Exodus 34:20

34:20 Now the firstling ¹  of a donkey you may redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then break its neck. ²  You must redeem all the firstborn of your sons.

“No one will appear before me empty-handed. ³ 

Numbers 18:15-17

18:15 The firstborn of every womb which they present to the Lord, whether human or animal, will be yours. Nevertheless, the firstborn sons you must redeem, ⁴  and the firstborn males of unclean animals you must redeem. 18:16 And those that must be redeemed you are to redeem when they are a month old, according to your estimation, for five shekels of silver according to the sanctuary shekel (which is twenty gerahs). 18:17 But you must not redeem the firstborn of a cow or a sheep or a goat; they are holy. You must splash ⁵  their blood on the altar and burn their fat for an offering made by fire for a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

[34:20]  ¹ tn Heb “and the one that opens [the womb of] the donkey.”

[34:20]  ² sn See G. Brin, “The Firstling of Unclean Animals,” JQR 68 (1971): 1-15.

[34:20]  ³ tn The form is the adverb “empty.”

[18:15]  ⁴ tn The construction uses the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense of the verb “to redeem” in order to stress the point – they were to be redeemed. N. H. Snaith suggests that the verb means to get by payment what was not originally yours, whereas the other root גָאַל (ga’al) means to get back what was originally yours (Leviticus and Numbers [NCB], 268).

[18:17]  ⁵ tn Or “throw, toss.”