1883 Haydock Douay Rheims Bible

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Exodus 13:1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
Exodus 13:2 *Sanctify unto me every first-born that openeth the womb among the children of Israel, as well of men as of beasts: for they are all mine.

Exodus 34:19.; Leviticus 27:26.; Numbers 8:16.; Luke 2:23. 		Sanctify unto me every first-born. Sanctification in this place means, that the first-born males of the Hebrews should be deputed to the ministry in the divine worship: and the first-born of beasts to be given for a sacrifice. (Challoner) --- Sanctify, set apart. (Menochius) --- Openeth, the first male fruit of the womb. If a female was born the first, none of the children were to be redeemed. (Luke 2:23.) Jesus Christ submitted to this law; though many of the fathers have asserted that, on account of his miraculous conception and birth, he was not subjected to it; while others maintain the contrary. (Calmet)
Exodus 13:3 And Moses said to the people: Remember this day in which you came forth out of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage, for with a strong hand hath the Lord brought you forth out of this place: that you eat no leavened bread.
Exodus 13:4 This day you go forth in the month of new corn.

Corn. Hebrew Abib; which was styled Nisan after the Babylonian captivity. At this time, peculiar names were not yet given to the months, by the Hebrews or Egyptians. (Calmet) --- They were distinguished by their respective order, productions, or appearances. (Haydock)
Exodus 13:5 And when the Lord shall have brought thee into the land of the Chanaanite, and the Hethite, and the Amorrhite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite, which he swore to thy fathers that he would give thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey, thou shalt celebrate this manner of sacred rites in this month.

When. These regulations did not therefore take place in the desert. (Menochius)
Exodus 13:6 Seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day shall be the solemnity of the Lord.
Exodus 13:7 Unleavened bread shall you eat seven days: there shall not be seen any thing leavened with thee, nor in all thy coasts.
Exodus 13:8 And thou shalt tell thy son in that day, saying: This is what the Lord did to me when I came forth out of Egypt.
Exodus 13:9 And it shall be as a sign in thy hand, and as a memorial before thy eyes; and that the law of the Lord be always in thy mouth, for with a strong hand the Lord hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt.

And it, etc. The festivals appointed by God and his Church, naturally remind us of the favours which we have received, and help us to meditate on the law. (Haydock) --- The Jews, understanding the precept literally, write verses taken from this chapter, and Deuteronomy 6. and xi., upon parchment, and bind these tephilins, or phylacteries, on their forehead. But if these scrolls were requisite, why do they not also put them in their mouth and in their heart? Jesus Christ condemns the vanity of the Pharisees, who wore these bandages extremely large, Matthew 23:5. The Mahometans teach their scholars, by writing the Coran upon a tablet, and exposing it to their view: (Calmet) a plan lately introduced in England with great success by Mr. Lancaster.
Exodus 13:10 Thou shalt keep this observance at the set time from days to days.
Exodus 13:11 And when the Lord shall have brought thee into the land of the Chanaanite, as he swore to thee and thy fathers, and shall give it thee:
Exodus 13:12 *Thou shalt set apart all that openeth the womb for the Lord, and all that is first brought forth of thy cattle: whatsoever thou shalt have of the male sex, thou shalt consecrate to the Lord.

Exodus 22:29.; Exodus 34:19.; Ezechiel 44:30.
Exodus 13:13 The first-born of an ass thou shalt change for a sheep: and if thou do not redeem it, thou shalt kill it. And every first-born of men thou shalt redeem with a price.

Price. No other option is given, as the Levites were selected for the ministry. (Haydock) --- The first offspring of impure animals, were to be redeemed or killed; those of the pure were to be offered in sacrifice, Numbers 18:15. (Philo.) Dogs, cats, poultry, etc. were to be slain, Deuteronomy 23:18. (Calmet)
Exodus 13:14 And when thy son shall ask thee to-morrow, saying: What is this? thou shalt answer him: With a strong hand did the Lord bring us forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

To-morrow. At any future period, Matthew 6:2. (Menochius)
Exodus 13:15 For when Pharao was hardened, and would not let us go, the Lord slew every first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of man to the first-born of beasts: therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all that openeth the womb of the male sex, and all the first-born of my sons I redeem.

Hardened. Hebrew, "by himself," or by his own malice. (Worthington)
Exodus 13:16 *And it shall be as a sign in thy hand, and as a thing hung between thy eyes, for a remembrance: because the Lord hath brought us forth out of Egypt by a strong hand.

Deuteronomy 6:8. 		It. This ordinance shall cause thee never to forget the goodness of God. (Haydock)
Exodus 13:17 And when Pharao had sent out the people, the Lord led them not by the way of the land of the Philistines which is near; thinking lest perhaps they would repent, if they should see wars arise against them, and would return into Egypt.

Lest. God maketh use of precautions, to shew the free-will of man. (Worthington) --- The Philistines had before made a great slaughter of the Ephraimites, 1 Paralipomenon 7:21. The Chanaanites would also be ready to oppose the Hebrews, if they had attempted to enter by the road of Pelusium, and perhaps the Idumeans and Amalecites also would have met them in front, while the Egyptians attacked their rear. (Calmet) --- This journey, Philo says, would not have taken up above three days. The battle with Amalec took place only 40 days afterwards, and God protected his people. (Menochius)
Exodus 13:18 But he led them about by the way of the desert, which is by the Red Sea: and the children of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt.

Armed, in order of battle. Hebrew chamushim, "by fives," or in five battalions. (Josue 1:14; Judges 8:11.) (Calmet) --- Calvin asks where the Hebrews could procure arms, as if to cavil with this translation. But surely they might get them in the same manner as the vessels of gold; and they undoubtedly were not destitute of arms when they encountered the Amalecites, ver. 17. (Haydock)
Exodus 13:19 And Moses took Joseph's bones with him: because he had adjured the children of Israel, saying: *God shall visit you, carry out my bones from hence with you.

Genesis 50:24. 		Joseph's. This attention to the dead is commended, Hebrews 11. (Worthington) --- St. Stephen assures us, that the bones of the other patriarchs were deposited at Sichen; and we may conclude, that they were transported on this occasion by their respective families, Acts 7:16.
Exodus 13:20 And marching from Socoth, they encamped in Etham, in the utmost coasts of the wilderness.

Etham. A city on the banks of the Red Sea, giving its name to one of the gulphs, which the Greeks called after the city of Heropolis. (Pliny, Natural History 6:29.) The Septuagint translate, "They encamped at Othon, which is near the desert;" and (Numbers 32:6,) the Hebrews marched three days in the desert of Buthan, before they arrived at Mara.
Exodus 13:21 *And the Lord went before them to shew the way, by day in a pillar of a cloud, and by night in a pillar of fire; that he might be the guide of their journey at both times.

Numbers 14:14.; 2 Esdras 9:12.; 2 Esdras 19.; 1 Corinthians 10:1.
Exodus 13:22 There never failed the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, before the people.

Never. From the station of Etham; or, if we follow St. Jerome, from that of Socoth, or even from Ramesses, according to Bonfrere, till the passage of the Jordan, when the ark supplied its want, Josue 3:11. This cloud assumed different appearances, as the exigencies of the Hebrews required. It was a figure of baptism; (1 Corinthians 10:1) the fire designated Jesus Christ, and the cloud the Holy Ghost. (St. Ambrose, de Sac. 6.) (Calmet)