Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 3:13
Because all the firstborn [are] mine; [for] on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I [am] the LORD.
13. on the day, &c.] A reference to Exo 13:1 f. (P ).
I am Jehovah ] A solemn formula emphasizing the importance of a command or statement. It occurs occasionally in P (i.e. Num 3:41, Exo 6:8; Exo 12:12), but is specially characteristic of the ‘Holiness’ laws in Leviticus 17-26. See Chapman, Introd. p. 112.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The concluding words are better expressed thus: Mine shall they be, Mine, the Lords. On the subject of the firstborn see the notes at Num 3:43-51.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Who may appoint whom I please for my service.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Because all the firstborn [are] mine,…. Not merely in a general way, as all creatures are his, but in a special manner as his own, and that for the following reason:
[for] on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt,
I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast; that is, sanctified or set them apart as his own special property, or ordered the people of Israel so to do, Ex 13:2; for as when he destroyed the firstborn of the Egyptians, he saved the firstborn of Israel, he had a special claim upon them as his; and though it was in the night when he destroyed the firstborn of Egypt, yet it was the night which preceded that day, and was a part of that day, even the fifteenth of Nisan, when the instructions were given to sanctify all the firstborn; though, as Aben Ezra observes, “day” signifies “time”, so that it was at or about the same time that the one and the other were done:
mine they shall be; this was declared when they were ordered to be sanctified to him, but now they were to be exchanged for the Levites:
I [am] the Lord; who have sovereign power to do as he would in claiming the firstborn, and then in exchanging them for the Levites, and appointing the Levites to minister to the priests, and serve in the tabernacle.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(13) On the day that I smote all the firstborn.The command given to Moses respecting the sanctification or separation of the firstborn, both of man and of beast, is recorded immediately after the account of the exodus and of the institution of the Passover (Exo. 13:1-2). It does not clearly appear, however, from the terms employed whether the sanctification or separation applied to the firstborn then in existencewhich appears to be by far the more probable suppositionor whether, as some suppose, the command was simply prospective. The whole nation of Israel is described in Exo. 4:22 as the Lords firstborn son, and the firstborn sons appear to have been regarded in the light of representatives of the entire nation.
Mine shall they be: I am the Lord.Or, They shall be (i.e., belong) to me, (even) to me, Jehovah. (Comp. Gen. 4:26 : And to Seth, to him also. Literally, And to Seth, even him.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13. All the firstborn are mine This is a claim founded on the sovereignty of Jehovah, as is seen by the declaration, I am the Lord. As he had chosen Israel to be his firstborn (Exo 4:22, note) by a sovereign national election to certain earthly privileges not to life everlasting so he exercised the prerogative of selecting a certain class in Israel to be devoted to his especial service. The intimation in this verse is, that the firstborn were saved from the destroyer because they were set apart or hallowed into Jehovah, and not that they were hallowed because they were spared. Hallowed Hebrew, kadash; Greek, ; Vulgate, sanctifico. The two senses of these words are: 1.) To set apart from secular to holy uses. 2.) To cleanse, to purify: of things, a physical cleansing; of persons, a spiritual as well as a physical purification is signified. When the Levites took the place of the firstborn they were not only set apart, but they were washed also. See Num 8:6-7. Hence the figures of the physical and spiritual cleansing from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit enjoined by St. Paul in 2Co 7:1, and by James in Num 4:8. “Hallowed,” in this verse, signifies set apart. The firstborn were never ceremonially washed and initiated into the service of the tabernacle, because of the almost immediate substitution of the Levites.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Num 3:13 Because all the firstborn [are] mine; [for] on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I [am] the LORD.
Ver. 13. Because all the firstborn. ] So they were from the beginning: but here is noted a continuance of this ordinance, when it is said that he sanctified the first born to himself, what time he smote every firstborn in Egypt. Now the firstborn are said to be God’s by a singular right, Exo 13:2 and so they were types, (1.) Of Christ, Rom 8:29 to whom therefore we must give the honour of his first birthright; all our sheaves must vail and bow to his sheaf: (2.) Of Christians; those “firstborn whose names are written in heaven,” Heb 12:23 who are dear to God, as his firstborn, Exo 4:22 and so “higher than the kings of the earth,” Psa 89:27 for they are “kings and priests unto God,” Rev 1:6 to “serve him day and night in his temple.” Rev 7:15
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
hallowed = separated. See note on “holy”, Exo 3:5.
man. Hebrew. ‘adam. See App-14.
I am the LORD. This is the reason for this act of sovereignty. Compare Exo 12:29, Exo 12:30; Exo 13:2. The interpretation of Heb 12:23 depends on this ordinance. Note the emphatic “I”, Num 3:12, and the Figure of speech Asterismos there.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Because: Num 8:16, Num 8:17, Num 18:15, Exo 13:2, Exo 13:12, Exo 22:29, Exo 34:19, Lev 27:26, Eze 44:30, Luk 2:23, Heb 12:23
on the day: Exo 12:29, Exo 12:30, Exo 13:15
Reciprocal: Deu 15:19 – the firstling