John Gill Commentary Exodus 13

And the Lord spoke unto Moses, when he and the Israelites were at Succoth, saying as follows.

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 of beast ;
that is, if a male; for, if a female, though it openeth the womb, was not reckoned a firstborn, because not to be offered; nor even a male after the birth of a female, because that openeth not the womb.

And so if a man married a widow, and she had had children by her former husband, though she should bring him a son, which was his firstborn, yet not being her's, and not opening the womb, was not subject to this law; but if a man married several wives one after another, or together, who had never been married before, or had had no children; if each of them brought him a son at first birth, they were all of them firstborn, and to be sanctified to the Lord; but the Jews say ^F21 , if a woman at her first birth brought forth a male and a female, the father was free from this law of the redemption of the firstborn, because the female might come forth first.

This phrase, "among the children of Israel", shows that this law only belonged to them, and not to the Gentiles; wherefore the Jewish doctors say ^F23 , if a man buys cattle of an Heathen, and sells to him, or is in partnership with him, and gives and takes of him, he is free from the law of the firstborn; for it is said "among the Israelites", and not among others: it is mine :
all creatures, man and beast, are the Lord's by creation; but these firstborn were his in a peculiar manner, and which he reserved to himself, to his own use and service; and the people of Israel were under great obligation to devote them to him, since he had spared all their firstborn, when all the firstborn of the Egyptians, both man and beast, were destroyed.

This may denote the special and peculiar interest the Lord has in the general assembly and church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven, through the special, particular, and eternal choice of them in Christ, and the redemption of them to him by the price of his blood; and who, on account both of their election of God, and redemption by Christ, are laid under obligation to give up themselves to God, a holy, living, and acceptable sacrifice, which is but their reasonable service.

FOOTNOTES:

• F21: Misn. Becorot, c. 8. sect. 4, 5. & Bartenora in ib.
• F23: lbid. c. 2. sect. 1.

And Moses said to the people
After the Lord had spoken to him, and said the above things: remember this day in which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of
bondage ;
or "of servants" ^F24 where they had been servants to the Egyptians, by whom they had been made to serve with rigour, and their lives made bitter with hard bondage; that country had been like a prison house to them, where they had been detained captives, and treated in a very cruel manner;

but now they were come out of this place and state of servitude, even that very day, the fifteenth of Nisan; and which therefore it became them to remember, they and theirs, in all succeeding generations, as the Lord had directed, and which is afterwards repeated to impress it the more upon their minds and memories:

for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out of this place ;
it was not by their own might and strength that they were redeemed from their state of bondage, but by the mighty hand of the Lord who wrought such signs and wonders before Pharaoh and his servants, and inflicted such plagues upon them, which none but an omnipotent hand could do, which obliged them at last to let them go:

and if the Israelites were under obligation, on account of this redemption, to remember the day when it was in this wonderful manner wrought out, much more reason have we to remember the redemption by Christ the mighty Redeemer, whose own arm wrought salvation for us, and delivered us out of the hands of our spiritual enemies, that were stronger than we, by frequently attending the ordinance of the Lord's supper, which is instituted to bring this amazing affair to our remembrance, and which is to be continued for that purpose to the second coming of Christ:

there shall no leavened bread be eaten ;
as they then on this very day had no other but unleavened bread to eat, so they should eat no other on this day and the six days following, in successive ages until the coming of the Messiah.

FOOTNOTES:

• F24: (Mydbe tybm) "e domo servorum", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Vatablus, & Drusius.

This day came you out
Out of Egypt, on the fifteenth of Nisan, as the Targum of Jonathan: in the month Abib ;
which signifies an ear of corn, because in this month barley was in the ear, see (Exodus 9:31) , the Syriac version renders it, "in the month of flowers"; when the flowers were rising up out of the earth, being spring time, and a very fit time to travel in;

and this is observed, not only because they might not know what month it was, in such a state of ignorance, as well as servitude, were they kept in Egypt; but as Jarchi also intimates, to point out to them the mercy and goodness of God to them, in bringing them out at such a seasonable time to travel in, when there were neither heat, nor cold, nor rain. This month answers to part of our March, and part of April.

And it shall be when the Lord shall bring you into the land of the Canaanites. Though the whole land was called the land of Canaan, yet there was one tribe or nation of them particularly so called as here, distinct from those that follow: and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites; there were seven nations in all, but two are here omitted, the Girgashites and Perizzites, but they are added in the Septuagint version, see (Deuteronomy 7:1).

which he swore unto your fathers to give you; to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; so that they might be assured they would be brought into it, since they had both the word and oath of God for it; and which is the rather mentioned now for their encouragement, since they were at this time set forward in their journey thitherwards: a land flowing with milk and honey; (See Gill on Exodus 3:8).

that you shall keep this service in this month; the month of Abib; that is, the following service concerning unleavened bread; it is concluded from hence by some, that those laws concerning the passover, and eating unleavened bread, and sanctifying the firstborn, did not oblige the Israelites, while in the wilderness, only when they came into the land of Canaan; and it seems pretty clear that this was the case with respect to the two latter, but not the former, since it is certain they did keep the passover in the wilderness, and were obliged to it, (Numbers 9:1–5) but then it may be observed, that there is no mention there of their keeping the feast of unleavened bread, only of the passover, as here no mention is made of the feast of the passover, which, though they followed one another, were, two distinct feasts.