Deuteronomy 21:15-17
New International Version
The Right of the Firstborn
15 If a man has two wives,(A) and he loves one but not the other, and both bear him sons but the firstborn is the son of the wife he does not love,(B) 16 when he wills his property to his sons, he must not give the rights of the firstborn to the son of the wife he loves in preference to his actual firstborn, the son of the wife he does not love.(C) 17 He must acknowledge the son of his unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double(D) share of all he has. That son is the first sign of his father’s strength.(E) The right of the firstborn belongs to him.(F)
Deuteronomy 21:15-17
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Right of the Firstborn
15 “If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved bear him sons, and if the unloved wife has the firstborn son, 16 when that man gives what he has to his sons as an inheritance, he is not to show favoritism to the son of the loved wife as his firstborn over the firstborn of the unloved wife. 17 He must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved wife, by giving him two shares[a][b] of his estate, for he is the firstfruits of his virility; he has the rights of the firstborn.(A)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Deuteronomy 21:17 Lit mouth of two, or two mouthfuls
- Deuteronomy 21:17 Or two-thirds; the two-thirds interpretation holds that the firstborn son receives two-thirds of the total estate no matter how many sons are in the family.
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