Exodus 13:13

13:13 Every firstling ¹  of a donkey you must redeem ²  with a lamb, and if you do not redeem it, then you must break its neck. ³  Every firstborn of ⁴  your sons you must redeem.

Exodus 22:4

22:4 If the stolen item should in fact be found ⁵  alive in his possession, ⁶  whether it be an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he must pay back double. ⁷ 

Exodus 34:20

34:20 Now the firstling ⁸  of a donkey you may redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then break its neck. ⁹  You must redeem all the firstborn of your sons.

“No one will appear before me empty-handed. ¹⁰ 

[13:13]  ¹ tn Heb “and every opener [of a womb].”

[13:13]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “and every firstborn of man among your sons.” The addition of “man” is clearly meant to distinguish firstborn humans from animals.

[22:4]  ⁵ tn The construction uses a Niphal infinitive absolute and a Niphal imperfect: if it should indeed be found. Gesenius says that in such conditional clauses the infinitive absolute has less emphasis, but instead emphasizes the condition on which some consequence depends (see GKC 342-43 §113.o).

[22:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “in his hand.”

[22:4]  ⁷ sn He must pay back one for what he took, and then one for the penalty – his loss as he was inflicting a loss on someone else.

[34:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “and the one that opens [the womb of] the donkey.”

[34:20]  ¹⁰ sn See G. Brin, “The Firstling of Unclean Animals,” JQR 68 (1971): 1-15.

[34:20]  ¹¹ tn The form is the adverb “empty.”