Does Exodus 22:28 call for child sacrifice?

Question

In Genesis, we see a motif of first-born sons being overly aggressive and ambitious. Kain slays Abel out of a jealous wrath. Firstborn Esau and Jacob have a long-running rivalry that ends with Jacob fleeing in fear of his life. Jacob's fear of Esua is so great that 20 years do not diminish it. Rueben attempts to usurp his father's authority by sleeping with the concubines.

At other times, the slights on the firstborn are more subtle. When Jacob/Israel blesses the sons of Joseph, he intentionally chooses the younger to receive the blessing. Genesis even points out that this was unexpected and displeased Joseph.

The theme culminates in the final plague of the Exodus when God slays the first born of Egypt. Shortly thereafter, God gives the commands for how the people are to live in the Land. One of those commands is quite surprising in light of the rest of the Bible. Exodus chapter 22:28 (with leading and trailing context) is not ambiguous:

You will not curse God, and a prince of your people, you will not smear. For your goods and your wine-pressings do not be late, your eldest son offer to me. Thus you will do for your oxen and your sheep: seven days it will be with its mother, on the eighth day, give to me. And a holy people thou shalt be to me, and predated carcasses in the field you will not eat, you shalt throw it to the dogs.—Exodus 22:27-29 (Wikiproject Wiki Bible, emphasis added)

The context makes "give to me" clear—it means sacrifice. Placed parallel with "offer," this is a call for child sacrifice. Although this interpretation is, of course, impossible in the context of the rest of the Bible. However, child sacrifice is documented in the religions of the Ancient Near East.

However, later on in Exodus, one reads:

All that breaks opens a womb, and all your livestock remember, first birth a bull and a sheep. And first birth of donkeys you will redeem with a sheep, and if you will not redeem it, break its neck. All your firstborn sons, redeem, and they will not see my face devoid of these.—Exodus 34:19-20 (Wikiproject Wiki Bible)

The call is to kill all that is firstborn of animals. The exceptions are donkeys, which one may redeem with a sheep, and sons which must be "redeemed." One can interpret this verse as saying that an animal sacrifice must be substituted for a human male.

Does Exodus 22:28 call for killing firstborn sons in ritual child sacrifice?

Answer 1

Offering the eldest, the firtsborn, the firstfruits, etc is all about putting God in the forefront of your life.

This is shown clearly in 1 Samuel 1 where Hannah dedicates her firstborn son to the Lord in service:

She made a vow and said, "O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head."

This is evidenced in myriad other places throughout the Bible - where the firstborn was to be consecrated to the Lord for the potential of special service.

With regards to the comment made about the "firstborn sacrifice logic of Exodus" - the firstborn of Egypt were not "sacrificed": it was a punishment from God against the nation of Egypt, with a clear and simple means to avoiding the judgement (the blood on the lintel posts of the door which became known as the Passover to be celebrated in perpetuity throughout Israel's history until it is fulfilled in Christ).

Answer 2

Without the proper knowledge/context, it appears so incredibly heinous and damning coming from the Heavenly Father as a clear command to sacrifice the first born human and animal. We see also see it in Exodus 13 (verses 12-16):

“...you are to give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb...in days to come when your son asks you, ‘what does this mean?’ say to him, with a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, the land of slavery. When pharaoh refused to let us go, the Lord killed every firstborn in Egypt, both man and animal. This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons...”

We might deduce from the verses above that it was a way to “even the scales” because of the Lord killing the Egyptian babies and animals before Moses and Aaron led them out to the east/northeast. It demonstrates both sympathy and that God loves everyone (even the tyrannical at the time). Commanded child sacrifice among the Hebrews did not last for more than a few generations.

It’s also important to understand that the Hebrews were treated so unbelievably bad as slaves for a few hundred years after losing control of the food supply that Joseph son of Jacob was able to spearhead. The Israeli tribes were abused and became reckless, primitive spirits, often with very little education and self-control. This gives light to the appropriate nature of such a harsh and divisive temporary set of laws for the former slaves. Without the extreme consequences (and/or threat of them) for their actions, the judges’ laws would have had little to no effect.