Exodus 13:13

13 Thou shalt (ex)change the first engendered of an ass for a sheep, that if thou again-buyest it not, thou shalt slay it; forsooth thou shalt again-buy with price all the first begotten of a man of thy sons. (Thou shalt exchange the first-born of a donkey for a sheep, and if thou buyest it not back, then thou shalt kill it; but thou must buy back all thy first-born sons.)

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 hath brought thee into the land of Canaanites, as he swore to thee, and to thy fathers, and hath given it to thee,

12 thou shalt separate to the Lord all thing (of male kind) that (first) openeth the womb, and that that is first in thy beasts (thou shalt set aside for the Lord all the males who first openeth the womb, and all the males that be first in thy beasts); whatever thing thou hast of male kind, thou shalt hallow it to the Lord.

13 Thou shalt (ex)change the first engendered of an ass for a sheep, that if thou again-buyest it not, thou shalt slay it; forsooth thou shalt again-buy with price all the first begotten of a man of thy sons. (Thou shalt exchange the first-born of a donkey for a sheep, and if thou buyest it not back, then thou shalt kill it; but thou must buy back all thy first-born sons.)

14 And when thy son shall ask thee tomorrow, and say, What is this? thou shalt answer to him, In a strong hand the Lord led us out of the land of Egypt, of the house of servage (By a strong hand the Lord led us out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of servitude, or of slavery);

15 for when Pharaoh was made hard in heart, and would not deliver us, the Lord slew all the first begotten thing in the land of Egypt, from the first begotten of man, till to the first engendered of beasts; therefore I offer to the Lord all thing of male kind that (first) openeth the womb, and I (shall) again-buy all the first begotten things of my sons. (for when Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not let us go, the Lord killed all the first-born things in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of man, unto the first-born of beasts; and so I offer to the Lord all the things of male kind that first openeth the womb, and I shall buy back all the first-born of my sons.)