Exodus 12:51

12:51 And on this very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their regiments.

Exodus 6:26

6:26 It was the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their regiments.” ¹ 

Exodus 12:41

12:41 At the end of the 430 years, on the very day, all the regiments ²  of the Lord went out of the land of Egypt.

Exodus 7:4

7:4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. ³  I will reach into ⁴  Egypt and bring out my regiments, ⁵  my people the Israelites, from the land of Egypt with great acts of judgment.

Exodus 12:17

12:17 So you will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because on this very ⁶  day I brought your regiments ⁷  out from the land of Egypt, and so you must keep this day perpetually as a lasting ordinance. ⁸ 

---

¹ tn Or “by their hosts” or “by their armies.” Often translated “hosts” (ASV, NASB) or “armies” (KJV), צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot) is a military term that portrays the people of God in battle array. In contemporary English, “regiment” is perhaps more easily understood as a force for battle than “company” (cf. NAB, NRSV) or “division” (NIV, NCV, NLT), both of which can have commercial associations. The term also implies an orderly departure.

² sn This military term is used elsewhere in Exodus (e.g., 6:26; 7:4; 12:17, 50), but here the Israelites are called “the regiments of the Lord.”

³ tn Heb “and Pharaoh will not listen.”

⁴ tn Heb “put my hand into.” The expression is a strong anthropomorphism to depict God’s severest judgment on Egypt. The point is that neither the speeches of Moses and Aaron nor the signs that God would do will be effective. Consequently, God would deliver the blow that would destroy.

⁵ tn See the note on this term in 6:26.

⁶ tn Heb “on the bone of this day.” The expression means “the substance of the day,” the day itself, the very day (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 95).

⁷ tn The word is “armies” or “divisions” (see Exod 6:26 and the note there; cf. also 7:4). The narrative will continue to portray Israel as a mighty army, marching forth in its divisions.

⁸ tn See Exod 12:14.