SEV Biblia, Chapter 12:29
¶ Y aconteció que a la medianoche el SEÑOR hirió a todo primogénito en la tierra de Egipto, desde el primogénito del Faraón que estaba sentado sobre su trono, hasta el primogénito del cautivo que estaba en la cárcel, y todo primogénito de los animales.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Exodus 12:29
Verse 29. Smote all the first born] If we take the term first-born in its literal sense only, we shall be led to conclude that in a vast number of the houses of the Egyptians there could have been no death, as it is not at all likely that every first-born child of every Egyptian family was still alive, and that all the first-born of their cattle still remained. And yet it is said, ver. 30, that there was not a house where there was not one dead. The word therefore must not be taken in its literal sense only. From its use in a great variety of places in the Scriptures it is evident that it means the chief, most excellent, best beloved, most distinguished, &c. In this sense our blessed Lord is called the FIRST-BORN of every creature, Co i. 15, and the FIRST-BORN among many brethren, Rom. viii. 29; that is, he is more excellent than all creatures, and greater than all the children of men. In the same sense we may understand Rev. i. 5, where CHRIST is called the FIRST-BEGOTTEN from the dead, i.e., the chief of all that have ever visited the empire of death, and on whom death has had any power; and the only one who by his own might quickened himself. In the same sense wisdom is represented as being brought forth before all the creatures, and being possessed by the Lord in the beginning of his ways, Prov. viii. 22-30; that is, the wisdom of God is peculiarly conspicuous in the production, arrangement, and government of every part of the creation. So Ephraim is called the Lord's FIRST-BORN, Jer. xxxi. 9. And the people of Israel are often called by the same name, see chap. iv. 22: Israel is my son, my FIRST-BORN; that is, the people in whom I particularly delight, and whom I will especially support and defend. And because the first-born are in general peculiarly dear to their parents, and because among the Jews they had especial and peculiar privileges, whatever was most dear, most valuable, and most prized, was thus denominated. So Micah vi. 7: Shall I give my FIRST-BORN for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? Shall I give up the most beloved child I have, he that is most dear and most necessary to me, in order to make an atonement for my sins! In like manner the Prophet Zechariah, speaking of the conversion of the Jews to the Gospel of Christ, represents them as looking on him whom they have pierced, and being as one that is in bitterness for his FIRST-BORN; that is, they shall feel distress and anguish as those who had lost their most beloved child. So the Church triumphant in the kingdom of God are called, Heb. xii. 23, the general assembly and Church of the FIRST-BORN, i.e., the most noble and excellent of all human if not created beings. So Homer, Il. iv., ver. c2: arnwn prwtogonwn rexein kleithn ekatombhn? "A hecatomb of lambs all firstlings of the flock." That is, the most excellent of their kind.
In a contrary sense, when the word first-born is joined to another that signifies any kind of misery or disgrace, it then signifies the depth of misery, the utmost disgrace. So the FIRST-BORN of the poor, Isa. xiv. 30, signifies the most abject, destitute, and impoverished. The FIRST-BORN of death, Job xviii. 13, means the most horrible kind of death. So in the threatening against Pharaoh, chap. xi. 5, where he informs him that he will slay all the first-born, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon the throne; to the first born of the maid-servant that is behind the mill, he takes in the very highest and lowest conditions of life. As there was no state in Egypt superior to the throne, so there was none inferior to that of the female slave that ground at the mill. The Prophet Habakkuk seems to fix this as the sense in which the word is used here; for speaking of the plagues of Egypt in general, and the salvation which God afforded his people, he says, Hab. iii. 13: Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people-thou woundedst the HEAD ( ar rosh, the chief, the most excellent) of the house of the wicked - of Pharaoh and the Egyptians.
And the author of the book of Wisdom understood it in the same way: The master and the servant were punished after one manner; and like as the king, so suffered the common people- for in one moment the NOBLEST OFFSPRING of them was destroyed, Wisdom xviii. 11, 12. And in no other sense can we understand the word in Psa. lxxxix. 27, where, among the promises of God to David, we find the following: Also I will make him my FIRST-BORN, higher than the kings of the earth; in which passage the latter clause explains the former; David, as king, should be the FIRST-BORN, of God, i.e., he should be higher than the kings of the earth - the MOST EMINENT potentate in the universe. In this sense, therefore, we should understand the passage in question; the most eminent person in every family in Egypt, as well as those who were literally the first-born, being slain in this plague. Calmet and some other critics particularly contend for this sense.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 29-36 - The Egyptians had been for three days and nights kept in anxiety an horror by the darkness; now their rest is broken by a far more terribl calamity. The plague struck their first-born, the joy and hope of their families. They had slain the Hebrews' children, now God slew theirs. I reached from the throne to the dungeon: prince and peasant stand upo the same level before God's judgments. The destroying angel entere every dwelling unmarked with blood, as the messenger of woe. He did his dreadful errand, leaving not a house in which there was not one dead Imagine then the cry that rang through the land of Egypt, the long loud shriek of agony that burst from every dwelling. It will be thus in that dreadful hour when the Son of man shall visit sinners with the last judgment. God's sons, his first-born, were now released. Men ha better come to God's terms at first, for he will never come to theirs Now Pharaoh's pride is abased, and he yields. God's word will stand; we get nothing by disputing, or delaying to submit. In this terror the Egyptians would purchase the favour and the speedy departure of Israel Thus the Lord took care that their hard-earned wages should be paid and the people provided for their journey.
Original Hebrew
ויהי 1961 בחצי 2677 הלילה 3915 ויהוה 3068 הכה 5221 כל 3605 בכור 1060 בארץ 776 מצרים 4714 מבכר 1060 פרעה 6547 הישׁב 3427 על 5921 כסאו 3678 עד 5704 בכור 1060 השׁבי 7628 אשׁר 834 בבית 1004 הבור 953 וכל 3605 בכור 1060 בהמה׃ 929
