What is the context?
God commands Israel to consecrate its firstborn males—to set them apart as belonging to Him. The command is joined with another explanation of the rescue from Egypt, the annual observance of unleavened bread and the responsibility to tell children what the LORD has done.
The firstborn are to remind the people of the night when Egypt’s firstborn died and Israel was brought out. The animals offered to God and the sons who are redeemed keep that event before each household. The children’s question is to be answered with the story of deliverance.
The Hebrew word for redeem is פָּדָה, padah (pah-DAH), meaning to ransom; Brown–Driver–Briggs includes these verses under redemption for an assessed price. Here a donkey is to be redeemed with a lamb, and sons must be redeemed. Numbers 18:15–16 later specifies a payment for the redemption of the firstborn son.
The account describes remembrance as a sign on the hand and a reminder on the forehead, with the LORD’s law on their lips. The rescue is to remain part of what they remember, speak about and pass on. These commands are carried into their life in the land God has promised.
How is this passage commonly understood?
The firstborn command is read as an acknowledgment that the people belong to the God who delivered them. Calvin and Wesley both connect the consecration with Israel’s preservation and its responsibility to honor the LORD.
The language about the hand and forehead receives different applications. In the Orthodox Jewish practice described by Chabad, these passages are included in tefillin: small leather boxes containing Scripture, worn on the arm and head. Their explanation joins the physical practice with dedication of thought and action to God. Wesley understands the wording as a proverbial expression for keeping the rescue continually in mind. The Catholic USCCB notes read the feast itself as a visible reminder and also acknowledge the Jewish practice.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
Luke 2:22–24 explicitly recalls the command about consecrating the firstborn when Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord. Jesus enters the life of Israel within the law and observances given to the people God redeemed.
Galatians 4:4–7 gives the larger purpose: God sent His Son, born of a woman and under the law, to redeem those under the law so they might receive adoption as His children. The Son comes into Israel’s story of redemption and brings people into the fuller relationship with God that Paul describes.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.