1Y HABLÓ Jehová a Moisés, diciendo: 2Santifícame todo primogénito; todo primer nacido entre los hijos de Israel, tanto de hombres como de animales, mío es. 3¶Y Moisés dijo al pueblo: Acordaos de este día en el cual salisteis de Egipto, de la casa de servidumbre; porque con poder de mano os sacó Jehová de aquí; por tanto no comeréis en él pan fermentado. 4Hoy mismo estáis para salir en el mes de Abib. 5Y será que cuando te hubiere llevado Jehová a la tierra del Cananeo, y del Heteo, y del Amorreo, y del Heveo, y del Jebuseo, respecto de la cual juró a Abraham que te la daría, tierra que mana leche y miel, celebrarás este culto en este mes. 6Siete días comerás panes ázimos, y en el día séptimo habrá fiesta solemne a Jehová. 7Se comerán panes ázimos por siete días; no se verá junto a ti pan fermentado, ni será vista contigo levadura en todos tus términos. 8Y en aquel día contarás el suceso a tu hijo, diciendo: Es a causa de lo que hizo conmigo Jehová cuando salí de Egipto. 9Y te será como señal sobre tu mano, y como recuerdo entre tus ojos, para que esté la ley de Jehová en tu boca: porque con mano fuerte te hizo salir Jehová de Egipto. 10Guardarás pues este reglamento, en su plazo fijo, de año en año. 11¶Y será así, que cuando te haya conducido Jehová a la tierra del Cananeo, como lo tiene jurado a ti y a tus padres, y te la haya dado, 12apartarás para Jehová todos los primer nacidos; también todos los primerizos que tuvieres, nacidos de tus animales, siendo machos, serán para Jehová: 13pero todo primerizo de asno lo redimirás con un cordero; y si no le redimieres, quebrarás su cerviz: mas todo primogénito de hombre, de entre tus hijos, redimirás. 14Y será que cuando te preguntare tu hijo el día de mañana, diciendo: ¿Qué es ésto? le dirás: Con poder de mano Jehová nos sacó de Egipto, de la casa de servidumbre. 15Y aconteció que cuando Faraón se negó obstinadamente a dejarnos ir, Jehová mató a todo primogénito en la tierra de Egipto, desde el primogénito del hombre hasta el primogénito de la bestia; por lo mismo yo sacrifico a Jehová todo primer nacido, siendo macho, mas a todo primogénito de mis hijos redimo. 16Así será como señal sobre tu mano, y como frontales entre tus ojos; porque con poder de mano Jehová nos sacó de Egipto. 17Y sucedió que cuando Faraón hubo enviado al pueblo, no le condujo Dios por el camino de la tierra de los Filisteos, porque estaba cerca; pues dijo Dios: No sea que se arrepienta el pueblo al ver la guerra, y se vuelva a Egipto; 18sino que hizo Dios que el pueblo diese vuelta por el camino del desierto del Mar Rojo. Y los hijos de Israel subieron en buen orden de la tierra de Egipto. 19Y tomó Moisés los huesos de José, el cual había juramentado rigurosamente a los hijos de Israel, diciendo: Indudablemente os visitará Dios; y haréis subir mis huesos de aquí con vosotros. 20Y levantaron el campamento de Sucot y acamparon en Etam, al borde del desierto. 21Y Jehová iba al frente de ellos, de día en una columna de nube para guiarlos en el camino, y de noche en una columna de fuego para alumbrarles; a fin de que anduviesen de día y de noche. 22Nunca se apartó la columna de nube de día, ni la columna de fuego de noche, de delante del pueblo.
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).