EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

Exodus 13:1-22

Exodus: Israel becomes a nation

The *Israelites leave Egypt

Exodus Chapter s 1 to 18

Hilda Bright and Kitty Pride

Chapter 13 The *Israelites’ oldest sons belong to God – verses 1-16

The time to eat bread that they made without *yeast – verses 1-10

v1 The *LORD spoke to Moses. v2 ‘You must give to me the first son who is born in every family. The first son of every *Israelite mother belongs to me. Also the first animal that is born to its mother belongs to me.’

v3 So Moses spoke to the people. ‘Remember this day. It is the day when you came away from Egypt. You were slaves in Egypt. But the *LORD brought you away from Egypt by means of his great power. Now you must eat nothing with *yeast in it. v4 This is the month called Abib and you are leaving Egypt today. v5 The *LORD will bring you into the country where the *Canaanites live. People called the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites and the Jebusites all live there too. The *LORD made a promise to your parents, who lived a long time ago. He said that he would give this country to you. And this country has plenty of milk and plenty of honey. When you get to this country, you must remember your experiences this month. v6 For 7 days you should eat flat bread that you make without *yeast. On the 7th day, have a special meal when you give honour to the *LORD. v7 Eat only flat bread without *yeast during those 7 days. There must not be any *yeast anywhere in your whole country. v8 On the 7th day, you must explain to your children. “I do this because the *LORD brought me away from Egypt in a wonderful way.” v9 When you remember this day in this special way, it will be like a *sign on your hand. It will be like a *sign on the front of your head to remind you. You should tell to other people what the *LORD has taught to you. The *LORD brought you away from Egypt by means of his great power. v10 So you must obey this law at the same time every year.’

Verses 1-2 and verses 11-16 deal with the order to give their oldest sons to God. Verses 3-10 seem to be an interruption. But the time to eat bread without *yeast is part of the *Passover. It reminds the *Israelites about that great rescue. It was at the time of the *Passover that God rescued the oldest *Israelite sons. So those sons who were born first, belonged to God. They were available for God to use. He could use them in a special way if he wanted to do so. That was why parents gave their oldest sons to God.

Verses 3-7 The *LORD had rescued the *Israelites from Egypt where they had been slaves. But they were going to freedom in a country where there was plenty of food. They will have plenty to eat and plenty to drink in the future. So they must remember how the *LORD had saved them. They must remember that every year in the month Abib. The days when they ate flat bread without *yeast should remind them. And they must eat flat bread without *yeast for 7 days. They must remove all the *yeast and ordinary bread from their homes. There must be no *yeast anywhere in their country.

Verse 8 The *Jews continue the custom every year. They have the special meal at *Passover each year. Today, the youngest son asks his father what it all means. And the father in each family must explain it. That conversation is important. The son’s question and the father’s answer help them to remember their history.

Verses 9-10 The reference to the ‘hand’ refers to what people do. The ‘head’ refers to what people think. The people needed to remember that God rescued them from Egypt. And that memory should affect everything that they did with their hands. And it should affect everything that they thought in their heads.

But later, *Jews thought that they must actually put *signs on their hands. And put *signs on the front of their heads. So even today, strict *Jews write verses from Deuteronomy on tiny pieces of paper. They make the paper from the skins of animals. They put these little papers in small boxes. They use leather to make these boxes. And they bind these boxes onto their left arms. And bind them onto the front of their heads. They use narrow bands of leather to bind them. And they call these little boxes ‘phylacteries’. However, they need to do what God wants. And they should think in the way that God wants. Otherwise, the little boxes cannot help them. Jesus also mentioned ‘phylacteries’ (Matthew 23:5).

The law of the *LORD is ‘what the *LORD has taught you’. That law should affect everything that they say. And the law should affect everything that they do. And they must teach the law to other people.

The *Israelites need to buy back their oldest sons – verses 11-16

v11 ‘The *LORD will bring you into the *Canaanites’ country. He will give that country to you. Certainly, he will remember his special promise to you and to your parents a long time ago. v12 Then you must give to the *LORD the oldest son of every mother. And all the males that are born first to your animals, belong to the *LORD too. v13 But the *LORD cannot accept your animals called *donkeys. You must give a young sheep in order to buy back a male *donkey that is born first. And if you do not save the *donkey in that way, you must break its neck. You must buy back every oldest son too. You must replace them with a perfect young animal.’

v14 ‘In the future your son will ask you about this. “What does this mean?” he will ask. And you will reply to him. “With great power the *LORD brought us away from Egypt where we were slaves. v15 *Pharaoh was very proud. And he refused to give to us our freedom. So the *LORD killed every oldest son in the *Egyptian families. And he killed every animal that was born first to its mother. That is why we give animals to the *LORD. We give to the *LORD our male animals, that are born first. And we give an animal to the *LORD in order to buy back our oldest sons. v16 This will remind you. It will be like a mark on your hand. Or it will be like a *sign on the front of your head. It will remind you that the *LORD brought us away from Egypt by means of his great power.” ’

Verses 11-13 The oldest sons in each family belonged to God. And the male animals, that were born first, belonged to God. But the *Israelites must not kill their oldest sons as a gift to God. That was clear from Abraham’s experience. A male sheep replaced his son, Isaac. God made it possible for Abraham to ‘buy back’ his son (Genesis 22:13). Later, God told Moses that he had chosen all the men in the family called Levi. The young men had helped to give the people’s gifts to God. But the *Levites would replace the other *Israelites’ oldest sons (Exodus 32:28-29). And the *Levites would serve God in place of the oldest sons (Numbers 3:11-13). Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the *temple in Jerusalem. They gave birds to the *LORD to buy back their baby son (Luke 2:22-24).

People had to kill the young animals that belonged to the *LORD. But the *donkey was different. It looks like a small horse with long ears. It works for people and it can carry people and goods. But it was not a *clean animal, so God did not accept it. So the *donkey could not be a gift that they gave to the *LORD on an *altar. But it belonged to the *LORD, so they must ‘redeem’ it. ‘Redeem’ means ‘buy it back’. A young male sheep could take its place. But the *Israelites might not replace the *donkey with a young sheep. If they did not replace the *donkey then they must kill it.

Verses 14-16 The oldest son, and the animal that is born first, belonged to God. The father must explain the reason to his sons. The father must remind them how the *LORD used his great power. He had rescued the *Israelites from Egypt by means of wonderful acts. Verse 9 had explained that they must always remember that. Every year they must eat flat bread that they made without *yeast. Verse 15 says that they must always remember about the oldest sons. Those sons belonged to God because he had saved them. He killed the *Egyptians’ oldest sons and animals. But God saved the *Israelites’ oldest sons and animals.

The journey towards the Red Sea 17-22

v17 *Pharaoh had let the people go away from Egypt. And the road through the country where the *Philistines lived, was a shorter route. But God did not lead his people that way. ‘If they have to fight, they might change their decision. Then they might return to Egypt’, God said. v18 So God led the people round by the road through the *desert. It went towards the Red Sea. God had prepared the *Israelites for battle when they left Egypt.

v19 Moses took Joseph’s bones with them. A long time ago, when Joseph was dying, he had spoken to Israel’s other sons. He made his brothers make a serious promise to him. Joseph had said to them, ‘Certainly God will come to rescue you. Then you must carry my bones with you when you leave this place.’

v20 The *Israelites left the place called Succoth. Then they camped at Etham, which was at the edge of the *desert. v21 The *LORD led them by means of a tall cloud during the day. His cloud guided them on their way. At night, he led them with fire like a column. And it gave light to them. Therefore, they could travel well in the day or at night. v22 During the day, the cloud did not leave its place in front of the people. And at night, the cloud of fire did not leave its place ahead of them.

Verses 17-18 The *Israelites had lived in the Goshen district, which was in Egypt. Now God was taking them to the country called *Canaan. And the direct road to *Canaan was through the country where the *Philistines lived. But there were many *Egyptian guards along that route. They would stop the *Israelites before they reached the border. The *Israelites would be afraid to fight the *Egyptian soldiers. Perhaps the *Israelites would turn and go back to Egypt. So God directed them to go a different way. The ‘Red Sea’ is ‘Yam Suph’ in the *Hebrew language. It means the ‘Reed Sea’. Reeds are plants that grow in shallow water. That may be any part of what we call ‘the Red Sea’ now. It is not certain where that was exactly.

Verse 19 Joseph had insisted that his family should make a serious promise to him. They must take his body with them to *Canaan. That proved that he believed God’s promise. He was sure that later, God would take the *Israelites away from Egypt. And he was sure that God would lead them back to *Canaan. (Genesis 50:24-25). Finally, they buried Joseph at a place called Shechem in *Canaan. Many years ago, Jacob had bought a piece of land there (Genesis 33:19 and Joshua 24:32).

Verse 20 The name ‘Etham’ means ‘Tum’s house’. And Tum was another name for the sun god.

Verses 21-22 The cloud and the fire were impressive *signs. They showed that God was with the *Israelites on their journey.