Exodus 13:15
וַיְהִי כִּֽי־הִקְשָׁה פַרְעֹה לְשַׁלְּחֵנוּ וַיַּהֲרֹג יְהֹוָה כָּל־בְּכוֹר בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם מִבְּכֹר אָדָם וְעַד־בְּכוֹר בְּהֵמָה עַל־כֵּן אֲנִי זֹבֵחַ לַֽיהוָה כָּל־פֶּטֶר רֶחֶם הַזְּכָרִים וְכָל־בְּכוֹר בָּנַי אֶפְדֶּֽה׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וַיְהִ֗י כִּֽי־הִקְשָׁ֣ה פַרְעֹה֮ לְשַׁלְּחֵנוּ֒ וַיַּהֲרֹ֨ג יְהֹוָ֤ה כָּל־בְּכוֹר֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם מִבְּכֹ֥ר אָדָ֖ם וְעַד־בְּכ֣וֹר בְּהֵמָ֑ה עַל־כֵּן֩ אֲנִ֨י זֹבֵ֜חַ לַֽיהוָ֗ה כָּל־פֶּ֤טֶר רֶ֙חֶם֙ הַזְּכָרִ֔ים וְכָל־בְּכ֥וֹר בָּנַ֖י אֶפְדֶּֽה׃
ἡνίκα δὲ ἐσκλήρυνεν Φαραὼ ἐξαποστεῖλαι ἡμᾶς, ἀπέκτεινεν πᾶν πρωτότοκον ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ ἀπὸ πρωτοτόκων ἀνθρώπων ἕς πρωτοτόκων κτηνῶν διὰ τοῦτο ἐγὼ θύω πᾶν πρωτότοκον τῷ κυρίῳ, πᾶν διανοῖγον μήτραν, τὰ ἀρσενικά, καὶ πᾶν πρωτότοκον τῶν υἱῶν μου λυτρώσομαι.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Nam cum induratus esset Pharao, et nollet nos dimittere, occidit Dominus omne primogenitum in terra Ægypti, a primogenito hominis usque ad primogenitum jumentorum: idcirco immolo Domino omne quod aperit vulvam masculini sexus, et omnia primogenita filiorum meorum redimo.
Como el faraón se puso terco y no nos dejaba ir, Yehová les quitó la vida a todos los primogénitos en Egipto, tanto de personas como de animales. Por eso le sacrificamos a Yehová todos los machos primerizos de nuestros animales, pero rescatamos a todos nuestros hijos mayores’.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y endureciéndose Faraón en no dejarnos ir, Jehová mató en la tierra de Egipto á todo primogénito, desde el primogénito humano hasta el primogénito de la bestia: y por esta causa yo sacrifico á Jehová todo primogénito macho, y redimo todo primogénito de mis hijos.
And when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both of man and beast. This is why I sacrifice to the LORD the firstborn male of every womb, but I redeem all the firstborn of my sons.’
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse explains, within the instructions for a future son's question about Passover practice, why firstborn males are sacrificed to Yehovah while firstborn sons are redeemed: because Pharaoh refused to release the Israelites, Yehovah struck down every firstborn in Egypt, both human and animal.
Key words
- hikSHah ("he made stubborn/hard", H7185) — hiphil (causative) perfect of the root for "hard/heavy," describing Pharaoh's action as a completed, causative act — he caused hardness (of refusal), not merely felt it.
- yaharog ("he killed", H2026) — qal narrative form of the verb, continuing the story-chain with va- ("and then"), presenting Yehovah's killing as the next event following Pharaoh's stubbornness.
- peter rechem ("firstborn of a womb", H6363A + H7358) — a construct pair meaning literally "opener of a womb," a distinct expression from bekhor ("firstborn," H1060) used earlier, here specifying the one who first opens the womb, restricted to ha-zekharim ("the males", H2145).
- zoveach ("[am] sacrificing", H2076) — qal participle, expressing an ongoing, characteristic action ("I am one who sacrifices") rather than a single completed event.
- 'efdeh ("I redeem", H6299) — qal imperfect, marking an action that is ongoing or repeated/future, contrasted grammatically with the participle zoveach.
What the text says
The verse opens with the narrative formula va-yehi ("and it was", H1961) followed by the subordinating ki ("that/when", H3588A), introducing a temporal clause: "and it was, when Pharaoh hardened [himself/his refusal]..." The hiphil form of hikSHah (H7185) places causative force on Pharaoh's action, paired with the infinitive le-shallecheNu ("to let us go", H7971H + H9035, "us"), a piel infinitive construct that intensifies the sense of "releasing." This clause is followed by another narrative verb, va-yaharog (H2026), continuing the chain of events: Yehovah's killing of every bekhor ("firstborn", H1060) "in the land of Egypt" (H0776G + H4714G), specified by the construct pair "from bekhor of 'adam ('humankind', H0120G) unto bekhor of behemah ('livestock', H0929)."
The causal connector 'al-ken ("therefore", H5921A + H3651C) shifts to the speaker's present, marked by the participle zoveach (H2076), indicating an ongoing practice rather than a single past act. The object shifts terminology from bekhor to peter rechem (H6363A + H7358), restricted by ha-zekharim ("the males", H2145), before returning to bekhor for the redemption clause using the imperfect 'efdeh (H6299), which contrasts grammatically (imperfect vs. participle) while both express habitual action tied to the historical event described in the first half of the verse.
Differences between versions
The LXX renders hikSHah ("he made stubborn", H7185) with ἐσκλήρυνεν ("hardened"), matching the hiphil causative sense, and translates peter rechem (H6363A + H7358, "firstborn of a womb") as πᾶν διανοῖγον μήτραν ("everything that opens the womb"), preserving the "opening" imagery literally. The Vulgate renders the same phrase as "omne quod aperit vulvam" ("everything that opens the womb"), also literal. The BSB and RV1909 translations render peter rechem ha-zekharim more generally as "firstborn male," collapsing the "opening of the womb" imagery present in the Hebrew, LXX, and Vulgate into a simpler phrase.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.