Charles Ellicott Commentary Exodus 13

Sanctify unto me all the firstborn. —It was a reasonable demand that the existing firstborn of Israel, spared by God when the Egyptian firstborn were destroyed, should be regarded from then on as His, and set apart for His service. The extension of the demand to existing animals was also reasonable, since they too had been spared. God’s further requirement, that from now on all the future firstborn should also be His, was intended to perpetuate the memory of the recent deliverance and to help fix it in the mind of the nation.

The substitution of a redemption in the case of unclean animals was necessary because they could not be sacrificed; and the redemption of the firstborn sons naturally followed when the Levitical priesthood was established, and their services were no longer necessary. (Numbers 18:16.) The Jews still observe the ordinance, as far as the children are concerned, and redeem the son who has “opened the womb” on the thirtieth day after the birth.

Remember this day. —Remembrance was secured in four ways:

1. By the month being made to commence the ecclesiastical year;
2. By the institution of the Passover;
3. By the seven days of unleavened bread;
4. And by the redemption, and the inquiries it would necessitate (Exodus 13:14–15).

The month Abib. —Abib means “green ears of corn,” or “greenness;” and the month of Abib was that in which the wheat came into ear, and the earth generally renewed its greenery. It was a “vague,” or shifting month, since it properly began with the day of the full moon that followed next after the vernal equinox. It retained its name until the Babylonian captivity, when the Babylonian name Nisan superseded the original one (Nehemiah 2:1; Esther 3:7).

The Canaanites, and the Hittites ... — The full number of the Canaanite nations was seven, five of which are enumerated here. The other two were the Perizzites and the Girgashites, which seem to have been the least important. The most important were the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites; and these are consequently almost always placed first. At the time of the Exodus, and for many centuries afterward, the Hittites actually appear to have been the most powerful nation. (1 Kings 10:29; 2 Kings 7:6; and compare the Egyptian and Assyrian remains in various places.)

A land flowing with milk and honey. —See Note on Exodus 3:8.

Thou shalt keep this service. —Kalisch concludes from this verse, and from Exodus 12:25, that there was no obligation on the Israelites to keep the Passover until they obtained possession of Canaan. He holds that only two Passovers were celebrated before that event—one by Moses in the wilderness of Sinai (Numbers 9:1–5), and the other by Joshua at Gilgal, in the plain of Jericho (Joshua 5:10–11).

A feast to the Lord. —Compare Exodus 12:16, where a holy convocation is ordered for the seventh day. The Jews regard this day—the twenty-first of Abib—as the anniversary of the passage of the Red Sea.