Exodus 13:1-16

Consecration of the Firstborn

1 The LORD said to Moses,
2 1"Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine."

The Feast of Unleavened Bread

3 Then Moses said to the people, 2"Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, 3for by a strong hand the LORD brought you out from this place. 4No leavened bread shall be eaten.
4 Today, in the month of 5Abib, you are going out.
5 And when the LORD brings you into 6the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which 7he swore to your fathers to give you, a land 8flowing with milk and honey, 9you shall keep this service in this month.
6 10Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the LORD.
7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory.
8 11You shall tell your son on that day, 'It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.'
9 And it shall 12be to you as a sign on your hand and as 13a memorial 14between your eyes, that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt.
10 15You shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year.
11 "When the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, 16as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you,
12 17you shall set apart to the LORD all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the LORD's.
13 18Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every 19firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.
14 20And when in time to come your son asks you, 'What does this mean?' you shall say to him, 21'By a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of 22slavery.
15 For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the 23LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all the males that first open the womb, but 24all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.'
16 25It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for 26by a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt."

Exodus 13:1-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 13

This chapter begins with an order to sanctify or set apart the firstborn of man and beast to the Lord, Ex 13:1,2 and the people of Israel are charged to keep the feast of unleavened bread in its season, from year to year, when they came into the land of Canaan, the reason of which they were to acquaint their children with, Ex 13:3-10 and they are also directed, when come into the land of Canaan, to set apart every firstling of a beast unto the Lord, and particularly the firstling of an ass was to be redeemed with a lamb, or its neck to be broke, and all the firstborn of men were to be redeemed also, Ex 13:11-13, and when their children inquired the reason of it, they were to be told it was on account of the Lord's slaying the firstborn of men and beast among the Egyptians, when Pharaoh would not let Israel go, and of saving the firstborn of his people, Ex 13:14-16, and it is observed, that when the children of Israel went out of Egypt, they were not led by the nearest way, the way of the land of the Philistines, but a round about way, the way of the wilderness of the Red sea, when they took the bones of Joseph with them, as he had adjured them to do, Ex 13:17-19, and the chapter is concluded with an account of their journeying from Succoth to Etham, the Lord going before them in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night, Ex 13:20-22.

Cross References 26

  • 1. ver. 12, 13, 15; Exodus 22:29, 30; Exodus 34:19; Leviticus 27:26; Numbers 3:13; Numbers 8:16, 17; Numbers 18:15; Deuteronomy 15:19; Cited Luke 2:23
  • 2. Exodus 12:42; Deuteronomy 16:3
  • 3. Exodus 3:19; Exodus 6:1
  • 4. See Exodus 12:8
  • 5. Exodus 23:15; Exodus 34:18; Deuteronomy 16:1
  • 6. Exodus 3:8; Exodus 23:23; Exodus 33:2; Exodus 34:11; Joshua 12:8; Joshua 24:11
  • 7. Exodus 6:8
  • 8. See Exodus 3:8
  • 9. Exodus 12:25, 26
  • 10. Exodus 12:15, 16
  • 11. See Exodus 12:26
  • 12. Deuteronomy 6:8; Deuteronomy 11:18; [Numbers 15:39; Matthew 23:5]
  • 13. Exodus 12:14, 24
  • 14. Deuteronomy 6:8; Deuteronomy 11:18; [Numbers 15:39; Matthew 23:5]
  • 15. [Exodus 12:14, 17, 24, 43]
  • 16. ver. 5
  • 17. ver. 2
  • 18. Exodus 34:20
  • 19. Numbers 3:46, 47; Numbers 18:15, 16
  • 20. See Exodus 12:26
  • 21. ver. 3, 16
  • 22. ver. 3
  • 23. Exodus 12:29
  • 24. ver. 13
  • 25. ver. 9
  • 26. ver. 14
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.