“And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the LORD did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt.”
My Notes
What Does Exodus 13:8 Mean?
God commands parents to tell their children the Exodus story in the first person: "This is done because of that which the LORD did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt." Not "our ancestors." Me. The parent is instructed to speak as if they personally came out of Egypt. The story isn't distant history. It's personal testimony spoken across generations as if each generation experienced it.
The Passover teaching is specifically parent-to-child: "thou shalt shew thy son." The transmission of faith is primarily familial, not institutional. The synagogue didn't teach the Exodus first. The parent did. At the table. On the night. To the child asking questions. The most important theological education in Israel's life happened at home.
The first-person language—"what the LORD did unto me"—creates participatory memory. Every generation is included in the original event. The father at the Passover table in 500 BC speaks as if he personally walked through the Red Sea. The identification isn't pretend. It's theological: what God did at the Exodus, He did for every generation that would follow. The deliverance wasn't a one-time event. It's an ongoing reality that each generation enters through the retelling.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Are you telling the story of God's work in your life—in first person—to the next generation?
- 2.If the primary transmission of faith is parent-to-child at the dinner table, is that happening in your home?
- 3.Do you claim the Exodus story (and the gospel) as your personal story—'what the LORD did unto me'—or as distant history?
- 4.What is the most important thing God has done for you that your children need to hear about in first person?
Devotional
"What the LORD did unto me." Not our ancestors. Me. The parent tells the child: this happened to me. I came out of Egypt. I was delivered. The story is told in first person because it isn't history. It's identity. Every generation that tells the Exodus story is participating in it—not observing from a distance but claiming it as their own.
God designed the primary transmission of faith to be parent-to-child. Not teacher-to-student. Not pastor-to-congregation. Parent-to-child. At the dinner table. On a specific night. In response to a child's question. The most important theology your child will ever learn is the theology you teach at your table—not the theology someone else teaches from a platform.
The first-person telling creates something powerful: a child who hears "the LORD brought me out of Egypt" from their parent doesn't just learn history. They learn identity. They belong to a story. They're part of a people whose defining event isn't something that happened to strangers long ago. It's something that happened to us. To me. And now to you, because you're my child and you're in this story too.
If you're a parent—or any kind of spiritual parent—this verse defines your primary job: tell the story. In first person. At your table. To your children. Not "a long time ago, far away." "This is what the LORD did unto me." Make the story personal. Make it yours. And pass it on as if your child's identity depends on it—because it does.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And thou shall show thy son in that day,.... On the first of the days of the feast of unleavened bread, the reason of…
Care is here taken to perpetuate the remembrance,
I. Of the preservation of Israel's firstborn, when the firstborn of…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture