So it shall serve as a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead, for with a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.”
Parallel translations
- WEB It shall be for a sign on your hand, and for symbols between your eyes: for by strength of hand Yahweh brought us out of Egypt.”
- KJV And it shall be for a token upon thine hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt.
- NKJV It shall be as a sign on your hand and as frontlets between your eyes, for by strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”
- NASB So it shall serve as a sign on your hand and as phylacteries on your forehead, for with a powerful hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”
- NLT This ceremony will be like a mark branded on your hand or your forehead. It is a reminder that the power of the Lord’s mighty hand brought us out of Egypt.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The redemption of the firstborn is to be a memorial sign, reminding Israel that Yahweh's mighty hand alone brought them out of Egypt.
Overview
Like the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread, the consecration of the firstborn is to function as a 'sign on the hand' and 'symbols between the eyes,' a vivid reminder etched into daily life. The reason given is the redemptive event itself: 'by strength of hand Yahweh brought us out of Egypt.' Israel's identity is grounded in remembered grace, a pattern fulfilled in believers who remember a greater exodus accomplished by Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Exod 13:9It shall be a sign for you on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the Law of the LORD is to be on your lips. For with a mighty hand the LORD brought you out of Egypt.
- Deut 11:18Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
- Exod 13:14In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you are to tell him, ‘With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
- Deut 6:7–9And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
- Deut 26:8Then the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror, signs, and wonders.
- Exod 12:13The blood on the houses where you are staying will distinguish them; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will fall on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
- Matt 23:5All their deeds are done for men to see. They broaden their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 13:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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