Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 15:19
You must set apart to the LORD your God every firstborn male produced by your herds and flocks. You are not to put the firstborn of your oxen to work, nor are you to shear the firstborn of your flock.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the Israelites on the plains of Moab, establishing covenant stipulations for their imminent settlement in the land. The directive is positioned between laws on the release of Hebrew servants and regulations for the annual consumption of consecrated animals.
The words — The text employs תַּקְדִּ֖ישׁ (tak.Dish), meaning "you will consecrate" or "set apart," and הַ/בְּכ֡וֹר (ha./be.Khor), meaning "the firstborn." These terms denote a formal, irreversible transfer of the initial offspring to divine ownership.
The thread — This mandate repeats the Exodus 13:2 and Exodus 13:12 declaration that every firstborn of womb and livestock belongs to the Lord. Leviticus 27:26 clarifies that individuals cannot privately consecrate firstborn animals because they already possess that status.
Why it lands — The reader must immediately remove the firstborn male of herds and flocks from all labor, breeding, and shearing. The command requires treating the initial yield as a transferred asset rather than a personal agricultural resource.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
All the firstling males that come of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy bullock, nor shear the firstling of thy sheep.
Cross-references
- Exodus 13:2 “Consecrate to Me every firstborn male. The firstborn from every womb among the Israelites belongs to Me, both of man and beast.”
- Exodus 13:12 you are to present to the LORD the firstborn male of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the LORD.
- Leviticus 27:26 But no one may consecrate a firstborn of the livestock, because a firstborn belongs to the LORD. Whether it is an ox or a sheep, it is the LORD’s.
- Numbers 18:15 The firstborn of every womb, whether man or beast, that is offered to the LORD belongs to you. But you must surely redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn male of unclean animals.
- Numbers 18:17 But you must not redeem the firstborn of an ox, a sheep, or a goat; they are holy. You are to splatter their blood on the altar and burn their fat as a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 12:17 Within your gates you must not eat the tithe of your grain or new wine or oil, the firstborn of your herds or flocks, any of the offerings that you have vowed to give, or your freewill offerings or special gifts.
- Deuteronomy 16:14 And you shall rejoice in your feast—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.
- Exodus 34:19 The first offspring of every womb belongs to Me, including all the firstborn males among your livestock, whether cattle or sheep.
- Numbers 3:13 for all the firstborn are Mine. On the day I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They are Mine; I am the LORD.”
- Deuteronomy 12:5 Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.