Reference: Firstborn
American
This phrase is not always to be understood literally; it is sometimes taken for the prime, most excellent, most distinguished of things, Ps 89:27; Ro 8:29; Heb 1:4-6. Thus Jesus Christ is "the firstborn of every creature," Col 1:15, inasmuch as he was the "Only begotten" of the Father before any creature was produced. He is "the firstborn from the dead," Col 1:18, because he is the beginning, and the author of the resurrection of all who die in faith.
After the destroying angel had slain the firstborn of the Egyptians, God ordained that all the Jewish firstborn, both of men and of beasts for service, should be consecrated to him; but the male children only were subject to this law. If a man had several wives, he was obliged to offer the firstborn son by each one of them to the Lord. The firstborn were offered at the temple, and redeemed for five shekels. The firstling of a clean beast was offered at the temple, not to be redeemed, but to be killed; an unclean beast, a horse, an ass, or a camel, was either redeemed or exchanged; an ass was redeemed by a lamb or five shekels; if not redeemed, it was killed, Ex 13:2,11, etc. The firstborn son among the Hebrews, as among all other nations, enjoyed particular privileges. See BIRTHRIGHT.
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Let the first male child of every mother among the children of Israel be kept holy for me, even the first male birth among man or beast; for it is mine.
And when the Lord takes you into the land of Canaan, as he made his oath to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you,
Because those of whom he had knowledge before they came into existence, were marked out by him to be made like his Son, so that he might be the first among a band of brothers:
Who is the image of the unseen God and existed before all living things;
And he is the head of the body, the church: the starting point of all things, the first to come again from the dead; so that in all things he might have the chief place.
Having become by so much better than the angels, as the name which is his heritage is more noble than theirs. To which of the angels did God say at any time, You are my Son, this day I have given you being? or, I will be his Father, and he will be my Son? read more. And again, when he is sending his only Son into the world, he says, Let all the angels of God give him worship.
Fausets
(See BIRTHRIGHT.) Primogeniture gave princedom and priesthood in patriarchal times. So Esau and Jacob (Ge 25:23-33; Heb 12:16), Reuben (Ge 49:3; 1Ch 5:1). The oldest son in all Israelite families was regarded as sacred to God, because Israel's firstborn were exempted from the stroke which destroyed all the firstborn of Egypt on the first Passover night. The firstborn represented the whole people; Jehovah said to Pharaoh, "Israel is My son, My firstborn, and I say unto thee, Let My son go, that he may serve He; and if thou refuse to let him go, behold I will slay thy son, thy firstborn" (Ex 4:22-23). Israel, as Jehovah's firstborn, was designed to be a" kingdom of priests and an holy nation" (Ex 19:6).
It shall hereafter realize this high Calling in a degree that it has not yet realized it, standing as "the firstborn among many brethren" (like the antitypical Israel, Messiah, Ro 8:29; Heb 2:12), and priest among all nations, which in subordination to Jerusalem, the spiritual metropolis, shall be the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ, then manifested (Isa 61:6; 66:21; Re 11:15; Zec 14:16; Jer 3:17). The tribe of Levi was substituted for all Israel's firstborn to minister to the Lord (Nu 3:12,45,50). There being 273 more of the firstborn in Israel than the males in Levi, the 273 were redeemed at five shekels apiece. Still, to mark the consecration of Israel to Jehovah, the redemption money was exacted for every firstborn (Nu 18:15). But the firstlings of cattle were to be offered to the Lord.
An donkey was however redeemed with a lamb, or else killed (Ex 13:13). Christ is the First-begotten. As such, He has the rights of primogeniture; for, as Heb 1:6 is in the Greek, "when God shall bring in again the First. begotten into the world, the shall be deemed worthy of not less honor, for "He saith (Ps 97:7), Let all the angels of God worship Him." His being "brought into the world" (oikoumenee, "the inhabited world"), as the theater of His power, mainly applies to His second advent. In (Col 1:16, "the Firstborn of every creature"; implying priority and superlative dignity. Ps 89:27, "My Firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth," David's antitype, the Messiah.
See Col 1:16 (proototokos pasees ktiseoos, as Joh 1:15,30; 15:18, prootos mou, "long before Me"), "begotten long before every creature"; the reason why He is so designated follows, "for He is before all things." "First-begotten" marks at once His eternal priority and His condescending to brotherhood with us (Ro 8:29). "Only begotten" marks His relation to the Father by generation from everlasting. Since He is "long before every creature," He cannot be a creature Himself but the Creator. And as He is the first begotten, originating the natural creation, so He is "the firstborn (proototokos, 'first begotten,' Re 1:5) from ("out of", ek) the dead," and therefore "the Beginning" (Col 1:18) of "the church of the firstborn" (Heb 12:23), the originating Agent of the new creation.
He was "begotten" of the Father to a new life at His resurrection (the day when the Father fulfilled Ps 2:7 according to Ac 13:33; Ro 1:4) which is His "regeneration"; so He is "the Prince-leader (archeegos) of life." "Regeneration," begun in the soul now, will extend to the body at the resurrection of the saints; and to nature, now groaning under the curse (Mt 19:28; Lu 20:36; 1Jo 3:2; Ro 8:11,19,23). As He is "the firstborn" in relation to the election church, so it is "the church of the firstborn," "a kind of first-fruits of His creatures" (Jas 1:18), in relation to the millennial church, and to the hereafter to be regenerated natural creation. As Christ is "the firstfruits," earnest and pledge of the coming resurrection, so believers are "a kind of first-fruits," a pledge and earnest of the ultimate regeneration of creation.
As He is first begotten by generation from everlasting, so believers by adoptions, "begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible," etc. (1Pe 1:3.) As Israel, on the ground of being God's "firstborn," was a king-priestly nation, so believers (Re 1:6). The figurative phrase, "the firstborn of death," means the deadliest disease that death (personified) ever gendered (Job 18:13). "The firstborn of the poor," the poorest.
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And the Lord said to her, Two nations are in your body, and two peoples will come to birth from you: the one will be stronger than the other, and the older will be the servant of the younger. And when the time came for her to give birth, there were two children in her body. read more. And the first came out red from head to foot like a robe of hair, and they gave him the name of Esau. And after him, his brother came out, gripping Esau's foot; and he was named Jacob: Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them. And the boys came to full growth; and Esau became a man of the open country, an expert bowman; but Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents. Now Isaac's love was for Esau, because Esau's meat was greatly to his taste: but Rebekah had more love for Jacob. And one day Jacob was cooking some soup when Esau came in from the fields in great need of food; And Esau said to Jacob, Give me a full meal of that red soup, for I am overcome with need for food: for this reason he was named Edom. And Jacob said, First of all give me your birthright. And Esau said, Truly, I am at the point of death: what profit is the birthright to me? And Jacob said, First of all give me your oath; and he gave him his oath, handing over his birthright to Jacob.
Reuben, you are my oldest son, the first-fruit of my strength, first in pride and first in power:
And you are to say to Pharaoh, The Lord says, Israel is the first of my sons: And I said to you, Let my son go, so that he may give me worship; and you did not let him go: so now I will put the first of your sons to death.
And for the young of an ass you may give a lamb in payment, or if you will not make payment for it, its neck is to be broken; but for all the first sons among your children, let payment be made.
And you will be a kingdom of priests to me, and a holy nation. These are the words which you are to say to the children of Israel.
See, I have taken the Levites out of the children of Israel to be mine in place of the first sons of the children of Israel;
Take the Levites in place of all the first sons of the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites in place of their cattle; the Levites are to be mine; I am the Lord.
From the first sons of Israel he took it, a thousand, three hundred and sixty-five shekels, by the scale of the holy place;
The first birth of every living thing which is offered to the Lord, of man or beast, is to be yours; but for the first sons of man payment is to be made, and for the first young of unclean beasts.
And at the end of three days, the men in authority over the people went through the tents,
I will make clear the Lord's decision: he has said to me, You are my son, this day have I given you being.
Shamed be all those who give worship to images, and take pride in false gods; give him worship, all you gods.
But you will be named the priests of the Lord, the servants of our God: you will have the wealth of the nations for your food, and you will be clothed with their glory.
At that time Jerusalem will be named the seat of the Lord's kingdom; and all the nations will come together to it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: and no longer will their steps be guided by the purposes of their evil hearts.
And it will come about that everyone who is still living, of all those nations who came against Jerusalem, will go up from year to year to give worship to the King, the Lord of armies, and to keep the feast of tents.
And Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you that in the time when all things are made new, and the Son of man is seated in his glory, you who have come after me will be seated on twelve seats, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
And death has no more power over them, for they are equal to the angels, and are sons of God, being of those who will come back from the dead.
John gave witness about him, crying, This is he of whom I said, He who is coming after me is put over me because he was in existence before me.
This is he of whom I said, One is coming after me who is put over me because he was in existence before me.
If you are hated by the world, keep in mind that I was hated by the world before you.
Which God has now put into effect for our children, by sending Jesus; as it says in the second Psalm, You are my Son; this day I have given you being.
But was marked out as Son of God in power by the Holy Spirit through the coming to life again of the dead; Jesus Christ our Lord,
But if the Spirit of him who made Jesus come again from the dead is in you, he who made Christ Jesus come again from the dead will in the same way, through his Spirit which is in you, give life to your bodies which now are under the power of death.
For the strong desire of every living thing is waiting for the revelation of the sons of God.
And not only so, but we who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we have sorrow in our minds, waiting for the time when we will take our place as sons, that is, the salvation of our bodies.
Because those of whom he had knowledge before they came into existence, were marked out by him to be made like his Son, so that he might be the first among a band of brothers:
Because those of whom he had knowledge before they came into existence, were marked out by him to be made like his Son, so that he might be the first among a band of brothers:
For by him all things were made, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, authorities, lords, rulers, and powers; all things were made by him and for him;
For by him all things were made, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, authorities, lords, rulers, and powers; all things were made by him and for him;
And he is the head of the body, the church: the starting point of all things, the first to come again from the dead; so that in all things he might have the chief place.
And again, when he is sending his only Son into the world, he says, Let all the angels of God give him worship.
Saying, I will give the knowledge of your name to my brothers, I will make a song of praise to you before the church.
And that there may not be any evil liver, or any man without respect for God, like Esau, who let his birthright go for a plate of food.
To the great meeting and church of the first of those who are named in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of good men made complete,
Of his purpose he gave us being, by his true word, so that we might be, in a sense, the first-fruits of all the things which he had made.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who through his great mercy has given us a new birth and a living hope by the coming again of Jesus Christ from the dead,
And from Jesus Christ, the true witness, the first to come back from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who had love for us and has made us clean from our sins by his blood; And has made us to be a kingdom and priests to his God and Father; to him let glory and power be given for ever and ever. So be it.
And at the sounding of the seventh angel there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he will have rule for ever and ever.
Hastings
1. The dedication of the firstborn of men and beasts was probably a primitive nomadic custom, and therefore earlier than the offering of first-fruits, which could not arise until the Israelites had settled into agricultural life in Canaan. The origin of the belief that a peculiar value attached to the firstborn cannot be definitely traced; but it would be a natural inference that what was valuable to the parent would be valuable to his God. And thus the word 'firstborn' could be used figuratively of Israel as the firstborn of Jahweh among the nations (Ex 4:22, cf. Jer 31:9), and the seed of David among dynasties (Ps 89:28). The law of the dedication of the firstborn is found in Jewish Encyclopedia (Ex 13:11-16; 22:29 b, Ex 22:30; 34:19 f.), Deuteronomist (De 15:19-23), Priestly Narrative (Ex 13:1 f., Nu 3:11-13,40-51; 18:15-18). It is not impossible that in very primitive times firstborn sons were sometimes actually sacrificed (cf. 2Ki 3:27; Mic 6:7), but the practice would soon grow up of 'redeeming' them by money or payments in kind.
2. The firstborn (bekh
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So she said to Abraham, Send away that woman and her son: for the son of that woman is not to have a part in the heritage with my son Isaac.
And the Lord said to her, Two nations are in your body, and two peoples will come to birth from you: the one will be stronger than the other, and the older will be the servant of the younger.
And one day Jacob was cooking some soup when Esau came in from the fields in great need of food; And Esau said to Jacob, Give me a full meal of that red soup, for I am overcome with need for food: for this reason he was named Edom. read more. And Jacob said, First of all give me your birthright. And Esau said, Truly, I am at the point of death: what profit is the birthright to me? And Jacob said, First of all give me your oath; and he gave him his oath, handing over his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave him bread and soup; and he took food and drink and went away, caring little for his birthright.
Then taking Ephraim with his right hand, Joseph put him at Israel's left side, and with his left hand he put Manasseh at Israel's right side, placing them near him. And Israel, stretching out his right hand, put it on the head of Ephraim, the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands on purpose, for Manasseh was the older. read more. And he gave Joseph a blessing, saying, May the God to whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, gave worship, the God who has taken care of me all my life till this day, The angel who has been my saviour from all evil, send his blessing on these children: and let my name and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, be given to them; and let them become a great nation in the earth. Now when Joseph saw that his father had put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it did not seem right to him; and lifting his father's hand he would have put it on the head of Manasseh. And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father, for this is the older; put your right hand on his head. But his father would not, saying, I am doing it on purpose, my son; he will certainly become a nation and a great one; but his younger brother will be greater than he, and his seed will become a great family of nations. So he gave them his blessing that day, saying, You will be the sign of blessing in Israel, for they will say, May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh; and he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
Reuben, you are my oldest son, the first-fruit of my strength, first in pride and first in power:
And you are to say to Pharaoh, The Lord says, Israel is the first of my sons:
And you are to say to Pharaoh, The Lord says, Israel is the first of my sons:
But Moses said, You will have to let us take burned offerings to put before the Lord our God.
And Moses said, This is what the Lord says: About the middle of the night I will go out through Egypt: And death will come to every mother's first male child in all the land of Egypt, from the child of Pharaoh on his seat of power, to the child of the servant-girl crushing the grain; and the first births of all the cattle. read more. And there will be a great cry through all the land of Egypt, such as never has been or will be again. But against the children of Israel, man or beast, not so much as the tongue of a dog will be moved: so that you may see how the Lord makes a division between Israel and the Egyptians. And all these your servants will come to me, going down on their faces before me and saying, Go out, and all your people with you: and after that I will go out. And he went away from Pharaoh burning with wrath.
For on that night I will go through the land of Egypt, sending death on every first male child, of man and of beast, and judging all the gods of Egypt: I am the Lord.
For the Lord will go through the land, sending death on the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood on the two sides and the top of the door, the Lord will go over your door and will not let death come in for your destruction.
Then you will say, This is the offering of the Lord's Passover; for he went over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he sent death on the Egyptians, and kept our families safe. And the people gave worship with bent heads.
And in the middle of the night the Lord sent death on every first male child in the land of Egypt, from the child of Pharaoh on his seat of power to the child of the prisoner in the prison; and the first births of all the cattle.
And the people took their bread-paste before it was leavened, putting their basins in their clothing on their backs.
Unleavened cakes are to be your food through all the seven days; let no leavened bread be seen among you, or any leaven, in any part of your land.
And when the Lord takes you into the land of Canaan, as he made his oath to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you,
And when the Lord takes you into the land of Canaan, as he made his oath to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you, You are to put on one side for the Lord every mother's first male child, the first-fruit of her body, and the first young one of every beast; every male is holy to the Lord.
You are to put on one side for the Lord every mother's first male child, the first-fruit of her body, and the first young one of every beast; every male is holy to the Lord. And for the young of an ass you may give a lamb in payment, or if you will not make payment for it, its neck is to be broken; but for all the first sons among your children, let payment be made.
And for the young of an ass you may give a lamb in payment, or if you will not make payment for it, its neck is to be broken; but for all the first sons among your children, let payment be made. And when your son says to you in time to come, What is the reason for this? say to him, By the strength of his hand the Lord took us out of Egypt, out of the prison-house: read more. And when Pharaoh made his heart hard and would not let us go, the Lord sent death on all the first sons in Egypt, of man and of beast: and so every first male who comes to birth is offered to the Lord; but for all the first of my sons I give a price. And this will be for a sign on your hand and for a mark on your brow: for by the strength of his hand the Lord took us out of Egypt.
Do not keep back your offerings from the wealth of your grain and your vines. The first of your sons you are to give to me. In the same way with your oxen and your sheep: for seven days let the young one be with its mother; on the eighth day give it to me.
Every first male child is mine; the first male birth of your cattle, the first male of every ox and sheep.
So that future generations may keep in mind how I gave the children of Israel tents as their living-places when I took them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
And the Lord said to Moses, See, I have taken the Levites out of the children of Israel to be mine in place of the first sons of the children of Israel; read more. For all the first sons are mine; on the day when I put to death all the first sons in the land of Egypt, I took for myself every first male birth of man and beast. They are mine; I am the Lord.
And the Lord said to Moses, Let all the first male children be numbered, and take the number of their names. And give to me the Levites (I am the Lord) in place of the first sons of the children of Israel; and the cattle of the Levites in place of the first births among the cattle of the children of Israel. read more. So Moses had all the first sons among the children of Israel numbered, as the Lord said to him. Every first son from a month old and over was numbered by name, and the number came to twenty-two thousand, two hundred and seventy-three. And the Lord said to Moses, Take the Levites in place of all the first sons of the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites in place of their cattle; the Levites are to be mine; I am the Lord. And the price you have to give for the two hundred and seventy-three first sons of the children of Israel which are in addition to the number of the Levites, Will be five shekels for every one, by the scale of the holy place (the shekel is twenty gerahs); And this money, the price of those over the number of the Levites, is to be given to Aaron and his sons. So Moses took the money, the price of those whose place had not been taken by the Levites; From the first sons of Israel he took it, a thousand, three hundred and sixty-five shekels, by the scale of the holy place; And he gave the money to Aaron and his sons, as the Lord had said.
The first birth of every living thing which is offered to the Lord, of man or beast, is to be yours; but for the first sons of man payment is to be made, and for the first young of unclean beasts. Payment is to be made for these when they are a month old, at the value fixed by you, a price of five shekels by the scale of the holy place, that is, twenty gerahs to the shekel. read more. But no such payment may be made for the first birth of an ox or a sheep or a goat; these are holy: their blood is to be dropped on the altar, and their fat burned for an offering made by fire, a sweet smell to the Lord. Their flesh is to be yours; like the breast of the wave offering and the right leg, it is to be yours.
All the first males to come to birth in your herd and your flock are to be holy to the Lord your God: the first birth of your ox is not to be used for work, the wool of your first lamb is not to be cut.
All the first males to come to birth in your herd and your flock are to be holy to the Lord your God: the first birth of your ox is not to be used for work, the wool of your first lamb is not to be cut. But year by year you and all your house are to take a meal of it before the Lord, in the place of his selection. read more. But if it has any mark on it, if it is blind or has damaged legs, or if there is anything wrong with it, it may not be offered to the Lord your God. It may be used for food in your houses: the unclean and the clean may take of it, as of the gazelle and the roe. Only do not take its blood for food, but let it be drained out on the earth like water.
Take note of the month of Abib and keep the Passover to the Lord your God: for in the month of Abib the Lord your God took you out of Egypt by night. The Passover offering, from your flock or your herd, is to be given to the Lord your God in the place marked out by him as the resting-place of his name. read more. Take no leavened bread with it; for seven days let your food be unleavened bread, that is, the bread of sorrow; for you came out of the land of Egypt quickly: so the memory of that day, when you came out of the land of Egypt, will be with you all your life. For seven days let no leaven be used through all your land; and nothing of the flesh which is put to death in the evening of the first day is to be kept through the night till morning. The Passover offering is not to be put to death in any of the towns which the Lord your God gives you: But in the place marked out by the Lord your God as the resting-place of his name, there you are to put the Passover to death in the evening, at sundown, at that time of the year when you came out of Egypt. It is to be cooked and taken as food in the place marked out by the Lord: and in the morning you are to go back to your tents. For six days let your food be unleavened bread; and on the seventh day there is to be a holy meeting to the Lord your God; no work is to be done.
If a man has two wives, one greatly loved and the other hated, and the two of them have had children by him; and if the first son is the child of the hated wife: Then when he gives his property to his sons for their heritage, he is not to put the son of his loved one in the place of the first son, the son of the hated wife: read more. But he is to give his first son his birthright, and twice as great a part of his property: for he is the first-fruits of his strength and the right of the first son is his.
But he is to give his first son his birthright, and twice as great a part of his property: for he is the first-fruits of his strength and the right of the first son is his.
If brothers are living together and one of them, at his death, has no son, the wife of the dead man is not to be married outside the family to another man: let her husband's brother go in to her and make her his wife, doing as it is right for a brother-in-law to do. Then the first male child she has will take the rights of the brother who is dead, so that his name may not come to an end in Israel. read more. But if the man says he will not take his brother's wife, then let the wife go to the responsible men of the town, and say, My husband's brother will not keep his brother's name living in Israel; he will not do what it is right for a husband's brother to do. Then the responsible men of the town will send for the man, and have talk with him: and if he still says, I will not take her; Then his brother's wife is to come to him, before the responsible men of the town, and take his shoe off his foot, and put shame on him, and say, So let it be done to the man who will not take care of his brother's name. And his family will be named in Israel, The house of him whose shoe has been taken off.
Then he took his oldest son, who would have been king after him, offering him as a burned offering on the wall. So there was great wrath against Israel; and they went away from him, back to their country.
And the sons of Reuben, the oldest son of Israel, (for he was the oldest son, but, because he made his father's bride-bed unclean, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel; but he is not to be given the place of the oldest.
And Hosah, a son of the children of Merari, had sons: Shimri the chief (for though he was not the oldest, his father made him chief);
And their father gave them much silver and gold and things of great value, as well as walled towns in Judah; but the kingdom he gave to Jehoram, because he was the oldest.
He gave to destruction all the first sons of Egypt; the first-fruits of their strength in the tents of Ham;
I will keep my mercy for him for ever; my agreement with him will not be changed.
He put to death the first child of every family in the land, the first-fruits of their strength.
He put to death the first-fruits of Egypt, of man and of beast.
To him who put to death the first-fruits of Egypt: for his mercy is unchanging for ever:
They will come with weeping, and going before them I will be their guide: guiding them by streams of water in a straight way where there is no falling: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is the first of my sons.
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of sheep or with ten thousand rivers of oil? am I to give my first child for my wrongdoing, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
Because those of whom he had knowledge before they came into existence, were marked out by him to be made like his Son, so that he might be the first among a band of brothers:
Who is the image of the unseen God and existed before all living things;
And he is the head of the body, the church: the starting point of all things, the first to come again from the dead; so that in all things he might have the chief place.
And again, when he is sending his only Son into the world, he says, Let all the angels of God give him worship.
By faith he kept the Passover, and put the sign of the blood on the houses, so that the angel of destruction might not put their oldest sons to death.
To the great meeting and church of the first of those who are named in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of good men made complete,
And from Jesus Christ, the true witness, the first to come back from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who had love for us and has made us clean from our sins by his blood;
Smith
First-born.
Under the law, in memory of the exodus (when the first-born of the Egyptians were slain), the eldest son was regarded as devoted to God, and was in very case to be redeemed by an offering not exceeding five shekels, within one month from birth. If he died before the expiration of thirty days, the Jewish doctors held the father excused, but liable to the payment if he outlived that time.
The eldest son received a double portion of the father's inheritance,
De 21:17
but not of the mother's. Under the monarchy the eldest son usually, but no always, as appears in the case of Solomon, succeeded his father in the kingdom.
The male first-born of animals was also devoted to God.
Ex 13:2,12-13; 22:29; 34:19-20
Unclean animals were to be redeemed with the addition of one-fifth of the value, or else put to death; or, if not redeemed, to be sold, and the price given to the priests.
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Let the first male child of every mother among the children of Israel be kept holy for me, even the first male birth among man or beast; for it is mine.
You are to put on one side for the Lord every mother's first male child, the first-fruit of her body, and the first young one of every beast; every male is holy to the Lord.
You are to put on one side for the Lord every mother's first male child, the first-fruit of her body, and the first young one of every beast; every male is holy to the Lord. And for the young of an ass you may give a lamb in payment, or if you will not make payment for it, its neck is to be broken; but for all the first sons among your children, let payment be made.
And for the young of an ass you may give a lamb in payment, or if you will not make payment for it, its neck is to be broken; but for all the first sons among your children, let payment be made. And when your son says to you in time to come, What is the reason for this? say to him, By the strength of his hand the Lord took us out of Egypt, out of the prison-house: read more. And when Pharaoh made his heart hard and would not let us go, the Lord sent death on all the first sons in Egypt, of man and of beast: and so every first male who comes to birth is offered to the Lord; but for all the first of my sons I give a price. And this will be for a sign on your hand and for a mark on your brow: for by the strength of his hand the Lord took us out of Egypt.
Do not keep back your offerings from the wealth of your grain and your vines. The first of your sons you are to give to me.
Every first male child is mine; the first male birth of your cattle, the first male of every ox and sheep. A lamb may be given in payment for the young of an ass, but if you will not make payment for it, its neck will have to be broken. For all the first of your sons you are to make payment. No one is to come before me without an offering.
And if the person is from one month to five years old, then the value for a male will be five shekels of silver, and for a female three shekels.
But if he has a desire to get it back for himself, let him give a fifth more than your value.
And if it is an unclean beast, then the owner of it may give money to get it back, in agreement with the value fixed by you, by giving a fifth more; or if it is not taken back, let it be given for money in agreement with your valuing. But nothing which a man has given completely to the Lord, out of all his property, of man or beast, or of the land which is his heritage, may be given away or got back in exchange for money; anything completely given is most holy to the Lord.
But he is to give his first son his birthright, and twice as great a part of his property: for he is the first-fruits of his strength and the right of the first son is his.
As I took an oath to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, saying, Certainly Solomon your son will become king after me, seated on my seat in my place; so will I do this day.