Exodus 13:13

13 And for the young of an ass you may give a lamb in payment, or if you will not make payment for it, its neck is to be broken; but for all the first sons among your children, let payment be made.

Exodus 13:13 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 13:13

And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb,
&c.] Which was given to the priest for it; and according to the Jewish canon ^F6, it might be redeemed with that only;

``not with a calf, nor with an animal (a goat or a ram, as Bartenora interprets it), nor with a lamb slain, or torn to pieces.''

Jarchi thinks the ass only was to be redeemed, and not the firstling of any other unclean creature, but his reasons are insufficient; all unclean creatures, as horses, camels, dogs, swine are included in it, as should seem from ( Numbers 18:15 ) and this is the rather particularly mentioned, because there was a greater plenty of them than of horses and camels, and because they were very useful creatures; and if these were to be redeemed, then much more those of less value, and less useful. Hence might arise the story and calumny, as some have thought, of the Jews worshipping an ass's head: and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shall break its neck;
cut off its head on the back of the neck with a knife or cleaver, such as butchers use, as the Misnah ^F7, and its commentators, interpret it, so that the owner should have no profit by it: and all the firstborn of man amongst thy children shall thou redeem;
with the price of five shekels of the sanctuary, and within thirty days of the birth of it, ( Numbers 18:16 ) and these being to be redeemed as the unclean beasts were, shows that men are by nature unclean, and even the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven, the elect of God, and need redemption by the blood of the Lamb.

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 Misn. Becorot, sect. 1. sect. 5.
F7 lbid. sect. 7. Maimon & Bartenora in ib.

Exodus 13:13 In-Context

11 And when the Lord takes you into the land of Canaan, as he made his oath to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you,

12 You are to put on one side for the Lord every mother's first male child, the first-fruit of her body, and the first young one of every beast; every male is holy to the Lord.

13 And for the young of an ass you may give a lamb in payment, or if you will not make payment for it, its neck is to be broken; but for all the first sons among your children, let payment be made.

14 And when your son says to you in time to come, What is the reason for this? say to him, By the strength of his hand the Lord took us out of Egypt, out of the prison-house:

15 And when Pharaoh made his heart hard and would not let us go, the Lord sent death on all the first sons in Egypt, of man and of beast: and so every first male who comes to birth is offered to the Lord; but for all the first of my sons I give a price.