Deuteronomy 21:15-17
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Right of the Firstborn
15 “If a man has two wives, one of them loved and the other disliked, and if both the loved and the disliked have borne him sons, the firstborn being the son of the one who is disliked, 16 then on the day when he wills his possessions to his sons, he is not permitted to treat the son of the loved as the firstborn in preference to the son of the disliked, who is the firstborn.(A) 17 He must acknowledge as firstborn the son of the one who is disliked, giving him a double portion[a] of all that he has; since he is the first issue of his virility, the right of the firstborn is his.(B)
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- 21.17 Heb two-thirds
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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