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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Preferential Treatment Prohibited

15 “If a man has two wives where one is loved but the other is unloved, and both[a] of them bear him sons, but the firstborn is the son of the unloved wife, 16 then when he bequeaths his possessions to his sons, he must not give preference to the firstborn of the beloved wife over the firstborn of the unloved wife. 17 Instead, he must acknowledge the firstborn of the unloved wife by giving him double of everything he owns, because he is really the first fruit of his father’s[b] strength. The right of the firstborn belongs to him.”

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 21:15 Lit. the one who is loved and who is not loved
  2. Deuteronomy 21:17 The Heb. lacks father’s