“For they are wholly given unto me from among the children of Israel; instead of such as open every womb, even instead of the firstborn of all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me.”
For all the firstborn of the Israelites are mine, both human and animal; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I consecrated them for myself — God appeals to the exodus event as the foundation for claiming all Israelite firstborn. The plague on the firstborn (Exod 12:29) marks the moment God's claim on the firstborn becomes juridically binding. The Levitic substitution honors this claim through perpetual service rather than loss of life.
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