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| Halakhic texts relating to this article | |
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| Torah: | Exodus 13:12–15 Exodus 22:29 Exodus 34:20 Numbers 3:45 Numbers 8:17 Numbers 18:16 Leviticus 12:2–4 |
| Shulchan Aruch: | Yoreh De'ah 305 |
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Priestly covenant |
The pidyon haben (Hebrew: פדיון הבן) or redemption of the first-born son[1] is a mitzvah in Judaism whereby a Jewish firstborn son is "redeemed" with money.
The redemption is attained by paying five silver coins to a kohen (a patrilineal descendant of the priestly family of Aaron), on behalf of one's firstborn son. Another object of equivalent value may also be used.
Pidyon haben is a relatively rare ceremony. A family does not perform the ceremony if their firstborn is either a girl, or born by caesarian section, or preceded by a miscarriage (although some early miscarriages do not count as miscarriages), or if either grandfather is a Kohen or a Levite.
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Cohen, Eugene Joseph (1984). Guide to ritual circumcision and redemption of the first-born son. Vol. 1: The Redemption of the First-Born.
A mother's first-born is to be dedicated to the service of God, in accordance with the verse, 'Sanctify the first-born who opens the womb.' This sanctification was the result of an historical event.
They have attributed healing properties to the stick. [54] Redemption of the First-Born Son. A first child has special significance for both parents, and this was as true in biblical times as today, but then only when the child was male.
In Jewish tradition, the first-born son is to be 'redeemed' from God. This originates in the belief that God 'acquired' the Israelite first-born by sparing them from 'makkat bekhorot'.