Exodus 13:4-14

4 This day ye came out in the month Abib.

5 And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he swore to thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey; that thou shalt keep this service in this month.

6 Seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day [shall be] a feast to the LORD.

7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days: and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters.

8 And thou shalt show thy son in that day, saying, [This is done] because of that [which] the LORD did to me when I came forth out of Egypt.

9 And it shall be for a sign to thee upon thy hand, and for a memorial between thy eyes; that the LORD'S law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt.

10 Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.

11 And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to thee and to thy fathers, and shall give it to thee,

12 That thou shall set apart to the LORD all that openeth the matrix; and every firstling that cometh of a beast which thou hast, the males [shall be] the LORD'S.

13 And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck: and all the first-born of man among thy children shalt thou redeem.

14 And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What [is] this? that thou shalt say to him, By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage:

Exodus 13:4-14 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.