the first offspring to open a mother's womb, whether a child or a newborn animal, which the law set apart for God
This word picks out the offspring that first breaks a womb open. The verb behind it (פָּטַר) means to set free or let out, so the noun describes the birth from the mother's side: the young that first forces the passage open. English "firstborn" reports the result, while this word reports the event.
That is why it appears only in the laws about giving God the first of every birth, and it turns up in just two shapes. Usually the word for "womb" follows it, and the phrase then covers people and livestock together: every mother's first, human or animal, belongs to God. Four times an animal is named instead, and the word simply means that animal's first young, whether a donkey, an ox, or a sheep.
The law did not treat every first birth the same way:
- a firstborn son had to be bought back with a redemption payment
- a firstling donkey had to be bought back with a lamb, or else have its neck broken
- a firstling ox or sheep was handed over and offered in sacrifice
The one text outside the law is Ezekiel 20:26, where the prophet uses the same phrase for what Israel handed over and says the practice left the nation defiled. Scholars disagree about exactly which practice he has in view, and the verse is one of the hardest in the book.