Exodus 34:18

You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, you are to eat unleavened bread as I commanded you. For in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — God addresses Israel through Moses at Sinai, renewing the covenant immediately after the golden calf incident. He issues a direct command regarding a specific religious observance tied to a fixed calendar month.

The words — חַג (chag) means festival, and מַצּוֹת (matzot) translates to unleavened breads, forming the compound term for the Feast of Unleavened Bread. תִּשְׁמֹר (tishmor) carries the imperative sense of you will keep or observe.

The thread — The command recurs in Exodus 13:4 and Exodus 13:6, which tie the seven-day observance directly to the departure from Egypt in Abib. Leviticus 23:6 later formalizes the feast as beginning on the fifteenth day of that same month.

Why it lands — The text mandates eating only unleavened bread for seven days at a fixed time to commemorate the historical departure from Egypt. It requires strict adherence to a calendar-bound ritual without deviation.

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

אֶת־'et-<obj.>חַ֣גchag[the] festival of הַמַּצּוֹת֮ha./ma.tzOtthe/ unleavened bread<s>תִּשְׁמֹר֒tish.Moryou will keep שִׁבְעַ֨תshiv.'Atseven יָמִ֜יםya.Mimdays תֹּאכַ֤לto.Khalyou will eat מַצּוֹת֙ma.tzOtunleavened bread<s>אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.Sherwhich צִוִּיתִ֔ךָtzi.vi.Ti./khaI commanded/ you לְמוֹעֵ֖דle./mo.'Edto/ [the] appointed time of חֹ֣דֶשׁCho.desh[the] month of הָאָבִ֑יבha./'a.Viv<the>/ Abib כִּ֚יkifor בְּחֹ֣דֶשׁbe./Cho.deshin/ [the] month of הָֽאָבִ֔יבha./'a.Viv<the>/ Abib יָצָ֖אתָya.Tza.tayou came out מִמִּצְרָֽיִם׃mi./mitz.Ra.yimfrom/ Egypt

King James Version

The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt.

Cross-references

Exodus 13:4 Today, in the month of Abib, you are leaving.
Leviticus 23:6 On the fifteenth day of the same month begins the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread.
Exodus 13:6 For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the LORD.
Deuteronomy 16:1 Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, because in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night.
Exodus 12:2 “This month is the beginning of months for you; it shall be the first month of your year.
Exodus 12:15 For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you are to remove the leaven from your houses. Whoever eats anything leavened from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel.
Exodus 23:15 You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread as I commanded you: At the appointed time in the month of Abib you are to eat unleavened bread for seven days, because that was the month you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before Me empty-handed.
Mark 14:1 Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were two days away, and the chief priests and scribes were looking for a covert way to arrest Jesus and kill Him.
Luke 22:1 Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching,
Acts 12:3 And seeing that this pleased the Jews, Herod proceeded to seize Peter during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.