Exodus 13:9. Upon thy hand, between thine eyes Proverbial expressions, denoting that these things were never to be out of their minds. The Jews, however, understood this literally, and hence the use of phylacteries among them, pieces of parchment inscribed with sentences of their law, which they bound upon their left hand, and placed upon their foreheads between their eyes. read more
Dedication of the firstborn (13:1-16)Since God had spared the firstborn of Israel’s people and animals in the Passover judgment, these rightly belonged to him. The people were to acknowledge this by dedicating, or setting apart, their firstborn to God in an act of thankful worship (13:1-2; see also v. 15). This act also symbolized the consecration (or dedication) of the entire redeemed nation to God, since Israel as a whole was God’s firstborn (see 4:22). The people were reminded again to keep... read more
"And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand Jehovah brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten. This day ye go forth in the month of Abib. And it shall be when Jehovah shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou... read more
9. it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, &c.—There is no reason to believe that the Oriental tattooing—the custom of staining the hands with the powder of Hennah, as Eastern females now do—is here referred to. Nor is it probable that either this practice or the phylacteries of the Pharisees—parchment scrolls, which were worn on their wrists and foreheads—had so early an existence. The words are to be considered only as a figurative mode of expression. that the Lord's law may be... read more
5. The sanctification of the first-born 13:1-16This section is somewhat repetitive, but the emphasis is on the Lord’s right to the first-born in Israel and how the Israelites were to acknowledge that right. The repetition stresses its importance. read more
The Passover ("it," cf. Exodus 13:3) was to be a sign to the Israelites of God’s powerful work for them. read more
The Consecration of the Firstborn. The March to Etham1-16. The Consecration of the Firstborn.All Israel was holy unto the Lord: see on Exodus 19:5, Exodus 19:6. But the firstborn of man and beast were specially consecrated to Him, as the part representing the whole. There was a special fitness in the consecration of the firstborn, seeing they had been spared in the destruction which overtook the Egyptians. The firstborn of mankind were to be consecrated to the service of Jehovah as priests; the... read more
(9) It shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes.—The practice of wearing tephillin, or “phylacteries,” is referred by the Jews themselves to the time of the Exodus, and regarded by them as resting on the present passage, together with Deuteronomy 6:8; Deuteronomy 11:18. These phylacteries consist of small strips of parchment, on which are written certain passages from the Law—viz., Exodus 13:2-10; Deuteronomy 6:4-9, and Deuteronomy 11:13-21—and which... read more
Exodus 13:14 Compare Mr. A. R. Wallace's remark on Darwin in whose character, he observed,' the restless curiosity of the child to know the "what for?" the "why?" and the "how?" of everything seems never to have abated its force'. References. XIII. 14-17 F. D. Maurice, The Doctrine of Sacrifice, p. 49. Near-cuts Not God's Exodus 13:17 I. That, then, was one feature of God's guidance. It shunned the near road, and it took the roundabout; and if you have been living with the open eye, and... read more
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Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Exodus 13:9
Hebrew writers have generally regarded this as a formal injunction to write the precepts on slips of parchment, and to fasten them on the wrists and forehead; but other commentators are generally agreed that it is to be understood metaphorically. The words appear to be put into the mouths of the parents. They were to keep all the facts of the Passover constantly in mind, and, referring to a custom prevalent ages before Moses in Egypt, to have them present as though they were inscribed on... read more