The Meaning of Exodus 12:2 Explained

Exodus 12:2

KJV: This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.

YLT: This month is to you the chief of months -- it is the first to you of the months of the year;

Darby: This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.

ASV: This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

This month  [shall be] unto you the beginning  of months:  it [shall be] the first  month  of the year  to you. 

What does Exodus 12:2 Mean?

Study Notes

first month
i.e. April.

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 12:2 mean?

month this your [shall be] beginning of months the first it [shall be] to you month of the year
הַחֹ֧דֶשׁ הַזֶּ֛ה לָכֶ֖ם רֹ֣אשׁ חֳדָשִׁ֑ים רִאשׁ֥וֹן הוּא֙ לָכֶ֔ם לְחָדְשֵׁ֖י הַשָּׁנָֽה

הַחֹ֧דֶשׁ  month 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: חֹדֶשׁ  
Sense: the new moon, month, monthly.
הַזֶּ֛ה  this 
Parse: Article, Pronoun, masculine singular
Root: זֶה  
Sense: this, this one, here, which, this … that, the one … the other, another, such.
לָכֶ֖ם  your 
Parse: Preposition, second person masculine plural
רֹ֣אשׁ  [shall  be]  beginning 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: רֹאשׁ 
Sense: head, top, summit, upper part, chief, total, sum, height, front, beginning.
חֳדָשִׁ֑ים  of  months 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: חֹדֶשׁ  
Sense: the new moon, month, monthly.
רִאשׁ֥וֹן  the  first 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: רִאשֹׁון  
Sense: first, primary, former.
לָכֶ֔ם  [shall  be]  to  you 
Parse: Preposition, second person masculine plural
לְחָדְשֵׁ֖י  month 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: חֹדֶשׁ  
Sense: the new moon, month, monthly.
הַשָּׁנָֽה  of  the  year 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: שָׁנָה  
Sense: year.