Keluaran 13:15

13:15 When Pharaoh stubbornly refused ¹  to release us, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of people to the firstborn of animals. ²  That is why I am sacrificing ³  to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb, but all my firstborn sons I redeem.’

Keluaran 34:20

34:20 Now the firstling ⁴  of a donkey you may redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then break its neck. ⁵  You must redeem all the firstborn of your sons.

“No one will appear before me empty-handed. ⁶ 

[13:15]  ¹ tn Heb “dealt hardly in letting us go” or “made it hard to let us go” (see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 110). The verb is the simple Hiphil perfect הִקְשָׁה (hiqshah, “he made hard”); the infinitive construct לְשַׁלְּחֵנוּ (lÿshallÿkhenu, “to release us”) could be taken epexegetically, meaning “he made releasing us hard.” But the infinitive more likely gives the purpose or the result after the verb “hardened himself.” The verb is figurative for “be stubborn” or “stubbornly refuse.”

[13:15]  ² tn The text uses “man” and “beast.”

[13:15]  ³ tn The form is the active participle.

[34:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the one that opens [the womb of] the donkey.”

[34:20]  ⁵ sn See G. Brin, “The Firstling of Unclean Animals,” JQR 68 (1971): 1-15.

[34:20]  ⁶ tn The form is the adverb “empty.”