What Does Exodus 12:44 Mean?

"But every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him." The bought slave's inclusion after circumcision is the Passover statute's first inclusion of a non-Israelite: the slave who has been purchased (and thus joined the Israelite household's permanent membership through economic acquisition) may eat after circumcision.

The principle is that household membership through purchase, followed by the covenant sign of circumcision, grants Passover participation. The permanent household member, even if not ethnically Israelite and not a free member of the community, is included in the household's Passover after circumcision.

The circumcision requirement for the slave's Passover participation connects the Passover to the Abrahamic covenant sign: circumcision is the covenant sign given in Genesis 17, required of Abraham's household including his servants (Genesis 17:12-13). The Passover statute maintains the same household-inclusive principle that the Abrahamic circumcision covenant established: everyone in the household, including purchased servants, is included in the covenant sign and in the covenant meal of the household.

The slave's Passover participation after circumcision is a radical inclusion in its ancient context: slaves in the ancient Near East were generally excluded from the religious observances of their masters' households. Israel's law includes the circumcised slave in the Passover meal: the liberation feast is shared between the free Israelite and the household slave who has been circumcised. The meal that celebrates freedom includes the one who is not free, as a statement that the covenant community's bond transcends the social status that divides those within it.