Deuteronomy 21:17

_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:_ IF A MAN HAVE TWO WIVES, ONE BELOVED, AND ANOTHER HATED. In the original, and in all translations but ours, the words are rendered 'have had,' referring to events that have already taken place. [Septuagint, Ean de genoontai anthroopoo duo gunaikes kai tekoosin-If there have been to a man two wives, and they have born him sons. Vulgate, 'Si habuerit homo uxores duas et pepererint ei filios,' etc.] That the 'had' has, by some mistake, been omitted in our version, seems highly probable, from other verbs being in the past tense - "hers that was hated," not 'hers that is hated,' evidently intimating that she (the first wife) was dead at the time referred to. Moses, therefore, does not here legislate upon the case of a man...

15-17 This law restrains men from disinheriting their eldest sons without just cause. The principle in this case as to children, is still binding to parents; they must give children their right without partiality....

Moses did not originate the rights of primogeniture (compare Genesis 25:31), but recognized them, since he found them pre-existing in the general social system of the East. Paternal authority could set aside these rights on just grounds Genesis 27:33, but it is forbidden here to do so from mere partiality....

EXPOSITION EXPIATION OF UNCERTAIN MURDER. TREATMENT OF A CAPTIVE TAKEN TO WIFE. RIGHTS OF THE FIRSTBORN. A REBELLIOUS, REFRACTORY SON TO BE JUDGED AND PUNISHED. A MALEFACTOR WHO HAS BEEN HANGED TO BE BURIED ERE NIGHTFALL. One general idea, viz. the sacredness of human life and of personal rights, connects the laws in this chapter together, as well as connects them with the laws in the two preceding chapters....

BUT HE SHALL ACKNOWLEDGE THE SON OF THE HATED FOR THE FIRSTBORN,.... Own him and declare him to be so, both by his will and the division of goods by him; or he shall "separate" him, as Onkelos; distinguish him from all his other sons, and make known to all, as the Targum of Jonathan, that he is his firstborn: BY GIVING HIM A DOUBLE PORTION OF ALL THAT HE HATH; or, "that is found with him" t; which he was in the possession of when he made his will, or divided his goods; and so refers not to what might come into his hands afterwards, or should be his in reversion afterwards; in this the firstborn had not his double portion, only in what his father was for the present possessed of; so that if a man had two sons, his goods were divided into three parts, and the firstborn took two parts, and the other the third; if three sons, they were divided into four parts, of which the firstborn had two...

17. THE EXPIATION OF AN UNCERTAIN MURDER AND VARIOUS INSTRUCTIONS CHAPTER 21 _ 1. The expiation of an unknown murder (Deuteronomy 21:1)_ 2. Concerning a wife, who had been a prisoner of war (Deuteronomy 21:10) 3. The right of the firstborn (Deuteronomy 21:15) 4. The punishment of a rebellious son (Deuteronomy 21:18) 5. The burial of one who hanged on a tree (Deuteronomy 21:22) The expiation of an unknown murder seems to find an interesting applicati

Only in Dt. The first-born of the first wife is to inherit a double portion. Deuteronomy 21:15. two wives: Genesis 29:30 and 1 Samuel 1:6. HATED: better, less loved. Deuteronomy 21:17. acknowledge, etc.: read (with Graetz, Steuernagel, and also, though hesitatingly, Driver and Bertholet) accord the first-born, first-born rights. DOUBLE PORTION: among the Babylonians, sons inherited equally, though the father might in his life make a special present to any son (see CH, § 165f.)....

Of the right of the Firstborn If a man have two sons by different wives, one loved and one hated, and his firstborn is the son of the latter, he must not give the firstborn's double portion to the son of the favourite. Not in the direct address nor with any of D's characteristic phrases; possibly therefore a previous law adopted by D, but hardly an ancient one, as it vetoes what was at least the occasional practice in early Israel. Like others it opens by putting a definite case (_if there be a man_, etc., cp. Deuteronomy 21:18_; Deuteronomy 21:22_, Deuteronomy 22:2; Deuteronomy 22:6;...

LESSON SEVENTEEN DEUTERONOMY 21:15 TO DEUTERONOMY 23:14 h. FAMILY REGULATIONS (Deuteronomy 21:15-21) (1) THE RIGHT OF THE FIRST-BORN (Deuteronomy 21:15-17) 15 If a man have two wives, the one beloved, and the other hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the first-born son be hers that was hated; 16 then it shall be, in the day that he causeth his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved the first-born before the son of the hated, who is the first-born; 17 but he shall acknowledge the first

EXPIATION OF UNDETECTED HOMICIDE. MARRIAGE OF CAPTIVE WOMEN. PUNISHMENT OF A REBELLIOUS SON The last sub-section of the Second Discourse begins here, containing a variety of social and domestic regulations. 1-9. The Expiation of Undetected Homicide. The cases of accidental and open, wilful murder have been already provided for in Deuteronomy 19. This passage treats the case of undetected homicide. Murder pollutes the land and must be expiated. When the murderer cannot be discovered the responsibility of making atonement rests with the city nearest to the scene of the crime. For the ancient Babylonian practice in such circumstances see art. 'Laws of Hammurabi.'...