<p>2:23 <i>(As it is written in the law of the Lord: Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord)</i>- Again we note the medical language of the day; for the womb is not literally opened by the birth of a firstborn child. The quotation from Ex. 13:2 concerns how the dedication of the firstborn was to be a reminder of how the slain lamb had saved the firstborn from death at the time of the exodus. The dedication of the firstborn was therefore to effectively say: 'This child ought to have died. It will not die, but will be dedicated to the Lord as a living death, a life lived out for Him and not for self'. And the Lord was therefore the supreme firstborn, to the point that &quot;the firstborn&quot; is a title for Him (Col. 1:18; Heb. 12:23).</p>