Discovery BoxExodus 13:2 
Context13:2 “Set apart 1 to me every firstborn male – the first offspring of every womb 2 among the Israelites, whether human or animal; it is mine.” 3
Exodus 19:7
Context19:7 So Moses came and summoned the elders of Israel. He set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him,
Exodus 25:37
Context25:37 “You are to make its seven lamps, 4 and then set 5 its lamps up on it, so that it will give light 6 to the area in front of it.
Exodus 26:32
Context26:32 You are to hang it 7 with gold hooks 8 on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold, set in 9 four silver bases.
Exodus 28:17
Context28:17 You are to set in it a setting for stones, four rows of stones, a row with a ruby, a topaz, and a beryl – the first row;
Exodus 39:6
Context39:6 They set the onyx stones in gold filigree settings, engraved as with the engravings of a seal 10 with the names of the sons of Israel. 11
Exodus 39:10
Context39:10 They set on it 12 four rows of stones: a row with a ruby, a topaz, and a beryl – the first row;
Exodus 40:33
Context40:33 And he set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and the altar, and put the curtain at the gate of the courtyard. So Moses finished the work.
1 tn The verb “sanctify” is the Piel imperative of קָדַשׁ (qadash). In the Qal stem it means “be holy, be set apart, be distinct,” and in this stem “sanctify, set apart.”
sn Here is the central principle of the chapter – the firstborn were sacred to God and must be “set apart” (the meaning of the verb “sanctify”) for his use.
2 tn The word פֶּטֶּר (petter) means “that which opens”; this construction literally says, “that which opens every womb,” which means “the first offspring of every womb.” Verses 12 and 15 further indicate male offspring.
3 tn Heb “to me it.” The preposition here expresses possession; the construction is simply “it [is, belongs] to me.”
4 tn The word for “lamps” is from the same root as the lampstand, of course. The word is נֵרוֹת (nerot). This probably refers to the small saucer-like pottery lamps that are made very simply with the rim pinched over to form a place to lay the wick. The bowl is then filled with olive oil as fuel.
5 tn The translation “set up on” is from the Hebrew verb “bring up.” The construction is impersonal, “and he will bring up,” meaning “one will bring up.” It may mean that people were to fix the lamps on to the shaft and the branches, rather than cause the light to go up (see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 277).
6 tn This is a Hiphil perfect with vav consecutive, from אוֹר (’or, “light”), and in the causative, “to light, give light.”
7 tn Heb “put it.”
8 tn This clause simply says “and their hooks gold,” but is taken as a circumstantial clause telling how the veil will be hung.
9 tn Heb “on four silver bases.”
10 tn Or “as seals are engraved.”
11 sn The twelve names were those of Israel’s sons. The idea was not the remembrance of the twelve sons as such, but the twelve tribes that bore their names.
12 tn That is, they set in mountings.
