Firstborn Animals
Deuteronomy 15:19-23
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Deu.15.19 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כל: DET
- הבכור: NOUN,m,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- יולד: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- בבקרך: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs,2ms_suff
- ובצאנך: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs,2ms_suff
- הזכר: NOUN,m,sg,def
- תקדיש: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- ליהוה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,def
- אלהיך: NOUN,m,sg,prsuf-2ms
- לא: PART_NEG
- תעבד: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- בבכר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שורך: NOUN,m,sg,abs,2ms_suff
- ולא: CONJ
- תגז: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- בכור: NOUN,m,sg,const
- צאנך: NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Exodus 13:2 (verbal): Direct, concise command: 'Consecrate to me every firstborn' — same injunction to set the firstborn apart for the LORD.
- Exodus 13:12-13 (verbal): Specifies consecration of the firstborn of animals and the requirement to redeem firstborn sons/animals — closely parallels Deut 15:19's consecration and related regulations.
- Numbers 3:12-13 (thematic): Develops the theme that 'the firstborn are mine' and institutes the Levites as substitution for the firstborn — underscores the idea of firstborn belonging to YHWH behind Deut's command.
- Numbers 18:15-17 (structural): Gives priestly regulations concerning the firstborn of people and animals (redemption, priestly portion) — complements Deut's rule by treating ownership, redemption, and priestly rights.
- Luke 2:23 (quotation): New Testament citation of the OT rule ('every firstborn male shall be called holy to the Lord') in the context of presenting Jesus — shows later application of the same law referenced in Deut 15:19.
Alternative generated candidates
- Every firstborn that is born among your cattle and among your flock—the male—you shall consecrate to the LORD your God; you shall not put the firstborn of your ox to work, nor shear the firstborn of your sheep.
- All the firstborn that are born among your cattle and among your flocks—the males—you shall consecrate to the LORD your God. You shall not work the firstborn of your ox, nor shall you shear the firstborn of your sheep.
Deu.15.20 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- לפני: PREP
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אלהיך: NOUN,m,sg,prsuf-2ms
- תאכלנו: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg,suff:1,pl
- שנה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- בשנה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- במקום: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אשר: PRON,rel
- יבחר: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אתה: PRON,2,m,sg
- וביתך: NOUN,m,sg,cs
Parallels
- Exodus 13:2,12-13 (thematic): Commands to sanctify the firstborn (of man and beast) to YHWH and provisions for handling/redeeming firstborn — same ritual logic of firstborn belonging to the LORD.
- Numbers 18:15-18 (thematic): Affirms that the firstborn (both human and animal) are YHWH’s, with instructions about redemption and priestly claims — parallels the status and disposition of firstborn livestock.
- Deuteronomy 12:11 (verbal): Uses the same language about eating “before the LORD your God” “in the place that the LORD will choose” — links sanctuary/central-place eating of sacred offerings.
- Leviticus 27:26-27 (thematic): Discusses devoted/dedicated (most holy) things that belong to the LORD and rules for redemption — thematically close to dedicating firstborn animals to God.
Alternative generated candidates
- You may eat it year by year before the LORD your God, in the place that the LORD will choose, you and your household.
- You shall eat it year by year before the LORD your God, in the place that the LORD will choose, you and your household.
Deu.15.21 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וכי: CONJ
- יהיה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- בו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- מום: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- פסח: ADJ,m,sg
- או: CONJ
- עור: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כל: DET
- מום: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- רע: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- תזבחנו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- ליהוה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,def
- אלהיך: NOUN,m,sg,prsuf-2ms
Parallels
- Leviticus 22:20-23 (verbal): Explicit priestly law forbidding the offering of blind, lame, maimed or otherwise blemished animals on the altar—near-verbatim legal parallel to Deut.15:21.
- Leviticus 1:3 (verbal): Requirement that burnt offerings (e.g., a bull) be 'without blemish'—same sacrificial ideal of an unblemished animal.
- Exodus 12:5 (thematic): The Passover lamb must be 'without blemish'—applies the general norm of defect-free animals to the specific cultic case of the paschal offering.
- Malachi 1:8 (allusion): Prophetic rebuke of priests who offer blind, lame or sick animals—echoes Deut/Levitical prohibition and condemns inferior, blemished sacrifices.
Alternative generated candidates
- If there is any blemish in it—lame or blind or any bad defect—you shall not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.
- But if there is any blemish in it—lame, blind, or any evil defect—you shall not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.
Deu.15.22 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- בשעריך: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs-2ms
- תאכלנו: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg,suff:1,pl
- הטמא: ADJ,m,sg,def
- והטהור: CONJ+ADJ,m,sg,def
- יחדו: ADV
- כצבי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וכאיל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Deut.12.15 (verbal): Contains virtually the same phrasing about eating within your gates and explicitly mentions eating like the gazelle (צבי) and the hart (איל), a close verbal parallel to the Deut.15.22 wording.
- Deut.14.4-8 (thematic): Lists permitted (clean) and forbidden (unclean) animals and thus provides the broader dietary classification context for the contrast between 'unclean and clean' in the verse.
- Leviticus 11:2-3 (thematic): Sets out the criteria for clean land animals (chews the cud and parts the hoof), which underlies why animals like the deer/roe are regarded as clean and may be eaten 'in your gates.'
- Leviticus 22:11-12 (thematic): Regulates who may eat sacred/communal food, distinguishing between clean and unclean persons' entitlement to eat—useful contrast to Deut.'s allowance of eating 'unclean and clean together' in towns.
Alternative generated candidates
- You shall eat it in your towns; the ritually unclean and the clean shall eat it together, like the gazelle and the stag.
- You shall eat it within your gates; the unclean and the clean shall eat it together, like the gazelle and the deer.
Deu.15.23 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- רק: PRT
- את: PRT,acc
- דמו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,poss3ms
- לא: PART_NEG
- תאכל: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- על: PREP
- הארץ: NOUN,f,sg,def
- תשפכנו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- כמים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Leviticus 17:13-14 (verbal): Same legal rule and ritual action: hunters must pour out the blood on the ground; the text links prohibition of eating blood with pouring it out because blood is life (very close verbal and conceptual parallel).
- Deuteronomy 12:23-24 (cf. 12:16) (verbal): Near-identical instruction elsewhere in Deuteronomy: do not eat the blood, pour it out on the earth like water; both passages give the same rationale and formula for disposing of blood.
- Genesis 9:4 (thematic): Earlier, foundational prohibition after the Flood: 'You shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood'—establishes the theological basis (blood = life) for later ritual bans.
- Leviticus 7:26-27 (verbal): Explicit priestly prohibition against eating any blood (birds or beasts) with an associated penalty; reinforces the absolute nature of the ban found in Deut 15:23.
- Acts 15:20,29 (structural): The Jerusalem Council's apostolic decree requires Gentile believers to 'abstain from... blood,' echoing the Mosaic prohibition and showing how the rule carried into early Christian practice.
Alternative generated candidates
- Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it out on the ground like water.
- Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it out on the ground like water.
Every firstborn that is born among your oxen and among your sheep, the male, you shall consecrate to the LORD your God. You shall not put the firstborn of your ox to work, nor shall you shear the firstborn of your sheep.
Before the LORD your God you shall eat it year by year in the place that the LORD will choose—you and your household.
If there is in it any defect—lame, blind, or any serious blemish—you shall not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.
Within your towns you shall eat it; the unclean and the clean shall eat it together, as with the gazelle and the deer.
Only its blood you shall not eat; you shall pour it out on the ground like water.