when that man assigns his inheritance to his sons he must not appoint the son of the beloved wife as the firstborn over the son of the unloved wife.
Parallel translations
- WEB then it shall be, in the day that he causes his sons to inherit that which he has, that he may not give the son of the beloved the rights of the firstborn before the son of the hated, who is the firstborn;
- KJV Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn:
- NKJV then it shall be, on the day he bequeaths his possessions to his sons, that he must not bestow firstborn status on the son of the loved wife in preference to the son of the unloved, the true firstborn.
- NASB then it shall be on the day that he wills what he owns as an inheritance to his sons, he is not allowed to treat the son of the loved wife as the firstborn, at the expense of the son of the unloved, who actually is the firstborn son.
- NLT When the man divides his inheritance, he may not give the larger inheritance to his younger son, the son of the wife he loves, as if he were the firstborn son.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A father may not give the firstborn's inheritance rights to the favored wife's son over the actual firstborn. Justice must override personal preference.
Overview
The law forbids manipulating inheritance to favor a beloved wife's child at the expense of the true firstborn. This protects established rights from being overturned by emotion or favoritism. It reflects God's own justice, which is impartial; notably, God Himself sometimes chose the younger by sovereign grace, but human fathers were not free to act unjustly out of mere preference.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- 1 Chr 26:10Hosah the Merarite also had sons: Shimri the first (although he was not the firstborn, his father had appointed him as the first),
- 1 Chr 5:2And though Judah prevailed over his brothers and a ruler came from him, the birthright belonged to Joseph.
- Phil 4:8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things.
- Rom 8:29For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.
- Heb 12:16–17See to it that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his birthright.
- 2 Chr 21:3Their father had given them many gifts of silver and gold and precious things, as well as the fortified cities in Judah; but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the firstborn.
- 2 Chr 11:19–22She bore sons to him: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham.
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 21:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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