The Firstborn of Egypt and Israel

Exodus 11:5
And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die… 

Although the Torah is explicit that the firstborn males of God's people belong to him, it is implicit that the firstborn males of all other nations also belong to him. No matter one’s cultural inheritance, God’s intent for the firstborn is to act as his family's kinsman redeemer. In taking the firstborn, as opposed to the youngest or the strongest, God denied the Egyptians their kinsmen redeemers. In effect, he told the Egyptians that there was no recourse other than repentance and accepting him as their ultimate redeemer.

Exodus 13:15
...all that openeth the matrix... There appear to be two ways to interpret this phrase. I do not know which is correct, but I suspect the first:

1. "Firstborn" refers to the firstborn child of his father. "Openeth the matrix" is a figure of speech extending from the fact that most households, even in a polygamous culture, will have only one man and one woman, and should not be taken literally. Every house with male children must have a firstborn and only one firstborn. If the first child born in a house is a female, she was the one to "open the matrix," but she is not called the firstborn. If there are two or three wives in a house, there will be a first child born of each wife, but only one firstborn in the house.


2. "Firstborn" refers to the firstborn child of his mother. If a man has ten wives, each of whom bears sons, then ten sons must be redeemed. "Firstborn of man" in verse 13 should be understood to mean "firstborn humans."