Exodus 13:12-15

13:12 then you must give over ¹  to the Lord the first offspring of every womb. ²  Every firstling ³  of a beast that you have ⁴  – the males will be the Lord’s. ⁵  13:13 Every firstling ⁶  of a donkey you must redeem ⁷  with a lamb, and if you do not redeem it, then you must break its neck. ⁸  Every firstborn of ⁹  your sons you must redeem.

13:14 ¹⁰ In the future, ¹¹  when your son asks you ¹²  ‘What is this?’ ¹³  you are to tell him, ‘With a mighty hand ¹⁴  the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the land of slavery. ¹⁵  13:15 When Pharaoh stubbornly refused ¹⁶  to release us, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of people to the firstborn of animals. ¹⁷  That is why I am sacrificing ¹⁸  to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb, but all my firstborn sons I redeem.’

[13:12]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “every opener of a womb,” that is, the firstborn from every womb.

[13:12]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “that is to you.” The preposition expresses possession.

[13:12]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text simply has “the males to Yahweh.” It indicates that the Lord must have them, or they belong to the Lord.

[13:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “and every opener [of a womb].”

[13:13]  ⁷ tn The verb תִּפְדֶּה (tifdeh), the instructional imperfect, refers to the idea of redemption by paying a cost. This word is used regularly of redeeming a person, or an animal, from death or servitude (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 109).

[13:13]  ⁸ tn The conditional clause uses an imperfect tense; this is followed by a perfect tense with the vav consecutive providing the obligation or instruction. The owner might not redeem the donkey, but if he did not, he could not keep it, he had to kill it by breaking its neck (so either a lamb for it, or the donkey itself). The donkey could not be killed by shedding blood because that would make it a sacrifice, and that was not possible with this kind of animal. See G. Brin, “The Firstling of Unclean Animals,” JQR 68 (1977): 1-15.

[13:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “and every firstborn of man among your sons.” The addition of “man” is clearly meant to distinguish firstborn humans from animals.

[13:14]  ¹⁰ sn As with v. 8, the Law now requires that the children be instructed on the meaning of this observance. It is a memorial of the deliverance from bondage and the killing of the firstborn in Egypt.

[13:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “tomorrow.”

[13:14]  ¹² tn Heb “and it will be when your son will ask you.”

[13:14]  ¹³ tn The question is cryptic; it simply says, “What is this?” but certainly refers to the custom just mentioned. It asks, “What does this mean?” or “Why do we do this?”

[13:14]  ¹⁴ tn The expression is “with strength of hand,” making “hand” the genitive of specification. In translation “strength” becomes the modifier, because “hand” specifies where the strength was. But of course the whole expression is anthropomorphic for the power of God.

[13:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “house of slaves.”

[13:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “dealt hardly in letting us go” or “made it hard to let us go” (see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 110). The verb is the simple Hiphil perfect הִקְשָׁה (hiqshah, “he made hard”); the infinitive construct לְשַׁלְּחֵנוּ (lÿshallÿkhenu, “to release us”) could be taken epexegetically, meaning “he made releasing us hard.” But the infinitive more likely gives the purpose or the result after the verb “hardened himself.” The verb is figurative for “be stubborn” or “stubbornly refuse.”

[13:15]  ¹⁷ tn The text uses “man” and “beast.”

[13:15]  ¹⁸ tn The form is the active participle.