Exodus 34:19

All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(19) All that openeth the matrix is mine.—Comp. Exodus 13:12, where the sanctification of the firstborn and the law of redemption had already been declared. For the exact mode of redemption sanctioned, see Numbers 18:15-16.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

34:18-27 Once a week they must rest, even in ploughing time, and in harvest. All worldly business must give way to that holy rest; even harvest work will prosper the better, for the religious observance of the sabbath day in harvest time. We must show that we prefer our communion with God, and our duty to him, before the business or the joy of harvest. Thrice a year they must appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. Canaan was a desirable land, and the neighbouring nations were greedy; yet God says, They shall not desire it. Let us check all sinful desires against God and his glory, in our hearts, and then trust him to check all sinful desires in the hearts of others against us. The way of duty is the way of safety. Those who venture for him never lose by him. Three feasts are here mentioned: 1. The Passover, in remembrance of the deliverance out of Egypt. 2. The feast of weeks, or the feast of Pentecost; added to it is the law of the first-fruits. 3. The feast of in-gathering, or the feast of Tabernacles. Moses is to write these words, that the people might know them better. We can never be enough thankful to God for the written word. God would make a covenant with Israel, in Moses as a mediator. Thus the covenant of grace is made with believers through Christ.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

An expansion of Exodus 34:12. The unfaithfulness of the nation to its covenant with Yahweh is here for the first time spoken of as a breach of the marriage bond. The metaphor is, in any case, a natural one, but it seems to gain point, if we suppose it to convey an allusion to the abominations connected with pagan worship, such as are spoken of in Numbers 25:1-3.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9, 10. he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us—On this proclamation, he, in the overflowing benevolence of s heart, founded an earnest petition for the Divine Presence being continued with the people; and God was pleased to give His favorable answer to Moses' intercession by a renewal of His promise under the form of a covenant, repeating the leading points that formed the conditions of the former national compact.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Heb. And (for that is, as the particle and is oft used; the words following here, and Exodus 34:20, being a particular explication of the general sentence in the beginning of this verse)

all thy cattle which (a particle oft understood)

shall be born male, (as it is also explained Exodus 13:12) the

opening, or,

whatsoever (to wit, of the male kind)

openeth the matrix (which word is fitly understood out of the former member; which is very usual) of ox or (and put for or, as it is oft done) sheep.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

All that openeth the matrix is mine,.... Or "the womb", and therefore to be sanctified, and set apart for his use: this also was declared, and the law concerning it given, at the time of their coming out of Egypt, and here repeated; see Gill on Exodus 13:2, Exodus 13:12.

Geneva Study Bible

All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

19. and all, &c.] Something must be out of order: since the first born of cattle are included among ‘all that first openeth the womb,’ ‘mine’ cannot logically be the predicate of and all &c. Perhaps (Di.) thou shalt sanctify (Deuteronomy 15:19), or sacrifice, unto me has fallen out after ‘sheep.’ There is a similar inexactness in Exodus 13:12.

20b. appear before me] read probably see my face. See on Exodus 23:15 b.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 19, 20. - All that openeth the matrix is mine, etc. This is a repetition of the command given in Exodus 13:12, 13, which had not been inserted in the "Book of the Covenant." It is again enjoined in Leviticus 27:26, 27. None shall appear before me empty. Repeated from Exodus 23:15. Exodus 34:19

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The true way to worship Jehovah is then pointed out, first of all negatively, in the prohibition against making molten images, with an allusion to the worship of the golden calf, as evinced by the use of the expression מסּכה אלהי, which only occurs again in Leviticus 19:4, instead of the phrase "gods of silver and gold" (Exodus 20:23); and then positively, by a command to observe the feast of Mazzoth and the consecration of the first-born connected with the Passover (see at Exodus 13:2, Exodus 13:11, and Exodus 13:12), also the Sabbath (Exodus 34:21), the feasts of Weeks and Ingathering, the appearance of the male members of the nation three times a year before the Lord (Exodus 34:22, see at Exodus 23:14-17), together with all the other instructions connected with them (Exodus 34:25, Exodus 34:26). Before the last, however, the promise is introduced, that after the expulsion of the Canaanites, Jehovah would enlarge the borders of Israel (cf. Exodus 23:31), and make their land so secure, that when they went up to the Lord three times in the year, no one should desire their land, sc., because of the universal dread of the might of their God (Exodus 23:27).