Exodus 13:11-12

13:11 When the Lord brings you ¹  into the land of the Canaanites, ²  as he swore to you and to your fathers, and gives it ³  to you, 13:12 then you must give over ⁴  to the Lord the first offspring of every womb. ⁵  Every firstling ⁶  of a beast that you have ⁷  – the males will be the Lord’s. ⁸ 

[13:11]  ¹ tn Heb “and it will be when Yahweh brings (will bring) you.”

[13:11]  ² sn The name “the Canaanite” (and so collective for “Canaanites”) is occasionally used to summarize all the list of Canaanitish tribes that lived in the land.

[13:11]  ³ tn The verb וּנְתָנָהּ (unÿtanah) is the Qal perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; this is in sequence to the preceding verb, and forms part of the protasis, the temporal clause. The main clause is the instruction in the next verse.

[13:12]  ⁴ tn The unusual choice of words in this passage reflects the connection with the deliverance of the firstborn in the exodus when the Lord passed over the Israelites (12:12, 23). Here the Law said, “you will cause to pass over (וְהַעֲבַרְתָּ, vÿha’avarta) to Yahweh.” The Hiphil perfect with the vav (ו) provides the main clause after the temporal clauses. Yahweh here claimed the firstborn as his own. The remarkable thing about this is that Yahweh did not keep the firstborn that was dedicated to him, but allowed the child to be redeemed by his father. It was an acknowledgment that the life of the child belonged to God as the one redeemed from death, and that the child represented the family. Thus, the observance referred to the dedication of all the redeemed to God.

[13:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “every opener of a womb,” that is, the firstborn from every womb.

[13:12]  ⁶ tn The descriptive noun שֶׁגֶר (sheger) is related to the verb “drop, cast”; it refers to a newly born animal that is dropped or cast from the womb. The expression then reads, “and all that first open [the womb], the casting of a beast.”

[13:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “that is to you.” The preposition expresses possession.

[13:12]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text simply has “the males to Yahweh.” It indicates that the Lord must have them, or they belong to the Lord.