Numbers 3:13

13 for all the firstborn are mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set apart for myself every firstborn in Israel, whether human or animal. They are to be mine. I am the LORD.”

Numbers 3:13 in Other Translations

13 Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the LORD.

13 for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both of man and of beast. They shall be mine: I am the LORD."

13 for all the firstborn males are mine. On the day I struck down all the firstborn sons of the Egyptians, I set apart for myself all the firstborn in Israel, both of people and of animals. They are mine; I am the LORD .”

13 All the firstborn are mine - when I killed all the firstborn in Egypt, I consecrated for my own use every firstborn in Israel, whether human or animal. They belong to me. I am God."

13 because every firstborn belongs to Me. At the time I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated every firstborn in Israel to Myself, both man and animal; they are Mine; I am the Lord."

Numbers 3:13 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 3:13

Because all the firstborn [are] mine
Not merely in a general way, as all creatures are his, but in a special manner as his own, and that for the following reason:

[for] on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt,
I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast;
that is, sanctified or set them apart as his own special property, or ordered the people of Israel so to do, ( Exodus 13:2 ) ; for as when he destroyed the firstborn of the Egyptians, he saved the firstborn of Israel, he had a special claim upon them as his; and though it was in the night when he destroyed the firstborn of Egypt, yet it was the night which preceded that day, and was a part of that day, even the fifteenth of Nisan, when the instructions were given to sanctify all the firstborn; though, as Aben Ezra observes, "day" signifies "time", so that it was at or about the same time that the one and the other were done:

mine they shall be;
this was declared when they were ordered to be sanctified to him, but now they were to be exchanged for the Levites:

I [am] the Lord;
who have sovereign power to do as he would in claiming the firstborn, and then in exchanging them for the Levites, and appointing the Levites to minister to the priests, and serve in the tabernacle.

Numbers 3:13 In-Context

11 The LORD also said to Moses,

12 “I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites in place of the first male offspring of every Israelite woman. The Levites are mine,

13 for all the firstborn are mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set apart for myself every firstborn in Israel, whether human or animal. They are to be mine. I am the LORD.”

14 The LORD said to Moses in the Desert of Sinai,

15 “Count the Levites by their families and clans. Count every male a month old or more.”

Cross References

• 1. S Exodus 13:12
• 2. Leviticus 11:44