Limitless Word
You must not hold back offerings from your granaries or vats. You are to give Me the firstborn of your sons.
Exodus 22:29 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB “You shall not delay to offer from your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. “You shall give the firstborn of your sons to me.
  • KJV Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.
  • NKJV “You shall not delay to offer the first of your ripe produce and your juices. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me.
  • NASB “You shall not hold back the offering from your entire harvest and your wine. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me.
  • NLT “You must not hold anything back when you give me offerings from your crops and your wine. “You must give me your firstborn sons.

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

Israel must not delay offering the firstfruits of harvest and presses, and must give God their firstborn sons. The first and best belong to the Lord.

Overview

This command claims the firstfruits and firstborn as God's due, acknowledging Him as the giver of all and the redeemer of Israel's firstborn from Egypt. Prompt, wholehearted giving expresses trust and gratitude. The firstborn principle finds its fulfillment in Christ, the firstborn of all creation, given by the Father for our redemption (Colossians 1:15).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 14

  • Exod 13:2“Consecrate to Me every firstborn male. The firstborn from every womb among the Israelites belongs to Me, both of man and beast.”
  • Exod 23:16You are also to keep the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field. And keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather your produce from the field.
  • Deut 26:2–10you are to take some of the firstfruits of all your produce from the soil of the land that the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name,
  • Jas 1:18He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of His creation.
  • Exod 23:19Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
  • Rom 8:23Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
  • Prov 3:9–10Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your harvest;
  • Mic 7:1Woe is me! For I am like one gathering summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard; there is no cluster to eat, no early fig that I crave.
  • Exod 13:12you are to present to the LORD the firstborn male of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the LORD.
  • Exod 34:19The first offspring of every womb belongs to Me, including all the firstborn males among your livestock, whether cattle or sheep.
  • Matt 6:33But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
  • 2 Kgs 4:42Now a man from Baal-shalishah came to the man of God with a sack of twenty loaves of barley bread from the first ripe grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” said Elisha.
  • Ezek 20:40For on My holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, there the whole house of Israel, all of them, will serve Me in the land. There I will accept them and will require your offerings and choice gifts, along with all your holy sacrifices.
  • 2 Chr 31:5As soon as the order went out, the Israelites generously provided the firstfruits of the grain, new wine, oil, and honey, and of all the produce of the field, and they brought in an abundance—a tithe of everything.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Exodus videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Exodus 22:29YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ExodusMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 22:29 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.