Preface: God requires that the firstborn of man and animals be set apart to Him. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is described by Moses, in terms of being celebrated when the people enter into the land of promise. God will bring the sons of Jacob into the land and He will require the dedication/consecration of the firstborn. Finally, God begins to guide His people through the desert, out of Egypt.

The Bible Summary of Exodus 13 (in 140 characters or less): The LORD told the Israelites to consecrate their firstborns to him. He guided them as a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night.

There are many chapter commentaries on the book of Exodus. This will be the most extensive examination of Exodus 13, where you will be able to examine in depth every word of the original text. Every attempt has been made to make this both a complete and self-contained study. Therefore, all references, vocabulary, and related concepts should be found within this extensive study. Easy access links to more in-depth studies of some vocabulary words, concepts and doctrines are also provided.

Outline of Chapter 13:

Introduction

         vv.     1–2           God Consecrates the Firstborn

         vv.     3–10         The Feast of Unleavened Bread Is Instituted

         vv.    11–16         Redemption of the Firstborn

         vv.    17–22         God Guides His People in the Desert

Chapter Summary

Addendum

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines:

         Preface               Quotations

         Introduction         Exodus 13 (a graphic)

         Introduction         Outline of Exodus 13

         Introduction         Exodus 13 Doodled (a graphic)

         Introduction 

         Introduction         Titles and/or Brief Descriptions of Exodus 13 (by various commentators)

         Introduction         Brief, but insightful observations of Exodus 13 (various commentators)

         Introduction         Fundamental Questions About Exodus 13

         Introduction         The Prequel of Exodus 13

         Introduction 

         Introduction 

         Introduction         The Principals of Exodus 13

         Introduction         The Places of Exodus 13

         Introduction         By the Numbers

         Introduction         Timeline for Exodus 13

         Introduction         A Synopsis of Exodus 13

         Introduction         Outlines of Exodus 13 (Various Commentators)

         Introduction         A Synopsis of Exodus 13 from the Summarized Bible

         Introduction         The Big Picture (Exodus 12–14)

         Introduction         Paragraph Divisions of Modern Translation for Exodus 13

         Introduction 

         Introduction 

         Introduction         Changes—additions and subtractions (for Exodus 13)

         Introduction 

         v.      

         v.       2              Exodus 13:2 (God’s Word™) (a graphic)

         v.       2              The Mini-Abbreviated Doctrine of Sanctification

         v.       3              Exodus 13:3a-b (NKJV) (a graphic)

         v.       3              Exodus 13:3 (a graphic)

         v. 

         v.       5              Understanding Hebrew customs in the Church Age

         v.       5              The JEPD theory or documentary hypothesis

         v.       6              A brief review of Exodus 13:3–6

         v.       7              Prefilled Communion Cups - Wheat Wafer & Juice Sets (a graphic)

         v.       7              Exodus 13:7 (God’s Word™) (a graphic)

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v.      10              Exodus 13:9–10 (The Message) (a graphic)

         v. 

         v. 

         v.      13              The Very Abbreviated Doctrine of Redemption

         v.      14              Exodus 13:14 (a graphic)

         v. 

         v.      16              A Frontlet Between the Eyes (a photograph)

         v.      16              A Sign on the Hand (and arm) (a photograph)

         v.      17              Ancient Canaan (a map)

         v.      17              Exodus 13:17 (a graphic)

         v.      18              The Desert-wilderness (a photograph)

         v.      18              Psalm 23:5

         v.      18              Exodus of Moses and the Israelites (a map)

         v.      18              Map of the Exodus Route

         v.      19              Joseph’s Bones

         v.      19              Exodus 13:19 (God’s Word™) (a graphic)

         v.      20              A brief review of Exodus 13:17–19

         v.      21              God Goes Before Israel as a Cloud (a graphic)

         v.      21              A Pillar of Cloud Leading Them (an artist’s rendition)

         v.      21              God Gives Israel a Pillar of Fire by Night (a graphic)

         v.      21              A Pillar of Fire and a Pillar of Cloud (a graphic)

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         Summary            A Set of Summary Doctrines and Commentary

         Summary            Why Exodus 13 is in the Word of God

         Summary            What We Learn from Exodus 13

         Summary            Jesus Christ in Exodus 13

         Summary            Route of the Exodus (a map)

         Summary            A Casket of Bones Representing Joseph’s Bones (a photograph)

         Summary            The Pillar of Cloud and of Fire (two graphics)

         Summary 

         Summary 

         Summary            Shmoop Summary of Exodus 13

         Summary            Edersheim Summarizes Exodus 13

         Addendum          A Brief Look at Sanctification in the Old Testament

         Addendum          The Doctrine of Redemption

         Addendum 

         Addendum          Josephus’ History of this Time Period

         Addendum          A Complete Translation of Exodus 13

         Addendum          Doctrinal Teachers Who Have Taught Exodus 13

         Addendum          Word Cloud from a Reasonably Literal Paraphrase of Exodus 13

         Addendum          Word Cloud from Exegesis of Exodus 13

——————————

An Introduction to Exodus 13

I ntroduction: Exodus 13 might appear to the reader to go off on an odd tangent. Israel has seemingly escaped from Egypt—the people of Egypt demanded that they leave (Exodus 12:31–36) following the 10^th plague, which was the death of the firstborn. (Exodus 12:29–30). However, the regulations for the Passover are given at the end of Exodus 12 (vv. 43–51); and we simply have more regulations given to the people.

As we will find out, Israel is not yet fully safe from Egypt; but God is already giving them Bible doctrine. God does not wait for them to arrive to Mount Sinai before He begins the spiritual education as His people.

Exodus 13 (a graphic); underlying graphic from Levin Baptist Church; accessed April 14, 2021.

The words which we read in this chapter are first spoken by God to Moses; and then Moses teaches the people.

Already, God is looking forward to yearly observances of the Passover, and this is covered, along with the redemption of the firstborn.

Exodus 13 should seem easy and short by comparison to Exodus 12. It is half as long and deals with fewer topics. Moses expands upon what God had told him concerning the Feast of the Unleavened Bread. Also, the Hebrews are to tell their sons about the exodus and what God had done for them and that this was to be passed on for generations.

It is wrong to think that everything was passed on orally for hundreds of years, and then committed to writing. Everything that we study points to a traditions developed side-by-side the historical incidents they represent, recorded in God’s Word, which, at that time, was the Torah (the 4 books of Moses + Genesis).

Today, the Bible is found in hundreds of versions, in every book store, on thousands of websites, on CD ROM's, on computer programs, etc. However, it is God's method for His Word to be communicated orally by a well-prepared pastor who recognizes the ultimate importance of the Bible. God desires for His Word to be deposited in your soul. In the Church Age, this primarily takes place at the local church.

It is fine if you feel a need to carefully check out your pastor-teacher to be certain that he is teaching you accurately. In fact, at first, you should be quite careful of that. However, only those who are pastor-teachers and have similar teaching gifts need to be examining the Word personally. There is nothing which indicates that the common Christian is to go to the Word an dig out everything for himself. That is the job of the pastor-teacher, which he then passes along orally to his congregation.

Similarly, every father and mother has a solemn responsibility to teach their own children; a responsibility which is more important than any other. If someone, after years of study under a good pastor teacher, is motivated to dig into the Word, this is fine. However, it is often that cults along with bits and pieces of false doctrine result from various people's self study (often people who were too arrogant to learn under a pastor teacher). They tend to take one or two verses out of context; they magnify these verses beyond all the others in the Bible; and then they distort the rest of Scripture to fit in with their pet doctrines, developed out of the Scriptures which they took out of context in the first place. Such people do not teach the entire Word of God verse by verse, line by line, in context, in order. If they did, too many people in their congregation would see their flaws. They would constantly have to explain that this passage does not mean what it seems to mean.

I have had experience with the cult the Jehovah’s Witnesses early on in my Christian life. What I discovered then was, even their experts have a razor-thin understanding of the Scriptures, which is informed by their peculiar doctrines.

The first people from the Jehovah’s Witnesses who I talked to, when I held them to the passage in John 1, they held to the JW party line, to the point of explaining the Greek to me. So, I showed them this verse in the Greek, I said, “This is exactly what you are talking about” (which was the lack of a definite article before the word Theos—God). Then I said, “Let’s take this little theory of yours and apply it in other passages.” Well, they had not seen that done before. And they did not know the Greek at all. So they asked, “Can we bring someone with a greater understanding back and discuss this further.” I agreed. However, their expert had the exact razor-thin explanation, where he told me about the Greek, and then I did the same thing to him. He did not know the Greek; but he knew the JW explanation for that passage. Exactly the same as the people who appealed to him to give me a better explanation. When they offered to bring in an even greater expert, I declined. The point I am making is, they have the view that Jesus is not truly God, and then they have to somehow explain away all of the passages which tell us that He is God. This all goes back to the original founder (s) of the JW’s took a few passages from the Bible, and elevated them over all other passages, giving them some of their distinctive (and false) doctrines. And then everything has to be twisted in order to fit their set of doctrines (which is apparently the thrust of the teaching at a JW church).

I believe that one of the things which we learn from this chapter is, Pharaoh did not let the sons of Israel go and then, 5 minutes later, saddle up an army to go after them. Pharaoh and the people of Egypt were devastated at losing their firstborn and they were no doubt in shock for a day or two (or more). Meanwhile, there is movement by the sons of Israel under the guidance of God, which is described at the end of this chapter.

Like many chapters, the division between Exodus 12 and 13 is rather arbitrary, and hard to explain. Exodus 12 is quite lengthy and Exodus 13 is relatively short. Moving the final 9 verses from Exodus 12 to 13 makes a great deal of sense. If this were done, the final 3 verses of Exodus 12 would be: The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. It was a night of watching by the LORD, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a night of watching kept to the LORD by all the people of Israel throughout their generations. (Exodus 12:40–42).

With such a change, Exodus 13 would have begun with God speaking to Moses about observing the Passover (taken from Exodus 12), then God speaks to Moses about the firstborn; then Moses tells the people about the Feast of Unleavened Bread (both of which topics are in Exodus 13).

What I have just described is an extremely logical approach to dividing up these chapters. However, that will never be the case. Interestingly enough, there have been hundreds of different translations made of the Bible and billions of Bibles printed, and easily thousands of men have noted this odd break in the chapters. Nevertheless, I am not aware of any translation which does what I suggested above. And remember, the chapter and verse divisions are not divinely inspired. They were added to the text hundreds (and even thousands) of years after the Scriptures were originally committed to some sort of writing medium. So, making such a change would violate absolutely nothing. Yet, I can personally guarantee you that it will never be revised on a large scale. Maybe some Bible translation will do this, but I doubt it.

As an aside, there is a good reason to leave things as they are, and that would be vv. 50–51 (All the people of Israel did just as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron. And on that very day the LORD brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.—ESV). Clearly, that is a good ending to chapter 12.

There is one more thing to say, as we move forward towards verse 1: we need to consider the principles of law versus narrative. Or the description of things to be built as over against the action of moving forward in the desert-wilderness. The law, the regulations, and the design of the Tabernacle, the priestly clothing, etc. can get rather repetitious and even tedious. Recognizing this, I will try not to get bogged down in those sections.

Exodus 13 Doodled (a graphic); From Doodle Through the Bible; accessed April 14, 2021.

Timeline for Exodus 13

——————————

God Consecrates the Firstborn

The beginning of this chapter might catch you off guard. And by beginning, I mean the first two thirds of this chapter (up to v. 16). The first portion of this chapter deals with the consecration of the firstborn and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. There will be some forward movement of Israel, but not until we are at the last third of the chapter (vv. 17–22).

In the previous chapter, there was a lot going on, which included the movement of the sons of Israel out of Egypt. There was some teaching, but it was directly related to the events taking place at that time (the 10^th plague and Israel leaving Egypt).

The assumption that I will operate under is, this information was given to Moses during this same time period, and that Moses will teach these things to the people along the trip.

This chapter’s beginning almost appears to be God saying, “This is your lesson plan to teach the people for the next week.”

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:                       Note: I compare the Hebrew text to English translations of the Latin, Syriac (= Aramaic) and Greek texts, using the Douay-Rheims translation; George Lamsa’s translation, and Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton’s translation as revised and edited by Paul W. Esposito, respectively. I often update these texts with non-substantive changes (e.g., you for thou, etc.). I often use the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible instead of Brenton’s translation, because it updates the English text.

The Septuagint was the earliest known translation of a book (circa 200 b.c.). Since this translation was made before the textual criticism had been developed into a science and because different books appear to be translated by different men, the Greek translation can sometimes be very uneven.

When there are serious disparities between my translation and Brenton’s (or the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible), I look at the Greek text of the Septuagint (the LXX) to see if a substantive difference actually exists (and I reflect these changes in the English rendering of the Greek text). I use the Greek LXX with Strong’s numbers and morphology available for e-sword. The only problem with this resource (which is a problem for similar resources) is, there is no way to further explore Greek verbs which are not found in the New Testament. Although I usually quote the Complete Apostles’ Bible here, I have begun to make changes in the translation when their translation conflicts with the Greek and note what those changes are.

The Masoretic text is the Hebrew text with all of the vowels (vowel points) inserted (the original Hebrew text lacked vowels). We take the Masoretic text to be the text closest to the original. However, differences between the Masoretic text and the Greek, Latin and Syriac are worth noting and, once in a great while, represent a more accurate text possessed by those other ancient translators.

In general, the Latin text is an outstanding translation from the Hebrew text into Latin and very trustworthy (I say this as a non-Catholic). Unfortunately, I do not read Latin—apart from some very obvious words—so I am dependent upon the English translation of the Latin (principally, the Douay-Rheims translation).

The comparisons which I do are primarily between the English translations which are taken from the ancient tongues. For the most part, the variances are so minor that I rarely investigate them any further than that.

Underlined words indicate differences in the text.

Bracketed portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls are words, letters and phrases lost in the scroll due to various types of damage. Underlined words or phrases are those in the Dead Sea Scrolls but not in the Masoretic text.

I will only list the translation from the Dead Sea Scrolls if it exists and if it is different from the Masoretic text.

The Targum of Onkelos is actually the Pentateuchal Targumim, which are The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel. On the Pentateuch With The Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum From the Chaldee by J. W. Etheridge, M.A. From http://www.becomingjewish.org/texts/targum/onkelos_Exodus.html and first published in 1862.

Occasionally, there is an obvious error in the English translation, and I correct those without additional mention or footnoting. For instance, the online version of the Targum of Onkelos which I use has gorund in Ex. 4:9; I simply corrected the text. This may occur once or twice in a chapter.

I attempt to include translations which are different in their vocabulary and phrasing. On many occasions, I may include a translation which is not substantially different than another listed translation.

Most of the translations can be found here.

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so speaks Y^ehowah unto Moses, to say, “Consecrate to me every firstborn, an opening every womb in sons of Israel—in the man and in the beast—to me he [is].

Dead Sea Scrolls                   .

Targum (Onkelos)                  And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying, Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn. Every one which openeth the womb among the children of Israel, of man and of beast, that is Mine. Translation for Onkelos and Pseudo-Jonathan by J. W. Etheridge, M.A. (1862).

Targum (Pseudo-Jonathan)   And the Lord spake unto Mosheh, saying, Sanctify before Me every firstborn male. Whatsoever openeth the womb of all the sons of Israel among men, and (also) among beasts, is Mine.

Revised Douay-Rheims         And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Sanctify unto me every firstborn that opens the womb among the children of Israel, as well of men as of beasts: for they are all mine.

Aramaic ESV of Peshitta        Mar-Yah spoke to Mosha, saying, "Sanctify to me all of the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the B'nai Yisrael, both of man and of animal. It is mine."

Lamsa’s Peshitta (Syriac)     .

V. Alexander’s Aramaic T.     AND the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, Sanctify to me every first-born that opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of men and of animals; for they are mine.

Updated Brenton (Greek)       And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Sanctify to Me every firstborn, first produced, opening every womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast: it is Mine.

Significant differences: 

Limited Vocabulary Translations:

Bible in Basic English             And the Lord said to Moses, Let the first male child of every mother among the children of Israel be kept holy for me, even the first male birth among man or beast; for it is mine.

Easy English                          The firstborn males are special

The Lord spoke to Moses. He said: ‘Keep every firstborn male separate and special for me. Every male who is the first to be born of his mother is mine. He is mine, whether he is man or animal.’

God had killed the firstborn sons of the Egyptians, but he had saved the firstborn sons of the Israelites. Because of this, the firstborn sons were special. God said: ‘They are mine.’

Easy-to-Read Version–2006  Then the Lord said to Moses, “You must give me every male in Israel who is his mother’s first child. That means that every firstborn baby boy and every firstborn male animal will be mine.”

The Message                         God spoke to Moses, saying, “Consecrate every firstborn to me— the first one to come from the womb among the Israelites, whether person or animal, is mine.”

NIRV                                      Setting Apart the Oldest Sons

The Lord said to Moses, “Set apart for me the first boy born in every family. The oldest son of every Israelite mother belongs to me. Every male animal born first to its mother also belongs to me.”

New Simplified Bible              Jehovah said to Moses: »Consecrate (appoint) (sanctify) all the first-born males to me. Every first-born male Israelite and every first-born male animal belongs to me!«

Thought-for-thought translations; dynamic translations; paraphrases:

Contemporary English V.       The LORD said to Moses, "Dedicate to me the first-born son of every family and the first-born males of your flocks and herds. These belong to me."

The Living Bible                     The Lord instructed Moses, “Dedicate to me all of the firstborn sons[a] of Israel, and every firstborn male animal; they are mine!”

New Berkeley Version           .

New Life Version                    The First-Born Given to God

The Lord said to Moses, “Set apart to Me every first-born male. The first-born male among the people of Israel, and the first-born male animal are Mine.”

New Living Translation           Dedication of the Firstborn

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Dedicate to me every firstborn among the Israelites. The first offspring to be born, of both humans and animals, belongs to me.”

Unlocked Dynamic Bible        Yahweh said to Moses, “Set apart all the firstborn males in order that they may belong to me. The firstborn males of the Israelite people and of their animals will be mine.”

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          Then the Lord told Moses: ‘All the first-fathered and firstborn that open any womb among the children of IsraEl, whether of men or animals, are to be set aside as holy to Me, for they are Mine!’

Beck’s American Translation .

Common English Bible           The Lord said to Moses: Dedicate to me all your oldest children. Each first offspring from any Israelite womb belongs to me, whether human or animal.

New Advent (Knox) Bible       And this was another command the Lord gave to Moses: Dedicate to me every first-born thing that Israel yields, whether it be man or beast, the first-fruits of every womb; all these are forfeit to me.

Translation for Translators      Yahweh gave Moses instructions about dedicating the firstborn sons

Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Set apart all the firstborn males in order that they may belong to me. The first born males of the Israeli people and of their animals will be mine.”

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Alpha & Omega Bible            AND JESUS SPOKE TO MOSES, SAYING, “SANCTIFY TO ME EVERY FIRST BORN, FIRST PRODUCED, OPENED FROM EVERY WOMB AMONG THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL BOTH OF MAN AND BEAST. IT IS MINE.”

Awful Scroll Bible                   Jehovah was to speak to Moses, to the intent: Be setting apart the first born opening the womb, of the sons of Isra-el, of the humans and dumb beasts.

Ferrar-Fenton Bible                The Ever-living also commanded; “Consecrate to Me every first—born proceeding from every womb of the children of Israel, both of man and beast. It is Mine.”

God’s Truth (Tyndale)           And the Lord spoke unto Moses saying: Sanctify unto me all the firstborn that open all manner matrices among the children of Israel, as well of men as of beasts: for they are mine.

HCSB                                     The Lord spoke to Moses: “Consecrate every firstborn male to Me, the firstborn from every womb among the Israelites, both man and domestic animal; it is Mine.”

Lexham English Bible            Unleavened Bread and Dedication of Firstborn to Commemorate the Rescue from Egypt

And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "Consecrate to me every firstborn, the first offspring of every womb among the {Israelites}, among humans and among domestic animals; {it belongs to me}."

Tree of Life Version                Redemption of the Firstborn

Adonai spoke to Moses saying, “Consecrate to Me all the firstborn, from every womb of Bnei-Yisrael, both men and animals—this is Mine.” cf. Luke 2:23.

Unlocked Literal Bible            Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, “Set apart to me all the firstborn, every firstborn male among the Israelites, both of people and animals. The firstborn belongs to me.”

Wikipedia Bible Project          And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying: "Bless for me every firstborn son delivered of every womb of the sons of Israel. Of man and of beast, he is for me."

Catholic Bibles (those having the imprimatur):

The Heritage Bible                 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, Sanctify to me all the firstborn, everyone who first breaks open the womb among the children of Israel, of man, and of animal; he is mine.

New RSV                               The Lord said to Moses: Consecrate to me all the firstborn; whatever is the first to open the womb among the Israelites, of human beings and animals, is mine.

Revised English Bible–1989   The LORD spoke to Moses. He said, “Every firstborn, the first birth of every womb among the Israelites, you must dedicate to me, both man and beast; it belongs to me.”

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           (vii) Adonai said to Moshe, “Set aside for me all the firstborn. Whatever is first from the womb among the people of Isra’el, both of humans and of animals, belongs to me.”

The Complete Tanach           The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Sanctify to Me every firstborn, every one that opens the womb among the children of Israel among man and among animals; it is Mine."

exeGeses companion Bible   HALLOWING THE FIRSTBIRTH

And Yah Veh words to Mosheh, saying,

Hallow to me all the firstbirths

- every burster of the womb

among the sons of Yisra El

- among human and among animal: it is mine.

Hebraic Roots Bible               And YAHWEH spoke to Moses, saying, Set apart to Me every first-born, the one opening the womb among the sons of Israel, among men and among livestock; they shall be Mine.

Kaplan Translation                 Commemorating the Exodus

God spoke to Moses, saying, 'Sanctify to Me every first-born that initiates the womb among the Israelites. Among both man and beast, it is Mine.' The Kaplan Translation, particularly in Exodus through Deuteronomy, takes note of historic rabbinic opinions.

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And Hashem spoke unto Moshe, saying,

Set apart as kodesh unto Me kol bechor, whatsoever openeth the rechem (womb) among the Bnei Yisroel, both of adam and of behemah; it is Mine.

The Scriptures 1998              And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying, “Set apart to Me all the first-born, the one opening the womb among the children of Yisra’ĕl, among man and among beast, it is Mine.”

Expanded/Embellished Bibles:

The Amplified Bible                Consecration of the Firstborn

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Sanctify to Me [that is, set apart for My purpose] every firstborn, the first offspring of every womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of animal; it is Mine.”

The Expanded Bible              The Law of the Firstborn

Then the Lord said to Moses, “·Give [Consecrate; Set apart] every firstborn male to me. ·Every firstborn male [^L Whoever is first to open the womb] among the ·Israelites [^L sons/T children of Israel] belongs to me, whether human or animal.”

Kretzmann’s Commentary    Verses 1-10

Concerning the Feast of Unleavened Bread

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Sanctify unto Me all the first-born, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast; it is Mine. This is not said of the general sanctification of the people as God's own nation, but of the consecrating, of the setting apart, of the first-born, both of men and of animals, for the specific service of Jehovah. They were the Lord's not only by virtue of creation, but because He spared them in the great slaughter in Egypt. The first-born sons were to serve the Lord as priests, until this right was vested in the descendants of Levi, when they were obliged to redeem themselves by payment of a sacrifice of exemption; the first-born beasts were to be sacrificed to the Lord.

NET Bible®                             The Law of the Firstborn

¹ The Lord spoke² to Moses: “Set apart³ to me every firstborn male – the first offspring of every womb⁴ among the Israelites, whether human or animal; it is mine.”⁵

^1sn This next section seems a little confusing at first glance: vv. 1 and 2 call for the dedication of the firstborn, then vv. 3-10 instruct concerning the ritual of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and then vv. 11-16 return to the firstborn. B. Jacob (Exodus, 360) explains that vv. 3-16 contain a sermon, in which Moses “began his speech by reminding the people of the events which had just occurred and how they would be recalled by them in the future,” and then he explained the rulings that went along with it. So the first two verses state the core of the sermon, a new command calling for the redeemed (firstborn) to be sanctified. The second portion stresses that God requires the redeemed to remember their redemption by purifying themselves (3-10). The third section (11-16) develops the theme of dedication to Yahweh. The point is that in view of God’s mighty redemption, the redeemed (represented by the firstborn) must be set apart for Yahweh’s service.

^2tn Heb “and Yahweh spoke.”

^3tn The verb “sanctify” is the Piel imperative of קָדַש (qadash). In the Qal stem it means “be holy, be set apart, be distinct,” and in this stem “sanctify, set apart.”

^sn Here is the central principle of the chapter – the firstborn were sacred to God and must be “set apart” (the meaning of the verb “sanctify”) for his use.

^4tn The word פֶּטֶּר (petter) means “that which opens”; this construction literally says, “that which opens every womb,” which means “the first offspring of every womb.” Verses 12 and 15 further indicate male offspring.

^5tn Heb “to me it.” The preposition here expresses possession; the construction is simply “it [is, belongs] to me.”

Syndein/Thieme                     .

Eternal One (to Moses): Set apart all of the firstborn and dedicate them to Me. The first male offspring—both human and animal—that opens the womb among the people of Israel belongs to me.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Brenner’s Mechanical Trans....and "YHWH ^{He Is}" spoke to "Mosheh ^{Plucked out}" saying, set apart (for) me all the firstborn bursting of all the bowels in the sons of "Yisra'el ^{He turns El aside}", in the human and in the beast, he belongs to me,...

Concordant Literal Version    It came to be on this very day when Yahweh brought forth the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt with their hosts, that Yahweh spoke to Moses saying: Hallow to Me every firstborn male, opening up every womb, among the sons of Israel, among human and among beast. It is Mine. Exodus 12:51 is included for context.

Context Group Version          And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, Make special to me all the first-born, whatever opens the womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine.

Emphasized Bible                  And Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying: Hallow to me every firstborn, that which any female first beareth among the sons of Israel, among men and among beasts,—mine! it is.

NASB                                     Consecration of the Firstborn

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Sanctify to Me every firstborn, the first offspring [Lit opening] of every womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and beast; it belongs to Me.”

New European Version          Passover Regulations Repeated

Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, Sanctify to me all of the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of animal. It is mine.

New King James Version       The Firstborn Consecrated

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Consecrate [Set apart] to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine.”

Young’s Updated LT             And Jehovah speaks unto Moses, saying, “Sanctify to Me every first-born, opening any womb among the sons of Israel, among man and among beast; it is Mine.”.

The gist of this passage:     God tells Moses that the firstborn of the womb, whether man or beast, is to be dedicated to Him.

Translation: Y^ehowah spoke to Moses, saying...

Again, many of these talks do not have a complete context. God spoke to Moses on many occasions. We do not know exactly how many times God spoke to Moses. Much of the previous few chapters were spoken to Moses all at once, although it was separated into three plagues and it appeared as though God had spoken to Moses several times. This appears as though God is speaking to Moses for the first time as the Hebrews leave on their exodus from Egypt.

Moses does not demonstrate the lack of confidence that he did originally. He is no longer going to God and asking that Aaron speak to the Israelites or that Aaron lead the Israelites. At this point, Moses’ confidence level in God is strong and he clearly understands that God has chosen him to lead the Hebrews. At this point, Moses no longer seems to have any misgivings about God’s role for him in this life.

Based upon a later passage in the Torah, Moses would go into a particular tent—I would understand this to be the pre-Tabernacle; and in that tent, speak to God. This appears to begin early in Exodus (but we don’t know when exactly); and it appears to continue until the completion of the Tabernacle in Exodus 40 (which is the final chapter of the book of Exodus). At that point, this previous tent of meeting is set aside for God’s Tabernacle. It appears that God spoke to Abraham twice on top of Mount Sinai, and on many occasions in this pre-Tabernacle.

There is very little said about this pre-Tabernacle. We read enough to know that it exists, but we do not read, every chapter or two, And Moses went off to a special tent wherein he would speak to God. There is a lot happening in the book of Exodus; and adding to the confusion is not something that Moses, as the human author, wants to do (nor would God the Holy Spirit want to confuse us).

What we do not have in the book of Exodus is this: God spoke to Moses and said, “X, Y and Z;” and then Moses goes to the elders of Israel, telling them “X, Y and Z.” And then the elders gathered groups of Israelites and taught them “X, Y and Z.” We know for certain that God speaks directly to Moses, in some manner or fashion, as we are told right here in v. 1. We know that, in some way, Moses spoke to the people (v. 3).

Did Moses speak to elders and they then spoke to the people; did Moses speak to various groups of Israelites, telling them what God said? We really do not know exactly how that information was disseminated. For all we know, Moses may have even spoken to all of the people, and his words were amplified supernaturally (although we have no verse or passage which would support that view; nor is this something which I believed happened). Somehow, God spoke to Moses and Moses taught this to the people (precisely how this was done is not really an issue, but a matter of speculation). I believe that this is shorthand for Moses teaching Aaron and the elders, who then went and taught the same material to the people.

What we do not have, for the most part, is a repetition of these words. God’s words are presented generally in two ways: (1) God speaks to Moses and (2) Moses speaks to the people. Moses, the writer of Exodus through Deuteronomy, saw no reason to repeat these words when recording them in Scripture (which would make perfect sense). What God says will generally be found once, presented in one of those two forms. There are some exceptions to this, but not many.

However, there will be some repetition in this way: God speaks of the Feast of Unleavened Bread in this chapter. He will, in subsequent chapters, also speak of this same feast (in a variety of contexts). I believe that this is how God taught this information to Moses. He got a little bit of information here; then some more information on the same topic later on; and then, on another occasion, more information on the same topic.

When I was a math teacher, I might teach the concept of fractions to a fundamentals of math students (high school students who would graduate knowing a limited amount of mathematics). However, in Algebra II (several courses later), I would teach the concept of rational expressions, which is dealing with more complex fractional expressions. In Pre-Calculus, I would teach infinite series, which often involved adding up an infinite sequence of fractions.

Now, when a child is first introduced to fractions (I think for me, it was somewhere between 4^th and 6^th grades), we are not given every bit of mathematical information on fractions that there is. We instead establish the concept of fractions, what the numerator is and what the denominator is, and then we have some very concrete examples (for instance, this is what a cup of water is; here is what half a cup of water looks like, etc.).

So, God’s presentation of a particular topic several times throughout the Law is not an unusual way to teach a concept or a practice. We do this all of the time in school.

Let me give you a very concrete example that you will understand and agree on: God taught the Ten Commandments (HTML) (PDF) (WPD) all at once, including the commandment, you will not murder. God did not stop at the point, look at Moses and say, “Take out your notes; we are going to study the doctrine of murder.” God simply went on to the next commandment. Subsequently in the Law, God taught what would be considered murder and God taught what would be considered a legitimate taking of life (the organized state of Israel was to execute any person guilty of murder). God also taught Moses about involuntary manslaughter, and what that means and how it should be dealt with. It makes perfect sense for God to prohibit murder in the Ten Commandments; and then later, to give some concrete examples of what is considered murder, what is considered involuntary manslaughter; and how does an organized state deal with these similar situations.

Exodus 13:1 Y^ehowah spoke to Moses, saying,... (Kukis mostly literal translation)

Along this route out of Egypt and eventually to Mount Sinai, there is going to be a considerable amount of teaching which takes place.

Translation:... “Consecrate to Me all [your] firstborn.

The firstborn would be dedicated to God among all Israel.

The firstborn child, by God’s design, belonged to Him. The idea is, the Lord’s Firstborn, Jesus Christ, is given on our behalf. This is the big picture; it will be given in further detail later in the chapter.