Deuteronomy 15:19

"All the firstling males that are born of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto Jehovah thy God: thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy herd, nor shear the firstling of thy flock. Thou shalt eat it before Jehovah thy God year by year in the place which Jehovah shall choose, thou and thy household. And if it shall have any blemish, or if it be lame or blind, any blemish whatsoever, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt eat it within thy gates, the unclean and the clean shall eat it alike, as the gazelle, and as the hart. Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it out upon the ground as water."

Here again we have one of those "alleged contradictions" which are such a delight to critics. "In Numbers 18:15-18, the firstlings are the privilege of the priests, and here they are to be eaten by the owner and his household annually at the central sanctuary."[22] Scott stated that these two positions "are irreconcilable."[23] All such views vanish in the simple truth that the Jews had two kinds of firstlings. Haley quotes a number of scholars such as Michaelis, Jahn, and Davidson, all of whom affirm the existence of this second class of firstlings, this second kind "denoting the animals next in age to those belonging to the sacerdotal salary. Thus, the firstlings referred to here were additional to those mentioned in the previous three books of the Pentateuch."[24] There is also the possibility that it had become customary for the priests receiving the firstlings as their privilege to invite the owner and his family to share the feast provided. When it is remembered that the firstlings of a large herd or flock could easily run in to dozens or even hundreds of animals, this latter explanation is actually all that is needed.

It was forbidden to the owner that he should either use the firstlings for work, as in threshing, plowing, etc., or that he should shear the firstlings of the flock. That which belonged to the Lord was wholly his.

In the matter of blemished animals, they could not be sacrificed, but were to be eaten like any other animals slain for food, such as the gazelle or the hart. Only the proviso regarding the blood was to be carefully observed.