Only the firstling of the beasts, which should be the LORD'S firstling, no man shall sanctify it; whether it be ox, or sheep: it is the LORD'S.

Only the firstling among beasts, which is made a firstling to Jehovah, no man shall sanctify it; whether it be ox or sheep, it is Jehovah's.

The firstborn, which belong to the Lord, no man may sanctify and vow: whether it be bullock, or sheep, they are the Lord's.

Only the firstling which is offered as firstling to Jehovah among the cattle, that shall no man hallow, whether it be ox or sheep; it is Jehovah's.

Only, a firstling which is Jehovah's firstling among beasts, no man doth sanctify it, whether ox or sheep; it is Jehovah's.

But a man may not give by oath to the Lord the first-fruits of cattle which are offered to the Lord: if it is an ox or a sheep it is the Lord's.

Howbeit the firstling among beasts, which is born as a firstling to the LORD, no man shall sanctify it; whether it be ox or sheep, it is the LORD'S.

The firstborn, which belong to the Lord, no one is able to sanctify or vow, whether it is an ox, or a sheep, they are for the Lord.

Veruntamen primogeniture quod jure primogeniturae debetur Jehovae inter animalia, nemo consecrabit: sive bos, sive ovis, Jehovae est.

Only the firstling of the beasts. Here a caution is interposed, that none should offer what is already the property of God. For since men are so greatly given to ostentation, and therefore in testifying their piety whitewash two walls, as the saying is, out of the same pot, God provides against this sin by forbidding the first-born to be offered to Him, since that would be to present stolen goods to Him. The sum is, that they should not, by consecrating to God what is already due to Him, steal from Him in their fictitious liberality what is consecrated and not their own. Nor let us be surprised at this law, because this ambition is almost natural to us all, to desire to lay God under obligation by the empty appearance of liberality, and therefore to seek for various grounds of boasting of religious duties, which, after all, are nought. And, undoubtedly, if this restraint had not been put upon the Jews, they would have aimed at the reputation of double zeal by this deceitful oblation, nor would they have scrupled, under the pretext of offering, to deprive God of what was His own.

Only the firstling of the beasts, which should be the LORD'S firstling, no man shall sanctify it; whether [it be] ox, or sheep: it [is] the (n) LORD'S.
(n) It was the Lord's already.

Only the firstlings of the beasts,.... These are excepted from being sanctified, or set apart for sacred uses, for a very good reason, suggested in the next clause:
which should be the Lord's firstling, no man shall sanctify it; it being what he has a claim upon, and ordered to be sanctified to him by a law previous to this, Exodus 13:2; wherefore to sanctify such a creature, would be to sanctify what was his before; not merely in a general sense, in which all creatures are his, but in a special sense, having in a peculiar manner required it as his; and therefore to sanctify, or vow to him, what was his before, must be trifling with him, and mocking of him:
whether it be ox, or sheep; the firstlings of either of them:
it is the Lord's; which he has claimed as his own special and peculiar property, antecedent to any vow of its owner.

Things or persons devoted, are distinguished from things or persons that were only sanctified. Devoted things were most holy to the Lord, and could neither be taken back nor applied to other purposes. Whatever productions they had the benefit, God must be honoured with the tenth of, if it could be applied. Thus they acknowledge God to be the Owner of their land, the Giver of its fruits, and themselves to be his tenants, and dependants upon him. Thus they gave him thanks for the plenty they enjoyed, and besought his favour in the continuance of it. We are taught to honour the Lord with our substance.

Only the firstling of the beasts--These, in the case of clean beasts, being consecrated to God by a universal and standing law (Exodus 13:12; Exodus 34:19), could not be devoted; and in that of unclean beasts, were subject to the rule mentioned (Leviticus 27:11-12).

What belonged to the Lord by law could not be dedicated to Him by a vow, especially the first-born of clean cattle (cf. Exodus 13:1-2). The first-born of unclean animals were to be redeemed according to the valuation of the priest, with the addition of a fifth; and if this was not done, it was to be sold at the estimated value. By this regulation the earlier law, which commanded that an ass should either be redeemed with a sheep or else be put to death (Exodus 13:13; Exodus 34:20), was modified in favour of the revenues of the sanctuary and its servants.

No man shall sanctify it - By vow; because it is not his own, but the Lord's already, and therefore to vow such a thing to God is a tacit derogation from, and an usurpation of the Lord's right, and a mocking of God by pretending to give what we cannot withhold from him. Or ox or sheep - Under these two eminent kinds he comprehends all other beasts which might be sacrificed to God, the firstlings whereof could not be redeemed but were to be sacrificed; whereas the firstlings of men were to be redeemed, and therefore were capable of being vowed, as we see, 1-Samuel 1:11.