Numbers 8:17

17 "For ¹every firstborn among the sons of Israel is Mine, among the men and among the animals; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for Myself.

Numbers 8:17 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 8:17

For all the firstborn of the children of Israel [are] mine,
[both] men and beasts
Not only in common with other of his creatures, but in a special respect on account of his signal deliverance of them; they were his, as Jarchi expresses it, by the line of judgment, or rule of justice and equity, because he protected them among the firstborn of the Egyptians, saved them when he slew theirs, as follows:

in the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt;
both of men and beasts:

I sanctified them for myself;
claimed them as his own, and set them apart for his own use, or ordered them to be set apart: see ( Exodus 13:2 ) .

Numbers 8:17 In-Context

15 "Then after that the Levites may go in to serve the tent of meeting. But you shall cleanse them and present them as a wave offering;

16 for they are wholly given to Me from among the sons of Israel. I have taken them for Myself instead of every first issue of the womb, the firstborn of all the sons of Israel.

17 "For every firstborn among the sons of Israel is Mine, among the men and among the animals; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for Myself.

18 "But I have taken the Levites instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel.

19 "I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the sons of Israel, to perform the service of the sons of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement on behalf of the sons of Israel, so that there will be no plague among the sons of Israel by their coming near to the sanctuary."

Cross References

• 1. Ex 13:2, 12, 13, 15; Luke 2:23