Exodus 13

The LORD spoke to Moses and said,

1And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

2"Set apart for me every firstborn, each one that is the first to come out of the womb among the Israelites, both people and animals. It belongs to me."

2Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine.

Note"Firstborn" here means the first offspring a mother bears, not simply the eldest of a family; the Hebrew phrase is literally "whatever opens the womb." In the ancient world the first of anything (first grain, first fruit, first young) was regarded as belonging to the deity, and the firstborn son also carried the family's inheritance and leadership. "Set apart" (KJV "sanctify") means transferred out of ordinary use and handed over to God, not made morally pure.

3Moses said to the people, "Remember this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the house where you were slaves. The LORD brought you out of this place with a strong hand. No bread made with leaven may be eaten.

3And 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.

NoteLeaven is a lump of fermented dough kept back from an earlier batch and mixed into the next to make it rise, the ancient equivalent of yeast. Because it takes hours to work, bread without it can be made and baked quickly, which is the point tied here to a hurried departure. "House of bondage" is a Hebrew way of saying "the place where you were slaves," not a particular building.

4Today, in the month Abib, you are going out.

4This day came ye out in the month Abib.

NoteAbib means roughly "green ears," the month when barley ripens, March–April in our calendar. After the exile the same month was usually called Nisan.

5And when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites, the land he swore to your fathers he would give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you must keep this practice in this month.

5And 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.

NoteThese are the names of the peoples living in Canaan before Israel; the list is a stock formula for "the inhabitants of the land," not a precise census. "A land flowing with milk and honey" is an idiom for country rich enough to support grazing herds (milk) and wild bees or fruit syrup (honey), abundant without hard irrigation, unlike Egypt. "Swore to your fathers" refers to the promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

6For seven days you are to eat bread made without leaven, and on the seventh day there is to be a feast to the LORD.

6Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the LORD.

7Bread without leaven is to be eaten for those seven days. No bread made with leaven is to be seen with you, and no leaven at all is to be seen with you anywhere inside your borders.

7Unleavened 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.

8On that day you are to explain it to your son and say, 'This is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.'

8And 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.

9It will be a sign for you on your hand and a reminder between your eyes, so that the LORD's law will be on your lips. For the LORD brought you out of Egypt with a strong hand.

9And 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.

Note"On your hand" and "between your eyes" may be figurative, keep it as close as something tied to your wrist or worn on your face, or a literal instruction. Later Jewish practice took it literally and produced tefillin (phylacteries), small boxes containing scripture texts bound to the arm and forehead.

10So you are to keep this rule at its set time, year after year.

10Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year.

11And when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you,

11And 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,

12you are to set apart for the LORD every one that is the first to come out of the womb, and every firstborn of any animal you own. The males belong to the LORD.

12That 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.

13Every firstborn donkey you must buy back with a lamb; and if you will not buy it back, then you must break its neck. And every firstborn son among your children you must buy back.

13And 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.

NoteTo "redeem" (the plain rendering says "buy back") is to pay a substitute price so that something owed to God can be kept instead of surrendered. A donkey was not an animal that could be offered in sacrifice, so a lamb takes its place; the alternative given is destroying it rather than simply keeping it. Firstborn sons were likewise bought back with a payment, never sacrificed.

14And in days to come, when your son asks you, 'What does this mean?' you are to say to him, 'The LORD brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand, out of the house where we were slaves.

14And 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:

15When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of people and the firstborn of animals. That is why I sacrifice to the LORD every male that is the first to come out of the womb, but I buy back every firstborn of my sons.'

15And 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.

16It will be a sign on your hand and a band between your eyes, for the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand."

16And 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.

NoteKJV "frontlets" means a band or ornament worn across the forehead. The Hebrew word occurs only in this kind of phrase and its exact sense is uncertain.

17When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road through the land of the Philistines, even though that way was near. For God said, "If the people see war, they may change their minds and go back to Egypt."

17And 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:

NoteThe Philistines were a people settled along the southern coast of Canaan. The coastal road through their territory was the short, direct route from Egypt to Canaan, but it was also the Egyptian army's own military highway, guarded by forts, which is why taking it would mean meeting soldiers.

18So God led the people around, by the road through the wilderness toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of the land of Egypt ready for battle.

18But 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.

NoteThe Hebrew is yam suph, which literally means "sea of reeds"; "Red Sea" comes from the ancient Greek translation, and which body of water is meant has long been disputed. KJV "harnessed" translates a word that may mean drawn up in battle formation, or possibly "in fifties": that is, in organized ranks rather than as a fleeing mob.

19Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, because Joseph had made the Israelites swear a solemn oath. He had said, "God will surely come to you, and you must carry my bones up with you from here."

19And 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.

NoteJoseph, who had risen to power in Egypt generations earlier, made his relatives swear to carry his remains back to the family burial ground in Canaan (Genesis 50:24–25). Egyptians embalmed bodies, so the bones could still be moved centuries later. "God will surely come to you" translates a verb meaning to attend to or take notice of someone, for help or for judgment.

20They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness.

20And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness.

NoteSuccoth and Etham are the first stops on the route; neither site can now be identified with certainty. "Wilderness" here means uncultivated open country, grazing land and desert scrub, not necessarily bare sand.

21The LORD went ahead of them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them on the way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, so they could travel by day and by night.

21And 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:

22He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from in front of the people.

22He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.