Editing Pidyon haben (section)

==Origin==
[[File:Pidyon HaBen P6020058.JPG|thumb|right|200px|The silver tray, the silver coins and the glass for the wine]]
In the [[Hebrew Bible]] the laws (see [[mitzvah]]) concerning the redemption of the first-born male are referred to in [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]], [[Book of Numbers|Numbers]] and [[Leviticus]]:
{{quote|You shall set apart for [[Tetragrammaton|יהוה]] every first issue of the womb: every male firstling that your cattle drop shall be יהוה’s. 
But every firstling ass you shall redeem with a sheep; if you do not redeem it, you must break its neck. And you must redeem every male first-born among your children. 
And when, in time to come, a child of yours asks you, saying, "What does this mean?" you shall reply, "It was with a mighty hand that יהוה brought us out from Egypt, the house of bondage. 
When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, יהוה slew every [male] first-born in the land of Egypt, the firstborn of both human and beast. Therefore I sacrifice to יהוה every first male issue of the womb, but redeem every male first-born among my children."
|{{Bibleverse|Exodus|13:12–15|HE}}}}

The redemption price for firstborn non-Levites was set at 5 [[shekel]]s:
{{quote|The first [male] issue of the womb of every being, human or beast, that is offered to יהוה, shall be yours; but you shall have the male first-born of human beings redeemed, and you shall also have the firstling of impure animals redeemed. 
Take as their redemption price, from the age of one month up, the money equivalent of five shekels by the sanctuary weight, which is twenty gerahs.|{{Bibleverse|Numbers|18:15-16|HE}}}}

The [[arakhin]] laws set the redemption price of different classes of people whose "value" was consecrated; the price for a male child under five years is similarly five shekels.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Leviticus|27:6|HE}}</ref>

The Torah describes the [[tribe of Levi]] (to which the priests belong) as having inherited the role of divine service which previously belonged to the firstborns:
{{quote|I hereby take the Levites from among the Israelites in place of all the male first-born, the first issue of the womb among the Israelites: the Levites shall be Mine. 
For every male first-born is Mine: at the time that I smote every [male] first-born in the land of Egypt, I consecrated every male first-born in Israel, human and beast, to Myself, to be Mine, יהוה’s.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Numbers|3:12-13|HE}}</ref>}}

According to the traditional rabbinic interpretation, even before the Exodus the priestly duties were reserved for the oldest son in each family.<ref>Bereishis Rabbah 63:13; Zevachim 112; Bechoros 4; {{Alhatorah|Genesis|25:31|Rashi}}</ref>

The priesthood was given specifically to the [[kohanim]] ([[Aaron]] and his descendants), and at the same time, it was instituted that the firstborn should be redeemed. The replacement of firstborns with Levites occurred following the [[golden calf]] episode,<ref>{{Bibleverse|Deuteronomy|10:8|HE}}</ref> during that episode the Levites remained loyal to God.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Exodus|32:26|HE}}</ref>