Psalms 78:51

78:51 He struck down all the firstborn in Egypt,

the firstfruits of their reproductive power ¹  in the tents of Ham.

Psalms 135:8

135:8 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,

including both men and animals.

Psalms 136:10

136:10 to the one who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,

for his loyal love endures,

Exodus 4:23

4:23 and I said to you, ‘Let my son go that he may serve ²  me,’ but since you have refused to let him go, ³  I will surely kill ⁴  your son, your firstborn!”’”

Exodus 11:4-5

11:4 Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight ⁵  I will go throughout Egypt, ⁶  11:5 and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh ⁷  who sits on his throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle.

Exodus 12:12

12:12 I will pass through ⁸  the land of Egypt in the same ⁹  night, and I will attack ¹⁰  all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both of humans and of animals, ¹¹  and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. ¹²  I am the Lord.

Exodus 12:29-30

The Deliverance from Egypt

12:29 ¹³ It happened ¹⁴  at midnight – the Lord attacked all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the prison, and all the firstborn of the cattle. 12:30 Pharaoh got up ¹⁵  in the night, ¹⁶  along with all his servants and all Egypt, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no house ¹⁷  in which there was not someone dead.

Hebrews 11:28

11:28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, ¹⁸  so that the one who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.

[78:51]  ¹ tn Heb “the beginning of strength.” If retained, the plural form אוֹנִים (’onim, “strength”) probably indicates degree (“great strength”), but many ancient witnesses read “their strength,” which presupposes an emendation to אֹנָם (’onam; singular form of the noun with third masculine plural pronominal suffix).

[4:23]  ² tn The text uses the imperative, “send out” (שַׁלַּח, shallakh) followed by the imperfect or jussive with the vav (ו) to express purpose.

[4:23]  ³ tn The Piel infinitive serves as the direct object of the verb, answering the question of what Pharaoh would refuse to do. The command and refusal to obey are the grounds for the announcement of death for Pharaoh’s son.

[4:23]  ⁴ tn The construction is very emphatic. The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) gives it an immediacy and a vividness, as if God is already beginning to act. The participle with this particle has the nuance of an imminent future act, as if God is saying, “I am about to kill.” These words are not repeated until the last plague.

[11:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “about the middle of the night.”

[11:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “I will go out in the midst of Egypt.”

[11:5]  ⁷ sn The firstborn in Egyptian and Israelite cultures was significant, but the firstborn of Pharaoh was most important. Pharaoh was considered a god, the son of Re, the sun god, for the specific purpose of ruling over Re’s chief concern, the land of Egypt. For the purpose of re-creation, the supreme god assumed the form of the living king and gave seed which was to become the next king and the next “son of Re.” Moreover, the Pharaoh was the incarnation of the god Horus, a falcon god whose province was the heavens. Horus represented the living king who succeeded the dead king Osiris. Every living king was Horus, every dead king Osiris (see J. A. Wilson, “Egypt,” Before Philosophy, 83-84). To strike any firstborn was to destroy the heir, who embodied the hopes and aspirations of the Egyptians, but to strike the firstborn son of Pharaoh was to destroy this cardinal doctrine of the divine kingship of Egypt. Such a blow would be enough for Pharaoh, for then he would drive the Israelites out.

[12:12]  ⁸ tn The verb וְעָבַרְתִּי (vÿ’avarti) is a Qal perfect with vav (ו) consecutive, announcing the future action of God in bringing judgment on the land. The word means “pass over, across, through.” This verb provides a contextual motive for the name “Passover.”

[12:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “this night.”

[12:12]  ¹⁰ tn The verb נָכָה (nakhah) means “to strike, smite, attack”; it does not always mean “to kill,” but that is obviously its outcome in this context. This is also its use in 2:12, describing how Moses killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand.

[12:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “from man and to beast.”

[12:12]  ¹² tn The phrase אֶעֱשֶׂה שְׁפָטִים (’e’eseh shÿfatim) is “I will do judgments.” The statement clearly includes what had begun in Exod 6:1. But the statement that God would judge the gods of Egypt is appropriately introduced here (see also Num 33:4) because with the judgment on Pharaoh and the deliverance from bondage, Yahweh would truly show himself to be the one true God. Thus, “I am Yahweh” is fitting here (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 312).

[12:29]  ¹³ sn The next section records the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, and so becomes the turning point of the book. Verses 28 and 29 could be included in the exposition of the previous section as the culmination of that part. The message might highlight God’s requirement for deliverance from bondage through the application of the blood of the sacrifice, God’s instruction for the memorial of deliverance through the purging of corruption, and the compliance of those who believed the message. But these verses also form the beginning of this next section (and so could be used transitionally). This unit includes the judgment on Egypt (29-30), the exodus from Egypt (31-39) and the historical summation and report (40-42).

[12:29]  ¹⁴ tn The verse begins with the temporal indicator וַיְהִי (vayÿhi), often translated “and it came to pass.” Here it could be left untranslated: “In the middle of the night Yahweh attacked.” The word order of the next and main clause furthers the emphasis by means of the vav disjunctive on the divine name preceding the verb. The combination of these initial and disjunctive elements helps to convey the suddenness of the attack, while its thoroughness is stressed by the repetition of “firstborn” in the rest of the verse, the merism (“from the firstborn of Pharaoh…to the firstborn of the captive”), and the mention of cattle.

[12:30]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “arose,” the verb קוּם (qum) in this context certainly must describe a less ceremonial act. The entire country woke up in terror because of the deaths.

[12:30]  ¹⁶ tn The noun is an adverbial accusative of time – “in the night” or “at night.”

[12:30]  ¹⁷ sn Or so it seemed. One need not push this description to complete literalness. The reference would be limited to houses that actually had firstborn people or animals. In a society in which households might include more than one generation of humans and animals, however, the presence of a firstborn human or animal would be the rule rather than the exception.

[11:28]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “the pouring out of the blood.”