Bible chapter guide

Exodus 13

Israel is to consecrate every firstborn and keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread in memory of the exodus. God leads them not by the coast road but the wilderness way towards the Red Sea, with Joseph's bones, in a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night.

Summary written for the Labs; read the chapter itself for the full text.

What happens in this chapter

God claims every firstborn in Israel, human and animal, and Moses tells the people to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread each year in the month Abib and to explain it to their children. Firstborn sons and firstborn donkeys are to be redeemed, in memory of the night the LORD killed Egypt's firstborn. When Pharaoh lets them go, God does not lead them by the short road through Philistine country, for fear that the sight of war would send them back to Egypt, but round by the wilderness road towards the Red Sea. Moses carries Joseph's bones, as Joseph had made Israel swear, and from Succoth they camp at Etham on the edge of the wilderness, led by a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night.

What the lab shows, and where to look

The Exodus lab gives this chapter its own stop, The pillar of cloud and fire, with two moments: cloud by day, then Fire by night. Exodus says the pillar went before them and did not leave them, but never says what it looked like, so its height, shape and light in the lab are marked artistic. On the map the stop follows the march from Succoth to Etham, the edge of the wilderness. The same pillar appears later in the Tabernacle lab, where the cloud rests over the Tent of Meeting.

Questions people ask

Why didn't God lead Israel the short way to Canaan?

Exodus 13:17 gives the reason: the road through the land of the Philistines was near, but God said the people might change their minds when they saw war and go back to Egypt. So he led them round by the wilderness towards the Red Sea. Egyptian texts and excavations in north Sinai show forts along that coast road in the New Kingdom, which would explain the danger, though Exodus does not mention them.

Textually stated

What was the pillar of cloud and fire?

The text presents it as the LORD himself going before Israel, a cloud by day and fire by night, and says it did not leave them (13:21–22). At the sea it moved behind them, dark towards Egypt and light towards Israel (14:19–20). Natural explanations, from a volcano to a signal fire carried at the head of the march, are guesses the text does not support.

Textually stated

Why did Moses take Joseph's bones?

Joseph had made Israel swear that when God visited them they would carry his bones up from Egypt (Genesis 50:25; Exodus 13:19). They carried them through the wilderness, and Joshua 24:32 records their burial at Shechem, in the plot Jacob had bought.

Textually stated

See it in the Labs

Follow the Exodus route in 3D, from the Red Sea to Sinai

Places

Succoth Theory: a northern lake

Also in this chapter

Pillar of Cloud and Fire The pillar of cloud and fire The first Passover Yam Suph: 'the sea of reeds'

How sure can we be?

Textually stated
A pillar of cloud led by day and a pillar of fire by night, and it did not depart.
Stated in Exodus 13:21–22 and recalled in Nehemiah 9:12 and Psalm 105:39.
Speculative
Lake Sirbonis on the Mediterranean coast was the sea.
It depends on placing Baal-zephon at Mount Casius and sits awkwardly with Exodus 13:17, which turns Israel away from the coast road.

Explore this chapter in the Knowledge Graph

Read the chapter

King James Version (KJV) Chinese Union Version, 1919 (Wikisource)