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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Right of the oldest son

15 Now suppose a man has two wives—one of them loved and the other unloved. Both wives bear children, but the oldest male is the unloved wife’s child. 16 On the day when the man decides what will go to each of his children as an inheritance, he isn’t allowed to treat his loved wife’s son as the oldest male rather than his unloved wife’s son, who is the real oldest male. 17 Instead, he must acknowledge the unloved wife’s son as the oldest male, giving to him two-thirds of everything that he owns, because that son is the earliest produce of his physical power. The oldest male’s rights belong to that son.

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