Exodus 13

## Summary Exodus 13 records instructions given through Moses to consecrate every firstborn to Yahweh and to observe the festival of unleavened bread in memory of the exodus from Egypt. The chapter closes with the departure route chosen by God — avoiding the land of the Philistines — and the appearance of the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire guiding the people. ## Key words - *kadesh* ("consecrate", H6942) — piel imperative, a command form marking an intensive, formal act of setting apart, addressed directly to Moses ("you"). - *zakhor* ("remember", H2142) — qal infinitive absolute used alone as a command; this grammatical form intensifies the imperative force of "remembering" beyond a normal verb form. - *chozeq yad* ("strength of hand", H2392/H3027) — a construct chain (noun + noun) meaning "strength of hand," recurring in vv. 3, 9, 14, 16 as a fixed phrase describing the manner of the exodus. - *pesach* is absent, but *petter rechem* ("firstborn/breach of womb", H6363/H7358) — construct phrase literally "opener of the womb," the technical expression for "firstborn" throughout the chapter. - *hasbea' hishbi'a* ("he had made [them] swear", H7650) — hiphil infinitive absolute + perfect, a doubled construction intensifying the certainty that Joseph made Israel swear an oath (v. 19). ## What the text says The chapter opens with Yahweh's speech to Moses (v.1, *va-yedabber*, H1696G, narrative vav + piel) introducing the command to consecrate the firstborn (v.2). The construct chains *kol-bekhor peter kol-rechem* ("every firstborn, opener of every womb") pile up nouns in genitive relation without conjunctions, a dense legal-style phrasing typical of cultic instruction. Moses' own speech (vv.3–10) is framed by the infinitive absolute *zakhor* ("remember," H2142), a grammatical intensifier that Hebrew uses instead of adverbs like "surely" — English translations render it as a plain imperative "remember," losing the emphasis carried by doubling the verb root. Several verses (3, 9, 14, 16) repeat the phrase *be-chozeq yad* ("with strength of hand"), a construct pair functioning adverbially, tying the yearly ritual instruction back to the historical act of the exodus. The passage moves between third-person narrative (*va-yiqqach*, "and he took," v.19) and embedded direct speech (Moses instructing the people, a father answering a son in vv.8 and 14), marked by the infinitive *le'mor* ("saying," H0559) which introduces reported speech without quotation marks in Hebrew, a purely grammatical device. In vv.17–18 the divine name shifts from *Yahweh* (used throughout the ritual instructions) to *Elohim* ("God", H0430G), plural in form but governing singular verbs (*hissev*, "he caused to go around"), describing the decision on the travel route. Verses 21–22 use participial forms (*holekh*, "going," H1980G) to depict the pillar of cloud and fire as a continuous, ongoing action rather than a single event. ## Differences between versions In v.5, the LXX lists six peoples (adding *Pherezaioi*, "Perizzites") where the Hebrew (TAHOT) and Vulgate list five (Canaanite, Hittite, Amorite, Hivite, Jebusite). In v.6, the LXX reads "six days" (*hex hemeras*) where the Hebrew has *shiv'at yamim* ("seven days", H7651) for eating unleavened bread; the Vulgate follows the Hebrew with "seven days." In v.16, the Hebrew *totafot* ("marks", H2903) is rendered by the LXX as "unmoved" (*asaleuton*) and by the Vulgate as "something hung" (*appensum quid*), reflecting differing renderings of an uncertain term.