(as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”),
Parallel Translations
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(as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”),
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(as that is written in the lawe of the Lorde: every man that fyrst openeth the matrix shalbe called holy to the Lorde)
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(As it is written in the Lawe of the Lord, Euery man childe that first openeth ye wombe, shalbe called holy to the Lord)
Cross-references (7)
Passages linked to Luke 2:23 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 13:2 “Sanctify to me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of animal. It is mine.”
- Exodus 22:29 “You shall not delay to offer from your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. “You shall give the firstborn of your sons to me.
- Numbers 3:13 for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I made holy to me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and animal. They shall be mine. I am Yahweh.”
- Exodus 34:19 “All that opens the womb is mine; and all your livestock that is male, the firstborn of cow and sheep.
- Numbers 18:15 Everything that opens the womb, of all flesh which they offer to Yahweh, both of man and animal, shall be yours. Nevertheless, you shall surely redeem the firstborn of man, and you shall redeem the firstborn of unclean animals.
- Numbers 8:16-17 For they are wholly given to me from among the children of Israel; instead of all who open the womb, even the firstborn of all the children of Israel, I have taken them to me. For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are mine, both man and animal. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for myself.
- Exodus 13:12-15 that you shall set apart to Yahweh all that opens the womb, and every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have. The males shall be Yahweh’s. Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and you shall redeem all the firstborn of man among your sons. It shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall tell him, ‘By strength of hand Yahweh brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage. When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, Yahweh killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of livestock. Therefore I sacrifice to Yahweh all that opens the womb, being males; but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (8 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 23 (As it is written in the law of…
23 (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)
Ver. 23. That openeth the womb] This proves that Mary brought forth Christ in a natural way, and not utero clauso, by a closed womb, by a miracle, as Papists would have it, to prove the fiction of transubstantiation.
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Shall be called holy to the Lord] God requireth the firstborn, as usually best beloved; that, together with our children, he might draw to himself the best of our affections.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain As it is written in the law of the…
As it is written in the law of the Lord,.... In Exo 13:2.
every male that openeth the womb, shall be called holy to the Lord; that is, devoted and consecrated to him, and so to be redeemed. The reason of this law was this, when God smote all the firstborn of Egypt, he saved the firstborn of Israel; and therefore claimed a right to them, and obliged their parents, excepting the Levites, to redeem them at the price of five shekels, which were about twelve shillings and six pence of our money, and which was given to the Levites: see Exo 13:12 And this law our Lord came under as Mary s firstborn, and as one holy to the Lord; and such a sum of money was now paid for his redemption, who was the great Redeemer of his people: he being made under the law, and in all things subject to it, that he might redeem them from the bondage, curse, and condemnation of it. Now as the tribe of Levi was excepted from this law, it is a clear case, that Mary, though allied to Elisabeth, was not of the tribe of Levi, otherwise her firstborn would not have been subject to it (y),
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"An Israelite that comes from a priestess, or from a she Levite, is free, (i.e. from the redemption of the firstborn;) for the thing does not depend on the father, but on the mother, as it is said, that openeth the womb in Israel.
(y) Maimon. Hilch. Biccurim c. 11. sect. 10.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Exod. xiii, 2.
Exod. xiii, 2.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain As it is written ... - Exo 13:2.
As it is written ... - Exo 13:2.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Every male opening the womb.[2] This translation is more…
Every male opening the womb.[2] This translation is more conformable to the doctrine of the Fathers, that Christ was born without opening the womb; which Ven. Bede calls the doctrine of the Catholic Church. (Witham) --- See Exodus xiii. 2. and Numbers viii. 16.
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Omne masculinum adaperiens vulvam, Greek: pan arsen dianoigon metran, on which words Ven. Bede says: quod ait Lucas, adaperiens vulvam, consuetæ nativitatis more loquitur ... sed juxta fidem Catholicam exiit clauso Virginis utero, &c.
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George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 23. Every male that—In the patriarchal dispensation the male…
23. Every male that—In the patriarchal dispensation the male first born was priest of the family, and belonged as such to Jehovah, the Lord. But under the Mosaic dispensation the sons of Aaron were chosen priests.
Num_8:15-20. But as God redeemed the first born from death in coming out of Egypt, they were to be presented before the Lord, and redeemed at the price of five shekels. Jesus himself was thus redeemed.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 23. as it is written in the law of…
23. as it is written in the law of the Lord] The tribe of Levi were sanctified to the Lord in lieu of the firstborn, and originally all the firstborn in excess of the number of the Levites had to be redeemed with five shekels of the sanctuary (about 15 shillings), a rule afterwards extended to all the firstborn. Exo_13:2; Exo_22:29; Exo_34:19; Num_3:13; Num_18:15-16.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 23. Every male … shall be called holy. That…
23. Every male … shall be called holy. That is, devoted to the Lord. See Exod. 13:12. All the first-born were to be presented to the Lord and redeemed by an offering (Num. 18:15).
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.