Deuteronomy 15:19

Summary

The verse commands that every firstborn male born among the herds and flocks be consecrated to Yehovah. It further specifies two prohibitions: the firstborn ox may not be put to labor, and the firstborn sheep may not be sheared.

Key words

• bekhor ("firstborn", H1060) — masculine singular construct noun, repeated four times in the verse, each time governing a following noun (herd, flock, ox, sheep) to specify whose firstborn is meant.
• yivvaled ("it will be born", H3205) — niphal (passive/reflexive) imperfect; the passive form frames the firstborn status as something that happens to the animal, not an action it performs.
• takdish ("you will consecrate", H6942) — hiphil (causative) imperfect, second person masculine; the causative stem indicates the subject actively causes the animal to become set apart/holy, rather than the animal being inherently holy.
• ta'avod ("you will labor", H5647) — qal imperfect, second person masculine, negated by lo' ("not", H3808); a simple-stem verb describing ordinary use/work.
• tagoz ("you will shear", H1494) — qal imperfect, second person masculine, also negated by lo' ("not", H3808); parallels ta'avod in structure, applied to sheep instead of oxen.

What the text says

The verse opens with kal-habbekhor ("every the-firstborn", H3605 + H1060), a construct phrase meaning "every firstborn," followed by the relative clause 'asher yivvaled ("which it will be born", H0834A + H3205) describing the condition of birth "in your herd and in your flock" (bivqarkha uvetzo'nekha, H1241/H6629G with pronominal suffixes H9021). The adjective hazzakhar ("the male", H2145) specifies that only male offspring fall under this rule. The main verb takdish (H6942, hiphil) then commands the action directed la-Yehovah 'Eloheikha ("to Yehovah your God", H3068G/H0430G) — the causative stem shows the addressee is the one performing the act of setting apart, not merely observing a natural state.

The second half of the verse uses two parallel negated qal imperfects, lo' ta'avod ("you will not labor", H5647I) and ve-lo' tagoz ("and you will not shear", H1494), each governing a construct phrase built again on bekhor (H1060): "the firstborn of your ox" (bekhor shorekha) and "firstborn of your flock" (bekhor tzo'nekha). The repetition of bekhor across four instances in a single verse creates a chain structure, moving from the general category (male firstborn of herd and flock) to specific restrictions applied separately to oxen (labor) and sheep (shearing).

Differences between versions

The LXX renders bekhor with πρωτότοκον/πρωτοτόκῳ ("firstborn"), consistent with the Hebrew, but where the Hebrew final clause reads bekhor tzo'nekha ("firstborn of your flock", H1060/H6629G), the LXX has τὰ πρωτότοκα τῶν προβάτων σου ("the firstborn ones of your sheep"), using plural forms rather than the Hebrew singular construct. The Vulgate similarly pluralizes as primogenita ovium ("firstborn things of the sheep"), diverging from the Hebrew singular bekhor tzo'nekha. The SBLIBRE Spanish translation renders this same final phrase as "los primogénitos de tu rebaño" ("the firstborn ones of your flock"), repeating "rebaño" rather than distinguishing flock from sheep as the Hebrew's separate terms tzo'n (H6629G) might suggest.