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At Exodus 12 God commands Jews Passover statutes by Moses and at one place he says that no one should leave house until morning:

22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.

But then we see that:

40 Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. 41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. 42 It is a night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the Lord to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations.

Also we see that Moses and Aaron were brought before Pharaoh by night and that Egyptians were urgent upon people to leave Egypt which could imply that the Jews really began to go from Egypt at night and so left their houses before morning:

31 And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as ye have said. 32 Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also. 33 And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.

Did then Jews break God's commandment given them by Moses or were they commanded not to leave houses by their own will? Am I missing something here?

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  • Thanks for asking clarification on the Exodus timeline relating the Yisraelite quarantine until the Destroyer passed through Egypt in [Shemot 12]! Aug 13, 2020 at 16:37
  • Deuteronomy 16:1 basically proves it was dark when they left...perhaps early morning.
    – user21676
    Aug 13, 2020 at 19:13

1 Answer 1

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If you read Exodus 12:29-30, you will notice that the final plague had already passed through Egypt at midnight. After "The Destroyer" (הַמַּשְׁחִ֔ית) had passed through Egypt, Moshe and Aharon are commanded to bring the children of Yisrael out of Egypt in Shemot (Exodus) 12:31.

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