Bible Strands
Exodus 22:29
You must not hold back offerings from your granaries or vats. You are to give Me the firstborn of your sons.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses the covenant community in the wilderness, issuing ritual and social laws immediately after commands against blaspheming God or cursing rulers. The directive functions as a boundary marker for worship and resource allocation.
The words — תְאַחֵר (te'a.Cher) translates to "you must delay," operating alongside בְּכוֹר (be.Khor), meaning "[the] firstborn of." These terms structurally link the prohibition against withholding harvest yields with the mandate to surrender the firstborn sons.
The thread — The text parallels Exodus 13:2, which consecrates every firstborn male, and aligns with Exodus 23:16 and Exodus 23:19 regarding the presentation of firstfruits and best soil produce. Exodus 22:30 extends the pattern to livestock, requiring seven days with the mother before offering the young animal.
Why it lands — The passage commands immediate surrender of agricultural surplus and human offspring without retention or postponement. Readers must apply the directive by prioritizing designated offerings over personal agricultural and familial claims.
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
Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.
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 23:16 You are also to keep the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field. And keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather your produce from the field.
- Exodus 23:19 Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
- Deuteronomy 26:2 you are to take some of the firstfruits of all your produce from the soil of the land that the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name,
- James 1:18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of His creation.
- Proverbs 3:9 Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your crops;
- Romans 8:23 Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
- 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.
- Exodus 34:19 The first offspring of every womb belongs to Me, including all the firstborn males among your livestock, whether cattle or sheep.
- Micah 7:1 Woe is me! For I am like one gathering summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard; there is no cluster to eat, no early fig that I crave.