Bible Strands
Exodus 12:45
A temporary resident or hired hand shall not eat the Passover.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses relays this divine command to the Israelites as they prepare to slaughter the first Passover lambs in Egypt. The instruction functions as a boundary marker for the upcoming deliverance ritual.
The words — תּוֹשָׁב (to.Shav) identifies a resident alien dwelling among the people, and שָׂכִיר (sa.Khir) designates a temporary hired laborer. Both categories are directly barred from eating the meal.
The thread — This restriction parallels Leviticus 22:10, which excludes priests' guests and hired hands from sacred offerings, and aligns with the alienation motif described in Ephesians 2:12. The text consistently ties covenant meal participation to formal community status.
Why it lands — The verse explicitly forbids non-covenant members from partaking in the Passover feast. It requires readers to acknowledge that ritual participation is contingent upon recognized inclusion in the covenant community.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof.
Cross-references
- Leviticus 22:10 No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offering, nor may the guest of a priest or his hired hand eat it.
- Ephesians 2:12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.