Deuteronomy 21:15-17

Deuteronomy 21:15-17

[15] If a man  have two  wives,  one  beloved,  and another  hated,  and they have born  him children,  both the beloved  and the hated;  and if the firstborn  son  be hers that was hated:  [16] 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  before  the son  of the hated,  which is indeed the firstborn:  [17] But he shall acknowledge  the son  of the hated  for the firstborn,  by giving  him a double  portion  of all that he hath:  for he is the beginning  of his strength;  the right  of the firstborn  is his.

What does Deuteronomy 21:15-17 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The first-born son was to receive the traditional double portion of his father"s inheritance. This was to be Israel"s practice even though the first-born may have been the son of the wife her husband loved less than another wife he had (cf. Genesis 25:5-6). [1] The father"s authority, therefore, was not absolute in the Israelite home. Ancient Near Easterners regarded the first-born son as the beginning of the father"s strength (cf. Genesis 49:3). Just as men were to treat their wives with consideration ( Deuteronomy 21:10-14), so too were fathers to treat their children with consideration ( Deuteronomy 21:15-17).