Exodus 13:16

16 erit igitur quasi signum in manu tua et quasi adpensum quid ob recordationem inter oculos tuos eo quod in manu forti eduxerit nos Dominus de Aegypto

Exodus 13:16 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 13:16

And it shall be for a token upon thine head, and for frontlets
between thine eyes
These laws observed concerning the setting apart the firstlings of their beasts, the redemption of the firstborn of unclean ones, and of the firstborn of men, will bring the reason of it, the destruction of the firstborn of Egypt, and the preservation of the firstborn of Israel, as fresh to remembrance as any token upon the hand, put there to bring things to mind; and it will be as easily and as clearly discerned as anything upon a man's forehead may be seen by another: for by strength of hand the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt:
which is often mentioned, that it might be observed; it being the signs and wonders which the omnipotent hand of God wrought, especially the last, which worked upon Pharaoh, to let the people of Israel go; and their posterity, in all succeeding ages, would speak of this affair as if personally concerned in it, they being then in the loins of their ancestors, and represented by them, as well as they reaped and enjoyed all the benefits of that wonderful deliverance, the possession of the land of Canaan, and the blessings of it, as well as many other privileges both of a civil and religious kind. And so Maimonides F11 says,

``in every age a man is obliged to consider himself as if he in himself now went out of the bondage of Egypt, as it is said, "and he brought us forth from thence"''

FOOTNOTES:

F11 Hilchot Chametz Umetzah, c. 7. sect. 6.

Exodus 13:16 In-Context

14 cumque interrogaverit te filius tuus cras dicens quid est hoc respondebis ei in manu forti eduxit nos Dominus de Aegypto de domo servitutis
15 nam cum induratus esset Pharao et nollet nos dimittere occidit Dominus omne primogenitum in terra Aegypti a primogenito hominis usque ad primogenitum iumentorum idcirco immolo Domino omne quod aperit vulvam masculini sexus et omnia primogenita filiorum meorum redimo
16 erit igitur quasi signum in manu tua et quasi adpensum quid ob recordationem inter oculos tuos eo quod in manu forti eduxerit nos Dominus de Aegypto
17 igitur cum emisisset Pharao populum non eos duxit Dominus per viam terrae Philisthim quae vicina est reputans ne forte paeniteret eum si vidisset adversum se bella consurgere et reverteretur in Aegyptum
18 sed circumduxit per viam deserti quae est iuxta mare Rubrum et armati ascenderunt filii Israhel de terra Aegypti
The Latin Vulgate is in the public domain.