Sanctify
to me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of animal. It is mine.
Exodus 13:2
Exodus 12 [43.] Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover. No foreigner shall eat of it, but every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then shall he eat of it. A foreigner and a hired servant shall not eat of it. It must be eaten In one house. You shall not carry any of the meat outside of the house. Do not break any of its bones. All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. When a stranger shall live as a foreigner with you, and will keep the Passover to Yahweh, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one who is born in the land: but no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. One law shall be to him who is born at home, and to the stranger who lives as a foreigner among you.” All the children of Israel did so. As Yahweh commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. That same day, Yahweh brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.
Exodus 13 [1.] Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Sanctify to me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of animal. It is mine.”
Exodus 13 [3.] Moses said to the people, “Remember this day, in which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand Yahweh brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. Today you go out in the month Abib. It shall be, when Yahweh shall bring you into the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to Yahweh. Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and no leavened bread shall be seen with you. No yeast shall be seen with you, within all your borders. You shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘It is because of that which Yahweh did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ It shall be for a sign to you on your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that Yahweh’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand Yahweh has brought you out of Egypt. You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.
Meaning:
Israel had just come out of Egypt. On the night of the Passover, God struck down the firstborn of Egypt but spared the households of Israel that were marked by the blood of the lamb. Immediately afterwards God gave this command. Because he had spared Israel’s firstborn, they now belonged to him in a special way.
- “Sanctify to me all the firstborn”
To sanctify means to set apart as holy, belonging to God. Every firstborn male, of people and of animals, was to be dedicated to Yahweh. The firstborn of clean animals were sacrificed, but the firstborn sons were redeemed, bought back: “all the firstborn of my sons I redeem” (Exodus 13:15). Later the price was fixed at “five shekels of money” (Numbers 18:16), and the tribe of Levi was set apart to serve God in place of the firstborn of all Israel (Numbers 3:12-13).
- “It is mine.”
The command was a constant reminder of the exodus. Each time a firstborn son was redeemed, the family would tell the story: “By strength of hand Yahweh brought us out from Egypt.” God had already called the whole nation his firstborn: “Israel is my son, my firstborn” (Exodus 4:22).
- Fulfilled in Jesus
Luke quotes this law when Joseph and Mary bring the infant Jesus to the temple: “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord” (Luke 2:23). Jesus, Mary’s firstborn, was presented to the Lord. Yet he was the one who would redeem others, “with precious blood, as of a faultless and pure lamb, the blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:19). Paul calls him “the firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:18).
- The significance today
Believers also belong to God because they have been redeemed. Paul wrote, “you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:20).
Cross-References:
Luke 2:23: "Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord," Jesus presented as firstborn.
Exodus 4:22: "Israel is my son, my firstborn," God’s claim on his people.
1 Peter 1:19: "with precious blood, as of a faultless and pure lamb," the price of redemption.
Conclusion: After the Passover, God claimed every firstborn in Israel as his own, because he had spared them when he struck the firstborn of Egypt. Firstborn sons were redeemed, and every redemption retold the story of the exodus. Jesus, presented in the temple under this law, became the Redeemer whose blood buys back all who trust in him.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible