Deuteronomy 21:15-17
Legacy Standard Bible
15 “If a man has two wives, the one loved and (A)the other [a]unloved, and both the loved and the [b]unloved have borne him sons, if the firstborn son belongs to the [c]unloved, 16 then it shall be in the day he [d]wills what he has to his sons, he cannot make the son of the loved the firstborn before the son of the [e]unloved, who is the firstborn. 17 But he shall recognize the firstborn, the son of the [f]unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that [g]he has, for he is the (B)first of his vigor; (C)the legal judgment for the firstborn belongs to him.
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- Deuteronomy 21:15 Lit hated
- Deuteronomy 21:15 Lit hated
- Deuteronomy 21:15 Lit hated
- Deuteronomy 21:16 Lit makes to inherit
- Deuteronomy 21:16 Lit hated
- Deuteronomy 21:17 Lit hated
- Deuteronomy 21:17 Lit is found with him
Deuteronomy 21:15-17
New English Translation
Laws Concerning Children
15 Suppose a man has two wives, one whom he loves more than the other,[a] and they both[b] bear him sons, with the firstborn being the child of the less-loved wife. 16 In the day he divides his inheritance[c] he must not appoint as firstborn the son of the favorite wife in place of the other wife’s[d] son who is actually the firstborn. 17 Rather, he must acknowledge the son of the less-loved wife[e] as firstborn and give him the double portion[f] of all he has, for that son is the beginning of his father’s procreative power[g]—to him should go the right of the firstborn.
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- Deuteronomy 21:15 tn Heb “one whom he loves and one whom he hates.” For the idea of שָׂנֵא (saneʾ, “hate”) meaning to be rejected or loved less (cf. NRSV “disliked”), see Gen 29:31, 33; Mal 1:2-3. Cf. A. Konkel, NIDOTTE 3:1256-60.
- Deuteronomy 21:15 tn Heb “both the one whom he loves and the one whom he hates.” On the meaning of the phrase “one whom he loves and one whom he hates” see the note on the word “other” earlier in this verse. The translation has been simplified for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.
- Deuteronomy 21:16 tn Heb “when he causes his sons to inherit what is his.”
- Deuteronomy 21:16 tn Heb “the hated.”
- Deuteronomy 21:17 tn See note on the word “other” in v. 15.
- Deuteronomy 21:17 tn Heb “measure of two.” The Hebrew expression פִּי שְׁנַיִם (pi shenayim) suggests a two-thirds split; that is, the elder gets two parts and the younger one part. Cf. 2 Kgs 2:9; Zech 13:8. The practice is implicit in Isaac’s blessing of Jacob (Gen 25:31-34) and Jacob’s blessing of Ephraim (Gen 48:8-22).
- Deuteronomy 21:17 tn Heb “his generative power” (אוֹן, ʾon; cf. HALOT 22 s.v.). Cf. NAB “the firstfruits of his manhood”; NRSV “the first issue of his virility.”
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