“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.”
My Notes
What Does Exodus 12:31 Mean?
"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." Pharaoh capitulates completely: get out. All of you. Serve your God. As you asked. The ten plagues and the death of the firstborn have broken the resistance. The man who said "who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice?" (5:2) now says: go serve the LORD.
The urgency — "by night" — means Pharaoh doesn't wait until morning. The decision that took ten plagues to reach is executed immediately. The Hebrew slaves who couldn't get a day off to worship (5:1-3) are now expelled at midnight. The permission that was denied for months is granted in a single sentence.
The phrase "as ye have said" is Pharaoh's surrender: do what you asked to do from the beginning. Moses and Aaron's original request (5:1) was to go worship. Now Pharaoh grants it — not from generosity but from devastation. The permission is extracted by plague. The worship opportunity is purchased with Egypt's suffering.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What permission are you withholding from God that might have been granted freely?
- 2.How many 'plagues' did your resistance produce before you capitulated?
- 3.What does Pharaoh's midnight surrender teach about the relationship between devastation and compliance?
- 4.What is God asking you to do 'as you said' — something you promised but haven't delivered?
Devotional
Get out. All of you. Go serve your God. As you asked. Pharaoh, at midnight, with his firstborn dead, finally says the words Moses has been requesting since chapter 5: let my people go.
The capitulation is total: both you AND the children of Israel. Not a partial release. Not a compromise where the families stay. Everyone goes. The negotiations that consumed chapters 7-11 — let the men go, leave the flocks, keep the children — are over. Pharaoh surrenders every bargaining position in a single sentence.
The 'as ye have said' is the most devastating phrase: do what you asked from the beginning. The entire plague sequence — blood, frogs, gnats, flies, livestock death, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, firstborn death — was produced by Pharaoh's refusal to grant what he now grants freely. Every plague was unnecessary. The permission that costs ten plagues could have cost zero. Pharaoh's stubbornness produced the destruction his compliance would have prevented.
The midnight timing is significant: Pharaoh doesn't sleep on it. He doesn't wait for a committee to review the options. He calls for Moses in the middle of the night — while the crying fills every house in Egypt — and says: go. Now. The urgency matches the devastation. The permission arrives at the speed of grief.
How many plagues did your stubbornness produce before you said yes to what God was asking all along? What could have been granted freely that was instead extracted through progressive suffering?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people,.... The people of Israel; not using force, but strong entreaties, the…
Called for Moses and Aaron - That is, he sent the message here mentioned to them; for it does not appear that he had any…
Here we have, I. The Egyptians' sons, even their first-born, slain, Exo 12:29, Exo 12:30. If Pharaoh would have taken…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture