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Exodus 13

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Sanctification of the Firstborn 1–2

1
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
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Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine. ​

The Ordinance of Unleavened Bread 3–10

3
And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten. ​
4
This day came ye 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 sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month.
6
Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the LORD.
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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 shew thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the LORD did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt.
9
And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine 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 his season from year to year.

Redemption of the Firstborn 11–16

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And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, as he sware unto thee and to thy fathers, and shall give it thee,
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That thou shalt set apart unto 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.
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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 firstborn 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 unto him, By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage:
15
And it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the LORD slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of beast: therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all that openeth the matrix, being males; but all the firstborn of my children I redeem. ​
16
And it shall be for a token upon thine hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt.

God Guides Israel 17–22

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And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: ​
18
But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt. ​
19
And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you. ​
20
And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness.
21
And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: ​
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He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Exodus 13

Verse 2

Sanctify unto me all the firstborn — Qadash, to set apart as holy. The claim rests on the night of the tenth plague: 'on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel' (Num 3:13). Luke cites the verse of the infant Christ: 'Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord' (Luke 2:23).

Verse 3

Remember this day — Zakar is the verb Moses uses again of the bondage: 'remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt' (Deut 5:15). 'House of bondage' is literally a house of servants (ebed). The ban on leaven (chametz) recalls that they 'were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry' (Ex 12:39); see Ex 12:15.

Verse 4

the month Abib — Abib is the green ear of grain, so the month when 'the barley was in the ear' (Ex 9:31). Deuteronomy names it as the month 'the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night' (Deut 16:1). In the days of Ahasuerus the same month is 'the first month, that is, the month Nisan' (Esth 3:7).

Verse 9

a sign unto thee upon thine hand — There is a 'sign' (oth) on the hand and a 'memorial' (zikkaron) between the eyes, so that the LORD's law is 'in thy mouth'. Hand, eye and mouth all carry the deliverance. Deut 6:8 repeats it as 'frontlets between thine eyes'; the 'phylacteries' of Matt 23:5 are the later literal keeping of these words.

Verse 13

redeem with a lamb — Padah, to ransom, used three times in this verse. Unlike the firstling of a cow, sheep or goat, which is 'holy' and offered (Num 18:17), the ass is redeemed by a lamb (seh) or its neck is broken (arap, as with the heifer in Deut 21:4). Peter writes: 'redeemed… with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb' (1 Pet 1:18–19).

Verse 15

would hardly let us go — Qashah, to make hard, the verb of 'I will harden Pharaoh's heart' (Ex 7:3); in Exodus the word is found only in these two verses. The slaying of every firstborn in Egypt (Ex 12:29) is the reason given for the law: males that open the womb are sacrificed (zabach), and the firstborn sons are redeemed.

Verse 17

God led them not — Nachah, to guide, is the same verb as 'to lead them the way' in v.21, and as 'hast led forth the people' in Ex 15:13. The road through the Philistines was near, but war might turn them back, as it later did in the wilderness: 'Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt' (Num 14:4).

Verse 18

harnessed — Chamushim, found four times in the Old Testament: here, Josh 1:14 ('armed'), Josh 4:12 and Judg 7:11 ('armed men'). The word describes men equipped for the march or for war. 'Led… about' (sabab, to turn round) is the only use of that verb in Exodus, and the route bent away from the near road to the 'wilderness of the Red sea'.

Verse 19

the bones of Joseph — Joseph's dying oath is kept: 'God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence' (Gen 50:25). The doubled verb 'surely visit' (paqad) is quoted from it. The bones were buried 'in Shechem' (Josh 24:32), and Hebrews counts the charge as faith: he 'gave commandment concerning his bones' (Heb 11:22).

Verse 21

a pillar of a cloud — The LORD himself 'went before them'; the pillar is the sign of it, cloud by day and fire by night. The same cloud and fire later rest on the tabernacle 'throughout all their journeys' (Ex 40:38). Paul reads the passage as a baptism: 'all our fathers were under the cloud… baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea' (1 Cor 10:1–2).