Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Harold R. Holmyard III" <hholmyard AT ont.com>]

Dear Kevin,

> Ex 13:15 "It came about, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that
> the LORD killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of
> man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore, I sacrifice to the LORD the
> males, the first offspring of every womb, but every firstborn of my sons I
> redeem."
>
> This seems to imply that by sacrificing his firstborn, that Moses redeems
> (delivers, saves, rescues) his future firstborn grandsons. Now I've been
> told that the Hebrew phrase translated "firstborn of my sons" simply means
> "my firstborn sons."
>
> Is this true? If so, I wonder why most Bible translations retain the
> ambiguity - as far as I can tell only the NIV and NLT have changed it.

HH: You are just expected to understand that that's what it means, I 
guess. The law was to deal with one's own firstborn, not those of his 
children. This is not Moses talking about himself but about the 
Israelite who will enter into Canaan.

                                Yours,
                                Harold Holmyard