Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read

Deuteronomy 21:17

in Deuteronomy 21

Instead, he must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of his unloved wife, by giving him a double portion of all that he has. For that son is the firstfruits of his father’s strength; the right of the firstborn belongs to him.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

but he shall acknowledge the first-born, the son of the hated, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath; for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the first-born is his.

KJV

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.

⋯

This verse in Deuteronomy 21

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

If a man has two wives

on Deuteronomy 21:15-21

Both household laws take the matter out of the father's hands. The firstborn keeps “a double portion” whatever the father prefers, and Albert Barnes notes he could still set it aside for cause but not for favour. A stubborn son is brought by both parents to the elders, and tractate Sanhedrin narrows the conditions so far that it records the opinion that no such case was tried.

This site's exposition

giving him a double portion

Matthew Henry takes the firstfruits of his father's strength as the son in whom a house first grew strong, the first of the arrows of Psalm 127:4. The double share is his by birth. Henry draws the rule that a father's favour gives no ground for moving it.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Ambrose of Milan

Letters 31-40 · Written before 397.

proposed

This digression then of ours from one part of the Law to the other, for the purpose of shewing that the firstborn is not the son of the beloved, that is of the more remiss and voluptuous wife, has not been needless, although the words of the chapter before us express the same truth: He may not make the son of the beloved first-born before the son of the hated, which is indeed the first-born.

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

(2.) Since it is the providence of God that makes heirs, the disposal of providence in that matter must be acquiesced in and not opposed. No son should be abandoned by his father till he manifestly appear to be abandoned of God, which is hard to say of any while there is life.

The words behind it

21 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • כִּי֩that

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַבְּכֹ֨רthe firstborn

    habekhorH1060 →122 times

  • בֶּן־[the] son of

    ben-H1121 →4930 times

  • הַשְּׂנוּאָ֜הthe hated [one]

    hasenuahH8130 →146 times

  • יַכִּ֗ירhe will acknowledge

    yakirH5234 →49 times

  • לָ֤תֶתby giving

    latetH5414 →2011 times

  • לוֹ֙to <the> him

    lo

  • פִּ֣יa mouth of

    piH6310 →498 times

  • שְׁנַ֔יִםtwo

    shenayimH8147 →768 times

  • בְּכֹ֥לin all

    bekholH3605 →5413 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־that

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • יִמָּצֵ֖אit will be found

    yimatze'H4672 →455 times

  • ל֑וֹto <the> him

    lo

  • כִּי־for

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • הוּא֙he

    hu'H1931 →1879 times

  • רֵאשִׁ֣ית[is] [the] beginning of

    reshitH7225 →51 times

  • אֹנ֔וֹmanly vigor his

    ʾonoH202 →

  • ל֖וֹ[belongs] to <the> him

    lo

  • מִשְׁפַּ֥ט[the] claim of

    mishpatH4941 →422 times

  • הַבְּכֹרָֽה׃ סthe birthright

    habekhorahH1062 →

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

10 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Isaiah 61:7Instead of shame, My people will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation, they will rejoice in their share; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs.13 works2 Kings 2:9After they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken away from you?” “Please, let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.9 worksGenesis 49:3Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power.6 worksGenesis 25:31–34“First sell me your birthright,” Jacob replied.4 worksPsalms 105:36Then He struck all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their vigor.3 works1 Chronicles 5:1–2These were the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel. Though he was the firstborn, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel, because Reuben defiled his father’s bed. So he is not reckoned according to birthright.3 works
The other 4 cross-references, with their words ▾
Genesis 25:5–6Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac.2 worksHebrews 12:23in joyful assembly, to the congregation of the firstborn, enrolled in heaven. You have come to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,2 worksGenesis 48:22And to you, as one who is above your brothers, I give the ridge of land that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”2 worksJoshua 17:1Now this was the allotment for the tribe of Manasseh as Joseph’s firstborn son, namely for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh and father of the Gileadites, who had received Gilead and Bashan because Machir was a man of war.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Genesis 49:3

    Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 78:51

      He struck all the firstborn of Egypt, the virility in the tents of Ham.

    • Genesis 29:32

      And Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Reuben, for she said, “The LORD has seen my affliction. Surely my husband will love me now.”

    • Psalms 105:36

      Then He struck all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their vigor.

    • Numbers 1:20

      From the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, according to the records of their clans and families, counting one by one the names of every male twenty years of age or older who…

    • 1 Chronicles 2:1

      These were the sons of Israel:

  • Through

    Psalms 105:36

    Then He struck all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their vigor.

    it leads to

    • Genesis 49:3

      Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power.

    • Psalms 136:10

      He struck down the firstborn of Egypt His loving devotion endures forever.

    • Hebrews 11:28

      By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch Israel’s own firstborn.

Where this verse is studied

About Deuteronomy

Moses Viewing the Promised Land, Frederic Edwin Church, 1846. Public domain.
Moses Viewing the Promised Land, Frederic Edwin Church, 1846. Public domain.
Deuteronomy: the study guide →Read Deuteronomy 21 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Ambrose of Milan, Letters 31-40; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Deuteronomy 21 →