Êxodo 13

ARC · Chapter 13/40

1Então fallou o Senhor a Moysés, dizendo:

2Sanctifica-me todo o primogenito, o que abrir toda a madre entre os filhos de Israel, de homens e de animaes: porque meu é.

3E Moysés disse ao povo: Lembrae-*vos d'este mesmo dia, em que saistes do Egypto, da casa da servidão; pois com mão forte o Senhor vos tirou d'aqui: portanto não comereis pão levedado.

4Hoje, no mez de Abib, vós sahis.

5E acontecerá que, quando o Senhor te houver mettido na terra dos cananeos, e dos hetheos, e dos amorrheos, e dos heveos, e dos jebuzeos, a qual jurou a teus paes que t'a daria, terra que mana leite e mel, guardarás este culto n'este mez.

6Sete dias comerãs pães asmos; e ao setimo dia haverá festa ao Senhor.

7Sete dias se comerão pães asmos, e o levedado não se verá comtigo, nem ainda fermento será visto em todos os teus termos.

8E n'aquelle mesmo dia farás saber a teu filho, dizendo: Isto é pelo que o Senhor me tem feito, quando eu sahi do Egypto.

9E te será por signal sobre tua mão, e por lembrança entre teus olhos; para que a lei do Senhor esteja em tua bocca: porquanto com mão forte o Senhor te tirou do Egypto.

10Portanto tu guardarás este estatuto a seu tempo, de anno em anno.

11Tambem acontecerá que, quando o Senhor te houver mettido na terra dos cananeos, como jurou a ti e a teus paes, quando t'a houver dado,

12Farás passar ao Senhor tudo o que abrir a madre, e tudo o que abrir a madre do fructo dos animaes que terás: os machos serão do Senhor.

13Porém tudo o que abrir a madre da jumenta, resgatarás com cordeiro; e se o não resgatares cortar-lhe-has a cabeça: mas todo o primogenito do homem entre teus filhos resgatarás.

14Se acontecer que teu filho no tempo futuro te pergunte, dizendo: Que é isto? dir-lhe-has: O Senhor nos tirou com mão forte do Egypto, da casa da servidão.

15Porque succedeu que, endurecendo-se Pharaó, para não nos deixar ir, o Senhor matou todos os primogenitos na terra do Egypto, do primogenito do homem até ao primogenito dos animaes: por isso eu sacrifico ao Senhor os machos de tudo que abre a madre; porém a todo o primogenito de meus filhos eu resgato.

16E será por signal sobre tua mão, e por frontaes entre os teus olhos; porque o Senhor nos tirou do Egypto com mão forte.

17E aconteceu, que quando Pharaó deixou ir o povo, Deus não os levou pelo caminho da terra dos philisteos, que estava mais perto; porque Deus disse: Para que porventura o povo não se arrependa, vendo a guerra, e se tornem ao Egypto.

18Mas Deus fez rodear o povo pelo caminho no deserto do Mar Vermelho: e subiram os filhos de Israel da terra do Egypto armados.

19E tomou Moysés os ossos de José comsigo, porquanto havia este estreitamente ajuramentado aos filhos de Israel, dizendo: Certamente Deus vos visitará; fazei pois subir d'aqui os meus ossos comvosco.

20Assim se partiram de Succoth, e acamparam-se em Etham, á entrada do deserto.

21E o Senhor ia adiante d'elles, de dia n'uma columna de nuvem, para os guiar pelo caminho, e de noite n'uma columna de fogo, para os allumiar, para que caminhassem de dia e de noite.

22Nunca tirou de diante da face do povo a columna de nuvem, de dia, nem a columna de fogo, de noite.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God institutes the consecration of the firstborn and the annual celebration of the Feast of Unleavened Bread in memory of the departure from Egypt; the people are led through the wilderness by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

Explanation

This chapter establishes practices of ongoing remembrance so that future generations of Israel would never forget God's liberating act: the consecration of the firstborn recalls how God spared the Israelite firstborn during the final plague, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread recalls the haste of the departure, when there was no time for the bread to rise. These detailed instructions show how religious rituals and festivals serve as teaching tools, ensuring that the story of deliverance would be told again and again to the children ('and it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this?', v. 14), keeping the collective memory of faith alive. The detail that God did not lead them by the shortest route (through the land of the Philistines), but by a longer way through the wilderness, so that they would not lose heart at the sight of war, reveals a protective and patient wisdom on God's part, one that took into account the emotional limitations of a people newly freed. The visible presence of the pillar of cloud and fire becomes a constant, comforting symbol of divine leadership throughout the entire journey through the wilderness.

Fun facts

  • The custom of carrying 'the bones of Joseph' (v. 19), briefly mentioned here, fulfills the promise Joseph had made his brothers swear in Genesis 50:25 — a detail that connects this journey, decades later, back to the closing of the book of Genesis, and would culminate in his burial at Shechem (Joshua 24:32).
  • The pillar of cloud by day and fire by night (v. 21-22) is understood by tradition as a visible manifestation of God's presence (later called the 'Shekinah' in Jewish texts), providing both guidance and thermal protection in the desert — shade during the heat of the day and light/warmth during the cold of the night.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Êxodo 13:1God speaks to Moses again just after the crossing of the Red Sea, this time bringing specific laws about the consecration of the firstborn.
  2. Êxodo 13:2Every firstborn son and every firstborn male animal is to be set apart for God, a law directly tied to the plague that spared the Hebrew firstborn in Egypt.
  3. Êxodo 13:3Moses instructs the people to always remember that day of the exodus, also reinforcing the ban on leavened bread linked to the Passover feast.
  4. Êxodo 13:4“Abib” is the name of the month in which the exodus happened, later renamed Nisan, the first month of Israel’s religious calendar.
  5. Êxodo 13:5Repeats the promise of the promised land, naming the peoples already living in Canaan, as preparation for the annual celebration meant to continue after the conquest.
  6. Êxodo 13:6Confirms the length of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, seven days, ending with a special celebration on the last day.
  7. Êxodo 13:7Reinforces the rule that no trace of yeast may appear in any house during the seven days of the feast.
  8. Êxodo 13:8Explaining the feast to the children must directly tie the celebration to its historical reason: remembering what God did at the exodus from Egypt.
  9. Êxodo 13:9“Upon thine hand” and “between thine eyes” are expressions that the Jews later took quite literally, creating small boxes with passages of the Law strapped to the arm and forehead during prayer. Here, though, the original idea is simpler: to keep this memory of the exodus as close to the body as possible, always present.
  10. Êxodo 13:10Establishes that this celebration is to be repeated every year, always at the same time of year, becoming a fixed custom of Israel’s calendar.
  11. Êxodo 13:11Repeats the condition that these laws about the firstborn only fully apply once the people are already settled in the promised land.
  12. Êxodo 13:12Details the consecration of the firstborn: both the firstborn sons and the first male offspring of the flocks belong to God.
  13. Êxodo 13:13The law commands redeeming the firstling of a donkey with a lamb — that is, exchanging the animal for another instead of sacrificing it, since the donkey was not a sacrificial animal. The same applied to the firstborn sons of the Israelites themselves: they too were redeemed, never actually offered, reinforcing the idea that every firstborn belongs to God without that meaning human sacrifice.
  14. Êxodo 13:14Anticipates that the children will ask about the meaning of this practice, preparing the answer given in the following verse.
  15. Êxodo 13:15The answer ties the consecration of the firstborn to the plague that killed the Egyptian firstborn, explaining why the human firstborn are redeemed rather than sacrificed.
  16. Êxodo 13:16Repeats the idea from verse 9, about keeping this memory close to the body, though here the word “frontlets” appears, which the Jews later interpreted literally.
  17. Êxodo 13:17God deliberately avoids the shorter route to Canaan through the land of the Philistines, because that road would lead straight to military confrontation. The people, fresh out of slavery, would likely lose heart and run back to Egypt at the sight of war up close — a practical decision, not an aimless detour.
  18. Êxodo 13:18The people leave Egypt “harnessed,” a detail suggesting some basic military organization, even coming from generations of slavery.
  19. Êxodo 13:19Moses fulfills a promise made back in Genesis: Joseph had asked, before dying, that his bones be carried to the promised land when the people left Egypt.
  20. Êxodo 13:20Marks another point on the route out of Egypt, Etham, at the edge of the wilderness, before the crossing of the Red Sea told in the next chapter.
  21. Êxodo 13:21The “pillar of a cloud” by day and the “pillar of fire” by night worked as a single visible sign guiding the people the whole way: by day the cloud gave shade and direction without being blinded by the desert light, and by night the fire served as a beacon in the darkness. This is how the text describes God’s presence physically accompanying the journey.
  22. Êxodo 13:22Reinforces that God’s guiding presence, in the cloud and in the fire, never stopped accompanying the people, providing direction both day and night.

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