to be (causatively · verb, piel imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
firstborn
בְּכ֜וֹרbe.Khor
H1060
firstborn · noun, common masculine singular absolute
openeth
פֶּ֤טֶרPe.ter
H6363
a fissure · noun, common masculine singular construct
womb
רֶ֙חֶם֙re.chem
H7358
the womb · noun, common masculine singular absolute
children
בִּבְנֵ֣יbiv.Nei
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
man
בָּאָדָ֖םba.'a.Dam
H120
ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
beast
וּבַבְּהֵמָ֑הu.va.be.he.Mah
H929
properly · conjunction + preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Luke 2:23 (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)
Numbers 3:13 Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn…
Deuteronomy 15:19 All the firstling males that come of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto the LORD thy God: thou shalt do no work with the fir…
Exodus 22:29-30 Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.
Numbers 8:16-17 For they are wholly given unto me from among the children of Israel; instead of such as open every womb, even instead of the firstborn of al…
Numbers 18:15 Every thing that openeth the matrix in all flesh, which they bring unto the LORD, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine: neverthele…
Exodus 13:12-15 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 s…
Exodus 34:19-20 All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Exodus 13:1-10
Care is here taken to perpetuate the remembrance,
I. Of the preservation of Israel's firstborn, when the firstborn of the Egyptians were slain. In memory of that distinguishing favour, and in gratitude for it, the firstborn, in all ages, were to be consecrated to God, as his peculiars (Exo 13:2), and to be redeemed, Exo 13:13. God, who by the right of creation is proprietor and sovereign of all the creatures, here lays claim in particular to the firstborn of the Israelites, by right of protection: Sanctify to me all the firstborn. The parents were not to look upon themselves as interested in their firstborn, till they had first solemnly presented them to God, recognized his title to them, an…
Sanctify unto me all the first-born - To sanctify, קדש kadash, signifies to consecrate, separate, and set apart a thing or person from all secular purposes to some religious use; and exactly answers to the import of the Greek ἁγιαζω, from a, privative, and γη, the earth, because every thing offered or consecrated to God was separated from all earthly uses. Hence a holy person or saint is termed ἁγιος, i.e., a person separated from the earth; one who lives a holy life, entirely devoted to the service of God. Thus the persons and animals sanctified to God were employed in the service of the tabernacle and temple; and the animals, such as were proper, were offered in sacrifice.
The Hindoos fr…
Sanctify unto me all the firstborn,.... That is, of males, as the Targum of Jonathan adds, for those, and not females, were only either sacrificed or redeemed, see Exodus 13:12, and this sanctification of them to the Lord signifies the separation or devoting of them to the service of God; if the firstborn of clean creatures they were to be sacrificed, if unclean to be redeemed with a price, and so the firstborn of men, because it was not lawful to sacrifice them; and the money for the redemption of them was given to the priests, the ministers of the Lord, and so to him; who these first, born were is further explained:
whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and…
The Church Fathers
For who is really holy but the Son of God? Who properly opened the womb but he who opened a closed one? But it is marriage which opens the womb in all cases. The Virgin's womb, therefore, was especially opened, because it was especially closed.
Therefore let us draw together from the divine Scriptures instances in which we find "holy" used, and discover not only persons but also mute animals that are called "holy," and also find both "the vessels" of the ministry that are called "holy," and the garments which are said to be "holy," and even the places which were located in cities and suburbs and counted as priestly. Indeed, among the brute animals it is commanded through the law that "the firstborn" of calves or cattle be sacrificed to the Lord, and it says, You will not do any work with them because they have been consecrated to the Lord.
The males which were holy from the fact that they had opened their mother's womb were offered before the altar of the Lord: "every male," it says, "that opens the womb", sounds something sacred. For whatever male you may say has been poured forth from the womb, he does not open his mother's womb as the Lord Jesus does, because in all women it is not the birth of the infant, but the intercourse of the man, that unlocks the womb. But the womb of the Lord's mother was unlocked at that time at which the birth also was brought forth, because before the birth of Christ no male at all touched that holy womb, to be venerated with all reverence.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Consecration — The devoting or setting apart of anything to the worship or service of God. The race of Abraham and the tribe of Levi were thus consecrated (Ex. 13:2, 12, 15; Num. 3:12). The Hebrews devoted their…
Firstborn — Under the law, in memory of the exodus (when the first-born of the Egyptians were slain), the eldest son was regarded as devoted to God, and was in very case to be redeemed by an offering not…
Frontlets, Or Phylacteries — (Exodus 13:16; 6:8; 11:18; Matthew 23:5) These “frontlets” or “phylacteries” were strips of parchment, on which were written four passages of Scripture, (Exodus 13:2-10,11-17; 6:4-9,13-23) in an ink…
Law of Moses — Is the whole body of the Mosaic legislation (1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 23:25; Ezra 3:2). It is called by way of eminence simply “the Law” (Heb. Torah, Deut. 1:5; 4:8, 44; 17:18, 19; 27:3, 8). As a written…
Passover — The name given to the chief of the three great historical annual festivals of the Jews. It was kept in remembrance of the Lord’s passing over the houses of the Israelites (Ex. 12:13) when the first…
Phylacteries — (Gr. phulakteria; i.e., “defences” or “protections”), called by modern Jews tephillin (i.e., “prayers”) are mentioned only in Matt. 23:5. They consisted of strips of parchment on which were inscribed…
Pillar — Used to support a building (Judg. 16:26, 29); as a trophy or memorial (Gen. 28:18; 35:20; Ex. 24:4; 1 Sam. 15:12, A.V., “place,” more correctly “monument,” or “trophy of victory,” as in 2 Sam.…
First Born, The · Of man and beast dedicated to God — Of man and beast dedicated to God
Firstborn · Of man and beast, reserved to himself by Go — Of man and beast, reserved to himself by Go
Liberality · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Exodus 13:1, 2, 16-Nov
1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
1. Et loquutus est Jehova ad Mosen, dicendo:
2. Sanctify unto me all the first-born, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine.
2. Sanctifica mihi primogenitum: quicquid apetit vulvam in filiis Israel, tam in hominibus quaIn in jumentis, meum est.
11. 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,
11. Quumque introduxerit to Jehova in terram Chananaeorum, quemadmodum juravit tibi et patribus tuis, et dederit eam tibi.
12. That thou shalt set apart unto the Lord all that…
Sanctification of the first-born, and Promulgation of the Law for the Feast of Mazzoth. - Exo 13:1, Exo 13:2. The sanctification of the first-born was closely connected with the Passover. By this the deliverance of the Israelitish first-born was effected, and the object of this deliverance was their sanctification. Because Jehovah had delivered the first-born of Israel, they were to be sanctified to Him. If the Israelites completed their communion with Jehovah in the Passover, and celebrated the commencement of their divine standing in the feast of unleavened bread, they gave uninterrupted effect to their divine sonship in the sanctification of the first-born. For this reason, probably, the…
Like the Passover celebration, the practice of dedicating the firstborn memorialized what God did in the Passover event. Because he spared the firstborn, they now belonged to him and must be redeemed. The annual sacrifice and eating of the lamb symbolized what God would do in providing a substitute in his Son, Jesus Christ; we who deserve death must be redeemed with a price, the life of the Son.
13:1-10 This rehearsal of the customs surrounding Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread sets the stage for discussing the dedication of the firstborn (13:11-16).
Rashi on Exodus 13:2
פטר כל רחם THE FIRST OFFSPRING OF EVERY WOMB — The words mean: that which first openeth the womb, the root פטר meaning to open, as in (Proverbs 17:14) “As one makes an opening (פוטר) for water so is the beginning of strife”; and so, too, is (Psalms 22:8) יפטירו בשפה i. e. “they open the lips”.
לי הוא IT IS MINE — I have acquired him for Myself through My having smitten the first born of the Egyptians.
Sanctification · Firstborn of Israelites sanctifie — Firstborn of Israelites sanctifie
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
