I’m your host Lance Smith. Join us each week as we dive headfirst into the most perplexing, intriguing, and downright baffling passages of the Bible—from the chaotic beginnings in Genesis to the mind-bending visions of Revelation. We’re not just reading; we’re unraveling, exploring, and making sense of it all in a way that’s as entertaining as it is enlightening. Whether you’re a scripture novice or a seasoned theologian, get ready for a journey that promises to be anything but ordinary. Fasten your seatbelts; your scriptural adventure awaits!
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I’m your host Lance Smith. Join us each week as we dive headfirst into the most perplexing, intriguing, and downright baffling passages of the Bible—from the chaotic beginnings in Genesis to the mind-bending visions of Revelation. We’re not just reading; we’re unraveling, exploring, and making sense of it all in a way that’s as entertaining as it is enlightening. Whether you’re a scripture novice or a seasoned theologian, get ready for a journey that promises to be anything but ordinary. Fasten your seatbelts; your scriptural adventure awaits!
Exodus 34:20 – The Donkey Dilemma: Redeem, Sacrifice, or Break Its Neck?
The Bible Difficulties and Answers Podcast
11 minutes
2 weeks ago
Exodus 34:20 – The Donkey Dilemma: Redeem, Sacrifice, or Break Its Neck?
Episode 180 unpacks Exodus 34:20 and the curious law about firstborn donkeys—why a lamb can substitute, when the donkey must be killed, and how later law allows monetary redemption.
Host Lance Smith explains the theological principle that the firstborn belong to God, explores historical and practical reasons for the changing method from livestock to silver, and connects the ritual to themes of substitutionary redemption and devotion.
References to items discussed and/or used on this podcast may be found at the following:
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Email Address: bibledifficultiesandanswers@gmail.com
Geisler, Norman L., and Thomas Howe. The Big Book of Bible Difficulties. Baker Books, 1992. Available at: https://a.co/d/7shn4hI
Fraser, Andrew. "Exodus 34: Covenantal Ethnotheology and the (Re-)Birth of the First Holy Nation." The Occidental Quarterly, vol. 16, no. 3, Fall 2016, pp. 71-80.
Frankel, Rabbi Dr. David. "Laws of the Firstborn: How They Were Connected to the Tenth Plague." TheTorah.com, 2023. https://www.thetorah.com/article/laws-of-the-firstborn-how-they-were-connected-to-the-tenth-plague
Danam, Gnanadas. "The Sacrifice of the Firstborn in the Hebrew Bible." PhD thesis, University of Leeds, 2018. https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/21729/1/The%20Sacrifice%20of%20the%20Firstbron%20in%20the%20Hebrew%20Bible.pdf
"Exodus 34:20." StudyLight.org Commentary. https://www.studylight.org/commentary/exodus/34-20.html
"Morning Musing: Exodus 34:19-20." The-Nexus.blog, October 22, 2024. https://the-nexus.blog/2024/10/22/morning-musing-exodus-3419-20/
"Meaning of Exodus 34:20." Bible.art. https://bible.art/meaning/exodus-34:20
The Bible Difficulties and Answers Podcast
I’m your host Lance Smith. Join us each week as we dive headfirst into the most perplexing, intriguing, and downright baffling passages of the Bible—from the chaotic beginnings in Genesis to the mind-bending visions of Revelation. We’re not just reading; we’re unraveling, exploring, and making sense of it all in a way that’s as entertaining as it is enlightening. Whether you’re a scripture novice or a seasoned theologian, get ready for a journey that promises to be anything but ordinary. Fasten your seatbelts; your scriptural adventure awaits!
