bringing judgment on the land. The word means “pass over, across, through.” This verb provides a contextual motive for the name “Passover.”
- Exodus 12:12 tn Heb “this night.”
- Exodus 12:12 tn The verb נָכָה (nakhah) means “to strike, smite, attack”; it does not always mean “to kill,” but that is obviously its outcome in this context. This is also its use in 2:12, describing how Moses killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand.
- Exodus 12:12 tn Heb “from man and to beast.”
- Exodus 12:12 tn The phrase אֶעֱשֶׂה שְׁפָטִים (ʾeʿeseh shefatim) is “I will do judgments.” The statement clearly includes what had begun in Exod 6:1. But the statement that God would judge the gods of Egypt is appropriately introduced here (see also Num 33:4) because with the judgment on Pharaoh and the deliverance from bondage, Yahweh would truly show himself to be the one true God. Thus, “I am Yahweh” is fitting here (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 312).
New English Translation (NET)
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.