The firstborn
The Old Testament
“Consecrate to Me every firstborn male. The firstborn from every womb among the Israelites belongs to Me, both of man and beast.”
Exodus 13:2
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In the New Testament
(as it is written in the Law of the Lord: “Every firstborn male shall be consecrated to the Lord”).
Luke 2:23
BSB
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After the exodus God says: consecrate to me every firstborn, of people and of animals. Every firstborn son had to be redeemed, in memory of the night when the firstborn of Egypt died and those of Israel were spared.
Joseph and Mary bring Jesus to the temple, 'as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord'. They bring the offering of poor people, two turtledoves or pigeons (Leviticus 12:8). There they meet Simeon (no. 65). In the letters, 'firstborn' becomes a title: the firstborn of every creature, the firstborn from the dead, the firstborn among many brethren. And a reversal can be heard in it: in Egypt God spared the firstborn of Israel, but his own Son he spared not (Romans 8:32).