Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Exodus 12:27 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 27. 27That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
In 12:27, “That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel…” locates the verse inside “Moses Delivers the Passover Command” and clarifies what changes before the next line.
Read It With
- Exodus 12:21–28
Read Exodus 12:27 with 12:21–28. In 12:27, “That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel…” locates the verse inside “Moses Delivers the Passover Command” and clarifies what changes before the next line. The whole unit shows: Israel's elders receive blood and household instructions, a protective boundary until morning, and an explanation for children; the people bow and obey.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Exodus 12:14–20 establishes the preceding movement: A seven-day festival removes leaven, gathers sacred assemblies, and binds future generations to remember the day God brought Israel's hosts from Egypt. This unit continues that movement: Israel's elders receive blood and household instructions, a protective boundary until morning, and an explanation for children; the people bow and obey. At 12:27, the wording “That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel…” makes this verse's contribution precise. In 12:27, “That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel…” locates the verse inside “Moses Delivers the Passover Command” and clarifies what changes before the next line.
What Remains True
Because Exodus 12:27 contributes “That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel…” to “Moses Delivers the Passover Command,” its proportionate enduring truth is: Embodied household memory teaches that rescue, grief, identity, time, food, and the formation of future generations belong together.
How It Can Shape Life
- At Exodus 12:27, the line “That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel…” serves this contextual meaning: Israel's elders receive blood and household instructions, a protective boundary until morning, and an explanation for children; the people bow and obey. The bounded action is: A proportionate application of “Moses Delivers the Passover Command” is this: Tell communal rescue stories truthfully, including cost and excluded voices, and let remembrance produce hospitality and responsibility rather than superiority.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Exodus 12:21–28 — Moses Delivers the Passover CommandSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: Exodus 12:21–28, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Exodus
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, speech, law, ritual vocabulary, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Exod.xml, words and morphology for 12:21–28
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Exodus with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
eBible.org distribution of the NET Bible, PDF generated 2026-08-12
Supports: Unit-bounded Hebrew, syntax, lexical, textual, name, measure, legal, ritual, and older-English notes; silence is not evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible Exodus PDF, complete 127-page PDF, translation and verse-attached translator notes for 12:21–28
Open source ↗