The Meaning of Exodus 12:14 Explained

Exodus 12:14

KJV: And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.

YLT: And this day hath become to you a memorial, and ye have kept it a feast to Jehovah to your generations; -- a statute age-during; ye keep it a feast.

Darby: And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall celebrate it as a feast to Jehovah; throughout your generations as an ordinance for ever shall ye celebrate it.

ASV: And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to Jehovah: throughout your generations ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And this day  shall be unto you for a memorial;  and ye shall keep  it a feast  to the LORD  throughout your generations;  ye shall keep it a feast  by an ordinance  for ever. 

What does Exodus 12:14 Mean?

Context Summary

Exodus 12:1-14 - The Passover Lamb And Its Sprinkled Blood
Henceforth, for Israel, there was to be a new beginning of the year. We should date our birthdays not from the cradle, but from the Cross. The Paschal Lamb was an evident foreshadowing of Christ. See 1 Corinthians 5:7.
(1). He was without blemish. Searched by friend and foe, no fault was found in Him.
(2). He was in His prime, when He laid down His life.
(3). Set apart at the opening of His ministry, it took three years to consummate His purpose.
(4). His blood-that phrase being equivalent to His sacrificial death-speaks of the satisfaction of the just claims of inviolable law, where His flesh is "meat indeed."
(5). Roasting with fire, unleavened bread and bitter herbs denote the intensity of His sufferings, and the chastened spirit with which we draw nigh.
And does not the pilgrim's attitude bespeak the attitude of the Church, which, at any moment, may be summoned to go forth at the trumpet sounding? 1 Corinthians 15:52. [source]

Chapter Summary: Exodus 12

1  The beginning of the year is changed
3  The Passover is instituted
11  The import of the rite of the Passover
15  Unleavened bread
29  The firstborn are slain
31  The Israelites are driven out of the land
37  They come to Succoth
41  The time of their sojourning
43  The ordinance of the Passover

What do the individual words in Exodus 12:14 mean?

So shall be day this to you a memorial and you shall keep it as a feast to Yahweh throughout your generations by an ordinance everlasting You shall keep it as a feast
וְהָיָה֩ הַיּ֨וֹם הַזֶּ֤ה לָכֶם֙ לְזִכָּר֔וֹן וְחַגֹּתֶ֥ם אֹת֖וֹ חַ֣ג לַֽיהוָ֑ה לְדֹרֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם חֻקַּ֥ת עוֹלָ֖ם תְּחָגֻּֽהוּ

וְהָיָה֩  So  shall  be 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
הַיּ֨וֹם  day 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
הַזֶּ֤ה  this 
Parse: Article, Pronoun, masculine singular
Root: זֶה  
Sense: this, this one, here, which, this … that, the one … the other, another, such.
לָכֶם֙  to  you 
Parse: Preposition, second person masculine plural
לְזִכָּר֔וֹן  a  memorial 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular
Root: זִכָּרֹון  
Sense: memorial, reminder, remembrance.
וְחַגֹּתֶ֥ם  and  you  shall  keep 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, second person masculine plural
Root: חָגַג  
Sense: to hold a feast, hold a festival, make pilgrimage, keep a pilgrim-feast, celebrate, dance, stagger.
חַ֣ג  as  a  feast 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: חַג  
Sense: festival, feast, festival-gathering, pilgrim-feast.
לַֽיהוָ֑ה  to  Yahweh 
Parse: Preposition-l, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
לְדֹרֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם  throughout  your  generations 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: דֹּור 
Sense: period, generation, habitation, dwelling.
חֻקַּ֥ת  by  an  ordinance 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: חֻקָּה  
Sense: statute, ordinance, limit, enactment, something prescribed.
עוֹלָ֖ם  everlasting 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֹולָם  
Sense: long duration, antiquity, futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world.
תְּחָגֻּֽהוּ  You  shall  keep  it  as  a  feast 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person masculine plural, third person masculine singular
Root: חָגַג  
Sense: to hold a feast, hold a festival, make pilgrimage, keep a pilgrim-feast, celebrate, dance, stagger.