Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 2:23
(As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)
23. as it is written in the law of the Lord ] The tribe of Levi were sanctified to the Lord in lieu of the firstborn, and originally all the firstborn in excess of the number of the Levites had to be redeemed with five shekels of the sanctuary (about 15 shillings), a rule afterwards extended to all the firstborn. Exo 13:2; Exo 22:29; Exo 34:19; Num 3:13; Num 18:15-16.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
As it is written … – Exo 13:2.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
As it is written in the law of the Lord,…. In Ex 13:2
every male that openeth the womb, shall be called holy to the Lord; that is, devoted and consecrated to him, and so to be redeemed. The reason of this law was this, when God smote all the firstborn of Egypt, he saved the firstborn of Israel; and therefore claimed a right to them, and obliged their parents, excepting the Levites, to redeem them at the price of five shekels, which were about twelve shillings and six pence of our money, and which was given to the Levites: see Ex 13:12 And this law our Lord came under as Mary s firstborn, and as one holy to the Lord; and such a sum of money was now paid for his redemption, who was the great Redeemer of his people: he being made under the law, and in all things subject to it, that he might redeem them from the bondage, curse, and condemnation of it. Now as the tribe of Levi was excepted from this law, it is a clear case, that Mary, though allied to Elisabeth, was not of the tribe of Levi, otherwise her firstborn would not have been subject to it y.
“An Israelite that comes from a priestess, or from a she Levite, is free, (i.e. from the redemption of the firstborn;) for the thing does not depend on the father, but on the mother, as it is said, that openeth the womb in Israel.”
y Maimon. Hilch. Biccurim c. 11. sect. 10.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In the law of the Lord ( ). No articles, but definite by preposition and genitive. Vincent notes that “law” occurs in this chapter five times. Paul (Gal 4:4) will urge that Jesus “was made under the law” as Luke here explains. The law did not require that the child be brought to Jerusalem. The purification concerned the mother, the presentation the son.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
The law of the Lord. The word law occurs in this chapter five times; oftener than in all the rest of this Gospel put together. Luke emphasizes the fact that Jesus “was made under the law” (Gal4 4), and accordingly elaborates the details of the fulfilment of the law by the parents of both John and Jesus.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “(As it is written in the law of the Lord,” (kathos gegraptai en nomo kuriou) “Just as it has been written in the law of the Lord,” prescribed or ordained that should be done.
2) “Every male that openeth the womb,” (hote pan arsen dianoigon metran) “That every male opening a womb,” coming forth from a womb, symbolizing the firstborn, Exo 13:12; Exo 13:15; Exo 22:29.
3) “Shall be called holy to the Lord;)” (hagion to kurio klethesetai) “Shall be called holy to or toward the Lord,” sacred and belonging to Him, Num 8:17-18. The idea is that every firstborn belongs to the Lord and must be ransomed or redeemed from its uncleanness, Exo 34:19; Num 18:15-16.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
23. As it is written in the Law This was another exercise of piety which was discharged by Joseph and Mary. The Lord commanded, that all the males should be dedicated to him, in remembrance of their deliverance; because when the angel slew all the first-born of Egypt, (Exo 12:29,) he had spared the first-born of Israel.
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On the day that I smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, I hallowed unto me all the first-born in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the Lord” (Num 3:13.)
They were afterwards permitted to redeem their first-born at a certain price. Such was the ancient ceremony: and, as the Lord is the common Redeemer of all, (193) he has a right to claim us as his own, from the least to the greatest. Nor is it without a good reason, that Luke so frequently repeats the statement, that Joseph and Mary did what was written in the law of the Lord For these words teach us, that we must not, at our own suggestion, attempt any thing in the worship of God, but must obediently follow what he requires in his Word.
(193) “ Veu que le Seigneur est Redempteur de tout le monde en general;” — “since the Lord is Redeemer of all the world at large.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
23. Every male that In the patriarchal dispensation the male first born was priest of the family, and belonged as such to Jehovah, the Lord. But under the Mosaic dispensation the sons of Aaron were chosen priests.
Num 8:15-20. But as God redeemed the first born from death in coming out of Egypt, they were to be presented before the Lord, and redeemed at the price of five shekels. Jesus himself was thus redeemed.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Luk 2:23. Every male, &c. God having acquired a peculiar right to the first-born of Israel, by preserving them amid the destruction brought on the first-born of the Egyptians, though he had accepted of the tribe of Levi as an equivalent, yet would have the memory of it preserved by the little acknowledgement of five shekels, or about 12s. 6d. of our money (see Num 18:15-16.) and in case of an omission herein, it might reasonably have been expected that the child should be cut off by some judgment. The first-born, therefore, were redeemed, by paying this money, in such a sense as all the people were, when, at the time that they were numbered, each of them paid half a shekel, as a ransom for their souls, that there might be no plague among them. See Exo 30:12-16.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Luk 2:23 . Not to be put in a parenthesis.
A very free quotation from Exo 13:2 .
] ; comp. LXX. Hardly according to the passage before us has Luke conceived, with Ambrosius and many others, that Mary brought forth clauso utero and only voluntarily subjected herself to this law (as Bisping still holds).
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
23 (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)
Ver. 23. That openeth the womb ] This proves that Mary brought forth Christ in a natural way, and not utero clauso, by a closed womb, by a miracle, as Papists would have it, to prove the fiction of transubstantiation.
Shall be called holy to the Lord ] God requireth the firstborn, as usually best beloved; that, together with our children, he might draw to himself the best of our affections.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
23. ] God had taken the tribe of Levi instead of the firstborn that openeth the womb , Num 3:12 , and required only the excess in number of the first-born over the Levites to be redeemed (ib. Num 3:44-51 ). This arrangement appears afterwards to have been superseded by a general command to redeem all the first-born at five shekels of the sanctuary ( Num 18:15-16 ).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 2:23 . : the reference is to Exo 13:2 , and the statement implies that every first-born male child, as belonging to God, must be ransomed (Exo 34:19 , Num 18:15-16 ).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Every male, &c. Quoted from Exo 13:2. Num 18:15, holy. Seenote on Exo 3:5.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
23.] God had taken the tribe of Levi instead of the firstborn that openeth the womb, Num 3:12, and required only the excess in number of the first-born over the Levites to be redeemed (ib. Num 3:44-51). This arrangement appears afterwards to have been superseded by a general command to redeem all the first-born at five shekels of the sanctuary (Num 18:15-16).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Luk 2:23. , ) LXX. Exo 13:2, , …; Exo 13:12, .
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Every: Exo 13:2, Exo 13:12-15, Exo 22:29, Exo 34:19, Num 3:13, Num 8:16, Num 8:17, Num 18:15
Reciprocal: Lev 12:4 – General Isa 11:1 – of Jesse Eze 20:26 – all that Heb 7:14 – sprang
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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To be called holy to the Lord means to be regarded as His, hence the reason for presenting him to the Lord at Jerusalem where the temple was located.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Luk 2:23. In the law of the Lord. Exo 13:2, freely quoted in explanation of the presentation.
Every male that openeth the womb, i.e., every first-born male (both of man and of beast). The sacrifice (Luk 2:24) was required in every case, but the presentation only in the case of the firstborn son. The requirement respecting the first-born was in remembrance of the sparing of the first-born of the Israelites in Egypt (Exo 13:2; Num 8:17). Instead of the first-born, however, God took the tribe of Levi for the service of the sanctuary (Num 3:12; Num 8:14-18). At the time of this substitution the number of the first-born in excess of the Levites must be redeemed by the payment of five shekels for each one (Num 3:44-51). Afterwards, it appears (Num 18:15-16,) that every first-born son was presented and redeemed by the payment of this amount. He who was Himself Priest and Temple, doing Gods service as none ever did, probably submitted to the form of redemption from the temple service. Our Lords subsequent conduct in cleansing the temple, shows how little He regarded the payment of legal claims as satisfying His zeal for Gods house (Joh 2:13-17).