The Meaning of Exodus 12:5 Explained

Exodus 12:5

KJV: Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:

YLT: a lamb, a perfect one, a male, a son of a year, let be to you; from the sheep or from the goats ye do take it.

Darby: Your lamb shall be without blemish, a yearling male; ye shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats.

ASV: Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old: ye shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats:

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Your lamb  shall be without blemish,  a male  of the first  year:  ye shall take  [it] out from the sheep,  or from the goats: 

What does Exodus 12:5 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 12:5 mean?

Lamb without blemish a male of the first year shall be Your from the sheep or from the goats You may take [it]
שֶׂ֥ה תָמִ֛ים זָכָ֥ר בֶּן־ שָׁנָ֖ה יִהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֑ם מִן־ הַכְּבָשִׂ֥ים וּמִן־ הָעִזִּ֖ים תִּקָּֽחוּ

שֶׂ֥ה  Lamb 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: שֶׂה  
Sense: one of a flock, lamb, sheep, goat, young sheep, young goat.
תָמִ֛ים  without  blemish 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: תָּמִים  
Sense: complete, whole, entire, sound.
זָכָ֥ר  a  male 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: זָכָר  
Sense: male (of humans and animals) adj.
בֶּן־  of  the  first 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
שָׁנָ֖ה  year 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: שָׁנָה  
Sense: year.
יִהְיֶ֣ה  shall  be 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
לָכֶ֑ם  Your 
Parse: Preposition, second person masculine plural
הַכְּבָשִׂ֥ים  the  sheep 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: כֶּבֶשׂ  
Sense: lamb, sheep, young ram.
וּמִן־  or  from 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition
Root: מִן 
Sense: from, out of, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not, more than.
הָעִזִּ֖ים  the  goats 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine plural
Root: עֵז  
Sense: female goat, she-goat, goat, kid.
תִּקָּֽחוּ  You  may  take  [it] 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person masculine plural
Root: יָקַח 
Sense: to take, get, fetch, lay hold of, seize, receive, acquire, buy, bring, marry, take a wife, snatch, take away.