1Then Jehovah told Moses: 2‘All the first-fathered and firstborn that open any womb among the children of Israel, whether of men or animals, are to be set aside as holy to Me, for they are Mine.’ 3And Moses said to the people, ‘Remember this day! [It’s the one] when you were brought out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of slavery; for Jehovah brought you out of there with His strong hand. So, fermentation must not be eaten [now]! 4‘And it was on this day of new grain that you left, 5so when Jehovah your God brings you into the land of the CanaAnites, Chettites, Amorites, Evites, Jebusites, Gergesites, and Pherezites, which He swore to your ancestors that He would give you – a land that flows with milk and honey – you must perform this same service during this month. 6Six days you will eat fermentation-free bread, and the seventh day will be a feast day to Jehovah. 7So for seven days you will eat fermentation-free bread. Nothing with fermentation may be seen among you, nor may you have fermentation inside all your borders. 8And you will tell your sons on this day: This is how Jehovah dealt with me as I was leaving Egypt. 9‘So, let it remain as a sign on your hand and as something to remember before your eyes, that Jehovah’s Law may always stay on your [lips], because Jehovah God brought you out of Egypt with His strong hand. 10So, each year at this time and season, you must observe this Law. 11‘And when Jehovah your God brings you into the land of the CanaAnites, which He swore to your ancestors that he would give you, 12you must set aside every male that opens a womb to Jehovah. This includes those among your flocks and herds of cattle… as many as you have. [All the] males must be [set aside as] holy to Jehovah. 13‘However, when it comes to burros, you must offer a sheep instead… you can’t exchange it, you must buy it back [from Jehovah], and you must buy back every firstborn son. 14‘And if your son should ever ask you, Why are you doing this? You must tell him, Jehovah brought us out of Egypt and out of the house of slavery with His strong hand. 15And when Pharaoh’s heart became hard and [he refused] to send us away, [God] slaughtered all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the men and the animals. That’s why we offer every male that opens a womb to Jehovah, and that’s why we buy back all of our firstborn sons. 16‘So, may this be a sign on your hand and something that is always fixed in front of your eyes, because Jehovah brought you out of Egypt with His strong hand.’ 17Well, after Pharaoh sent the people away, God didn’t lead them toward the land of the Philistines (although it wasn’t far away), because God said, ‘[This is to keep] the people from having a change of heart when they see war, and from returning to Egypt.’ 18So God led them around the desert toward the Red Sea It was the fifth generation of the children of Israel that left the land of Egypt. 19And Moses took Joseph’s bones along, because [Joseph] had made the children of Israel swear, saying, ‘God will surely visit you, so you must carry my bones back with you.’ 20So the children of Israel left SocChoth and went to camp at Othom, which is near the desert. 21God led them there using a tall column of clouds during the day (to show them the way) and a tall column of fire during the night. 22The column of clouds was there all day, every day, and the column of fire was always there in front of the people at night.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 2 THE FIRST-BORN SANCTIFIED. (
Exod 13:1-
Exod 13:2)
Sanctify unto me all the first-born--To "sanctify" means to "consecrate," to "set apart" from a common to a sacred use. The foundation of this duty rested on the fact that the Israelites, having had their first-born preserved by a distinguishing act of grace from the general destruction that overtook the families of the Egyptians, were bound in token of gratitude to consider them as the Lord's peculiar property (compare
Heb 12:23).
3 MEMORIAL OF THE PASSOVER. (
Exod 13:3-
Exod 13:10)
Moses said unto the people, Remember this day--The day that gave them a national existence and introduced them into the privileges of independence and freedom, deserved to live in the memories of the Hebrews and their posterity; and, considering the signal interposition of God displayed in it, to be held not only in perpetual, but devout remembrance.
house of bondage--literally, "house of slaves"--that is, a servile and degrading condition.
for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place--The emancipation of Israel would never have been obtained except it had been wrung from the Egyptian tyrant by the appalling judgments of God, as had been at the outset of his mission announced to Moses (
Exod 3:19).
There shall no leavened bread, &c.--The words are elliptical, and the meaning of the clause may be paraphrased thus:--"For by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place, in such haste that there could or should be no leavened bread eaten."
4 month Abib--literally, "a green ear," and hence the month Abib is the month of green ears, corresponding to the middle of our March. It was the best season for undertaking a journey to the desert region of Sinai, especially with flocks and herds; for then the winter torrents had subsided, and the wadies were covered with an early and luxuriant verdure.
5 when the Lord shall bring thee--The passover is here instituted as a permanent festival of the Israelites. It was, however, only a prospective observance; we read of only one celebration of the passover during the protracted sojourn in the wilderness [
Num 9:5]; but on their settlement in the promised land, the season was hallowed as a sacred anniversary [
Josh 5:10], in conformity with the directions here given.
8 thou shalt show thy son in that day, saying--The establishment of this and the other sacred festivals presented the best opportunities of instructing the young in a knowledge of His gracious doings to their ancestors in Egypt.
9 it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, &c.--There is no reason to believe that the Oriental tattooing--the custom of staining the hands with the powder of Hennah, as Eastern females now do--is here referred to. Nor is it probable that either this practice or the phylacteries of the Pharisees--parchment scrolls, which were worn on their wrists and foreheads--had so early an existence. The words are to be considered only as a figurative mode of expression.
that the Lord's law may be in thy mouth, &c.--that is, that it may be the subject of frequent conversation and familiar knowledge among the people.
12 FIRSTLINGS OF BEASTS. (
Exod 13:11-
Exod 13:16)
every firstling, &c.--the injunction respecting the consecration of the first-born, as here repeated, with some additional circumstances. The firstlings of clean beasts, such as lambs, kids, and calves, if males, were to be devoted to God and employed in sacrifice. Those unclean beasts, as the ass's colt, being unfit for sacrifice, were to be redeemed (
Num 18:15).
17 JOURNEY FROM EGYPT. (
Exod 13:17-
Exod 13:21)
God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near, &c.--The shortest and most direct route from Egypt to Palestine was the usual caravan road that leads by Belbeis, El-Arish, to Ascalon and Gaza. The Philistines, who then possessed the latter, would have been sure to dispute their passage, for between them and the Israelites there was a hereditary feud (
1Chr 7:21-22); and so early a commencement of hostilities would have discouraged or dismayed the unwarlike band which Moses led. Their faith was to be exercised and strengthened, and from the commencement of their travels we observe the same careful proportion of burdens and trials to their character and state, as the gracious Lord shows to His people still in that spiritual journey of which the former was typical.
18 God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea, &c.--This wondrous expanse of water is a gulf of the Indian ocean. It was called in Hebrew "the weedy sea," from the forest of marine plants with which it abounds. But the name of the Red Sea is not so easily traced. Some think it was given from its contiguity to the countries of Edom ("red"); others derive it from its coral rocks; while a third class ascribe the origin of the name to an extremely red appearance of the water in some parts, caused by a numberless multitude of very small mollusca. This sea, at its northern extremity, separates into two smaller inlets--the eastern called anciently the Elanitic gulf, now the gulf of Akaba; and the western the Heroopolite gulf, now the gulf of Suez, which, there can be no doubt, extended much more to the north anciently than it does now. It was toward the latter the Israelites marched.
went up harnessed--that is, girded, equipped for a long journey. (See
Ps 105:37). The Margin renders it "five in a rank," meaning obviously five large divisions, under five presiding officers, according to the usages of all caravans; and a spectacle of such a mighty and motley multitude must have presented an imposing appearance, and its orderly progress could have been effected only by the superintending influence of God.
19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him--in fulfilment of the oath he exacted from his brethren (
Gen 50:25-
Gen 50:26). The remains of the other patriarchs (not noticed from their obscurity) were also carried out of Egypt (
Acts 7:15-
Acts 7:16); and there would be no difficulty as to the means of conveyance--a few camels bearing these precious relics would give a true picture of Oriental customs, such as is still to be seen in the immense pilgrimages to Mecca.
20 encamped in Etham--This place is supposed by the most intelligent travellers to be the modern Ajrud, where is a watering-place, and which is the third stage of the pilgrim-caravans to Mecca. "It is remarkable that either of the different routes eastward from Heliopolis, or southward from Heroopolis, equally admit of Ajrud being Etham. It is twelve miles northwest from Suez, and is literally on the edge of the desert" [Pictorial Bible].
21 the Lord went before them--by a visible token of His presence, the Shekinah, in a majestic cloud (
Ps 78:14;
Neh 9:12;
1Cor 10:1), called "the angel of God" (
Exod 14:19;
Exod 23:20-
Exod 23:23;
Ps 99:6-
Ps 99:7;
Isa 63:8-
Isa 63:9).