Bible Strands
Numbers 8:17
For every firstborn male in Israel is Mine, both man and beast. I set them apart for Myself on the day I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses Moses regarding the consecration of the Levites, declaring their substitutionary role for Israel's firstborn. This pronouncement occurs in the wilderness after the Exodus, immediately following the instructions for Levite dedication.
The words — The verse centers on בְּכוֹר (be.khOr, "firstborn") and בְּהֵמָה (be.he.Mah, "livestock"), which define the full scope of God's claim. These nouns are modified by כָּל (khol, "every") to establish total consecration across both humanity and animals.
The thread — The demand to set apart every firstborn originates in Exodus 13:2 and Exodus 13:12. The New Testament references this law in Luke 2:23 when recording the presentation of Jesus.
Why it lands — The text states that God claims every firstborn as His possession because He struck down the firstborn in Egypt. It requires the reader to acknowledge that divine judgment establishes a legal claim, which the narrative resolves by transferring that claim to the Levites.
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
For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself.
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.”
- Luke 2:23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord: “Every firstborn male shall be consecrated to the Lord”),
- 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 12:29 Now at midnight the LORD struck down every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, as well as all the firstborn among the livestock.
- Exodus 29:44 So I will consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and I will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests.
- Leviticus 27:14 Now if a man consecrates his house as holy to the LORD, then the priest shall value it either as good or bad. The price will stand just as the priest values it.
- 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 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.”
- Psalms 78:51 He struck all the firstborn of Egypt, the virility in the tents of Ham.
- Psalms 105:36 Then He struck all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their vigor.