Exodus 13 King James Version (KJV)
13 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine.
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.
7 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.
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,
12 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.
13 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 Lordbrought 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.
17 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:
22 He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.
Commentary
Dedication of the firstborn (13:1-16)
Since God had spared the firstborn of Israel’s people and animals in the Passover judgment, these rightly belonged to him. The people were to acknowledge this by dedicating, or setting apart, their firstborn to God in an act of thankful worship (13:1-2; see also v. 15). This act also symbolized the consecration (or dedication) of the entire redeemed nation to God, since Israel as a whole was God’s firstborn (see 4:22). The people were reminded again to keep the Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread, for the event that the feast commemorated was the reason for the dedication of the firstborn (3-10).
Animals considered ceremonially clean, such as sheep and cattle, were dedicated to God by means of sacrifice. Animals considered ceremonially unclean and therefore unfit to be offered as sacrifices, such as donkeys, had to be redeemed. That is, they had to be bought back from God, and this was done by the payment of a clean animal in the place of the unclean. If an animal was not redeemed, it had to be destroyed. Human sacrifice, however, was forbidden. Instead the parents ceremonially presented their firstborn to God, and then redeemed the child by a payment of money (11-16; cf. Num 18:15-16).
Note: The instruction in 13:9,16, which speaks of the necessity for true religion in one’s inner life and outward behaviour, is in figurative language that Jews of later generations understood literally. This resulted in the creation of phylacteries. These were small boxes containing strips of cloth on which people wrote selected teachings from the law of God. The Jews usually wore phylacteries on their arms or foreheads (see Matt 23:5).
Final triumph over Egypt (13:17-14:31)
When they left Egypt, the Israelites did not go by way of the Mediterranean coast, as this was well defended by the Egyptians and war would certainly have resulted. Instead they went east towards the Red Sea (17-18). (A literal translation for the name of this stretch of water is Sea of Reeds. It was not the 200 kilometre wide sea that we today call the Red Sea, but probably an extension of the Red Sea’s north- western arm, the Gulf of Suez. It seems to have been a large shallow expanse of water near the line of the present-day Suez Canal.)
Guided by the symbols of God’s presence, the Israelites headed for Canaan. They took with them the embalmed body of Joseph, in accordance with Joseph’s earlier request whereby he expressed his faith that one day his people would return to the promised land (19-22; cf. Gen 50:25; Heb 11:22).
The Israelites, by contrast, showed no faith at all when they found they had been led into a dead end.
With an impassable stretch of water in front of them, Egyptian soldiers in pursuit behind them, and difficult country on both sides, escape seemed impossible (14:1-12). Moses, however, saw that God was in control. God had drawn Pharaoh out, and now he would be glorified in a final demonstration of power that would overthrow Egypt and bring complete deliverance to his people (13-18).
By nightfall the Egyptians had almost caught up to the Israelites, but the fiery cloud that symbolized God’s presence came between the two, and so prevented the Egyptians from advancing farther (19-20). The Israelites received further assistance from the wind, which blew at gale force all night and dried up enough of the sea to form a passage for them to cross to the other side. Just before daybreak, when all the Israelites had crossed over, the Egyptians tried to follow. But by then the wind had dropped and the sea waters began to return to normal, bringing firstly confusion, then panic, and finally destruction to the Egyptian chariot force (21-29). God’s intervention had defeated the enemy and at the same time humbled Israel to a new attitude of faith and reverence (30-31).