Exodus 13.2 Philistines Ahead and Egyptians to the Rear

Scripture with the Fathers · Apr 21, 2026 · 20m

The Israelites are lead away from Egypt and as they leave, are instructed sacrifice the first to open the womb to the Lord of all the clean animals, and to redeem the unclean and the humans. St. Cyril gives us a Christological view of this redemption. As they leave Egypt, God instructs the Israelites to not take the Philistine road, the shortest route to Canaan, but rather toward the wilderness and the Reed Sea. The Ephraimites had met their destruction along the road of the Philistines and were destroyed. Who were the Ephraimites? We look ahead in the Book of Chronicles to answer that…