Bible Strands
Exodus 12:46
It must be eaten inside one house. You are not to take any of the meat outside the house, and you may not break any of the bones.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God delivers this directive to the Israelites through Moses during the institution of the Passover, just before their departure from Egypt.
The words — The text uses אֶחָד ('e.Chad) meaning "one" and יֵאָכֵל (ye.'a.Khel) meaning "it will be eaten," which together establish the requirement that the meal be consumed within a single dwelling.
The thread — The command not to break bones reappears in Numbers 9:12 as a standing Passover regulation and is later cited in John 19:36 as fulfilled when John 19:33 records that Jesus’ legs were not broken.
Why it lands — The directive requires participants to observe strict physical and spatial boundaries around the meal, demanding disciplined obedience rather than casual consumption.
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
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.
Cross-references
- John 19:36 Now these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of His bones will be broken.”
- Numbers 9:12 they may not leave any of it until morning or break any of its bones. They must observe the Passover according to all its statutes.
- John 19:33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.
- Ephesians 2:19 Therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household,
- Psalms 34:20 He protects all his bones; not one of them will be broken.
- 1 Corinthians 12:12 The body is a unit, though it is composed of many parts. And although its parts are many, they all form one body. So it is with Christ.