The Meaning of Exodus 12:26 Explained

Exodus 12:26

KJV: And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?

YLT: and it hath come to pass when your sons say unto you, What is this service ye have?

Darby: And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say to you, What mean ye by this service?

ASV: And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And it shall come to pass, when your children  shall say  unto you, What mean ye by this service? 

What does Exodus 12:26 Mean?

Context Summary

Exodus 12:15-28 - The Feast Of Unleavened Bread
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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 12:26 mean?

And it shall be when say to you your children what service [by] this do you mean
וְהָיָ֕ה כִּֽי־ יֹאמְר֥וּ אֲלֵיכֶ֖ם בְּנֵיכֶ֑ם מָ֛ה הָעֲבֹדָ֥ה הַזֹּ֖את ؟ לָכֶֽם

וְהָיָ֕ה  And  it  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.
יֹאמְר֥וּ  say 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
אֲלֵיכֶ֖ם  to  you 
Parse: Preposition, second person masculine plural
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
בְּנֵיכֶ֑ם  your  children 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
הָעֲבֹדָ֥ה  service 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: עֲבֹדָה  
Sense: labour, service.
הַזֹּ֖את  [by]  this 
Parse: Article, Pronoun, feminine singular
Root: זׄאת  
Sense: this, this one, here, which, this … that, the one … the other, such.
؟ לָכֶֽם  do  you  mean 
Parse: Preposition, second person masculine plural