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Exodus 12:9
ESV Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts.
NIV Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs.
NASB Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails.
CSB Do not eat any of it raw or cooked in boiling water, but only roasted over fire—its head as well as its legs and inner organs.
NLT Do not eat any of the meat raw or boiled in water. The whole animal — including the head, legs, and internal organs — must be roasted over a fire.
KJV Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.
NKJV Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire—its head with its legs and its entrails.

What does Exodus 12:9 mean?

Israel is about to leave Egypt in a great rush (Exodus 12:29–33). The people are to eat this meal prepared for travel (Exodus 12:11). Keeping the head, legs, and entrails with the lamb during cooking would have been unusual, but also much quicker than fully butchering it. Most scholars assume that parts such as the intestines would have been removed, since leaving feces in the meat would contaminate the entire meal. Other organs, such as lungs, liver, and heart were to be kept. The limbs were not to be removed; the animal was to be roasted as "whole" as possible.

Roasting was the only proper way to prepare the designated sacrificial lambs (Exodus 12:5–6) for eating. This verse emphasizes that the cooking method mattered. The lambs are symbolic of the death of the Messiah; a role which would later be fulfilled through Jesus Christ (John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:7). Every bit of the lamb was to be consumed (Exodus 12:10), and boiling would disperse some of the flesh into the water.
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