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)

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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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Footnotes

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Deuteronomy 21:16 tn Heb “when he causes his sons to inherit what is his.”
  4. Deuteronomy 21:16 tn Heb “the hated.”
  5. Deuteronomy 21:17 tn See note on the word “other” in v. 15.
  6. 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).
  7. 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.”