Deuteronomy 21:16

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:

KJV (with Strong's)

Then it shall be, when {H3117} he maketh his sons {H1121} to inherit {H5157} that which he hath, that he may {H3201} not make the son {H1121} of the beloved {H157} firstborn {H1069} before {H6440} the son {H1121} of the hated {H8130}, which is indeed the firstborn {H1060}:

Complete Jewish Bible

then, when it comes time for him to pass his inheritance on to his sons, he may not give the inheritance due the firstborn to the son of the loved wife in place of the son of the unloved one, who is in fact the firstborn.

Berean Standard Bible

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.

American Standard Version

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:

Commentary

### SUMMARY
Deuteronomy 21:16 establishes a foundational legal principle within ancient Israel, safeguarding the inheritance rights of the true firstborn son irrespective of a father's personal affections for the mother. This statute meticulously prevents a father from arbitrarily elevating a son born to a favored or "beloved" wife over the biologically firstborn son born to a "hated" (or less favored) wife, thereby ensuring fairness, preventing familial discord, and upholding established legal order. It profoundly underscores God's unwavering commitment to justice and equity, even amid the complex and often contentious dynamics of a polygamous household, by prioritizing divine law over human partiality.

### CONTEXT
* **Literary Context:** Deuteronomy 21:16 is intricately woven into the fabric of the Deuteronomic Code, a comprehensive collection of laws and ethical instructions delivered by Moses to the Israelites on the plains of Moab, just before their pivotal entry into the Promised Land. This particular verse is situated within a broader section (Deuteronomy 21:1-25:19) that delineates various civil and social statutes aimed at constructing a just, orderly, and covenant-faithful society. Specifically, it immediately precedes the explicit law concerning the firstborn's entitlement to a double portion of the inheritance, as detailed in [Deuteronomy 21:17](/deuteronomy/21-17 "Deuteronomy 21:17 - The Firstborn's Double Portion"), and is followed by regulations addressing a stubbornly rebellious son in [Deuteronomy 21:18-21](/deuteronomy/21-18-21 "Deuteronomy 21:18-21 - Law Concerning a Rebellious Son"). This strategic placement underscores the law's vital role in governing domestic order, ensuring equitable treatment within families, and preventing the potential abuse of patriarchal authority in matters of profound economic and social consequence.
* **Historical & Cultural Context:** Ancient Israel was fundamentally a patriarchal society where the firstborn son held an exceptionally privileged legal, social, and often religious status. This system, known as primogeniture, typically conferred upon the firstborn a double portion of the family inheritance, the position of familial leadership upon the father's death, and frequently a special spiritual blessing. While God's original, ideal design for marriage, as articulated in [Genesis 2:24](/genesis/2-24 "Genesis 2:24 - The One Flesh Union"), was monogamous, polygamy was a recognized, albeit regulated, practice in the ancient Near East, including Israel. Such multi-wife family structures frequently led to intense rivalry, jealousy, and favoritism among wives and their respective children, vividly illustrated in the narratives of Jacob, Leah, and Rachel in [Genesis 29-30](/genesis/29 "Genesis 29 - Jacob's Marriages"). This law directly addresses the inherent potential for a father's emotional bias towards a "beloved" wife to override the established legal rights of the firstborn son born to a "hated" (or less favored) wife, thereby proactively preventing injustice and maintaining societal stability through clear, divinely mandated inheritance guidelines.
* **Key Themes:** This law powerfully articulates several core themes central to the Deuteronomic vision and, more broadly, to God's immutable character. Primarily, it underscores the **inviolability of established legal rights**, particularly those pertaining to the firstborn, safeguarding them against the arbitrary exercise of personal preference or emotional bias. It serves as a profound demonstration of **divine justice and impartiality**, revealing a God who actively intervenes through His law to protect the vulnerable and ensure fairness, even within the most intimate and often complex dynamics of family life. By meticulously regulating inheritance within polygamous households, the law implicitly addresses the **potential for strife and disorder arising from human favoritism**, seeking to mitigate disputes and foster a more ordered and harmonious society. Ultimately, it reflects God's overarching concern for **covenant faithfulness** and the establishment of a righteous community that mirrors His own character of equity, truth, and unwavering justice, a theme woven throughout the entirety of [the Deuteronomic Code](/deuteronomy/5 "Deuteronomy 5 - The Ten Commandments and Covenant Renewal").

### EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
#### Key Word Analysis
* **Beloved (Hebrew, _ʼâhab_):** This term (H157) signifies a wife who is deeply loved or favored by her husband, often implying a preferential emotional attachment. In the context of polygamy, it highlights the potential for a husband's stronger affection for one wife to lead to partiality towards her children, specifically in matters of inheritance. The law directly confronts this human tendency towards favoritism, ensuring that emotional bias does not supersede legal right.
* **Hated (Hebrew, _sânêʼ_):** In this specific context, "hated" (H8130) does not necessarily denote intense animosity or malice, but rather a wife who is "less loved," "disfavored," or "unpreferred" in comparison to another wife. This crucial nuance speaks to the emotional complexities and potential for neglect or injustice within polygamous relationships, which the law seeks to rectify by protecting the rights of the children from such a union. It underscores the law's concern for objective justice over subjective emotional states.
* **Firstborn (Hebrew, _bᵉkôwr_):** This term (H1060) refers to the eldest son, who, by birth order, held a unique and highly privileged position in ancient Israelite society. The "firstborn" was entitled to a double portion of the inheritance, signifying his future role as the head of the family and his responsibility for its welfare. The law emphasizes that this status is determined by birth and legal right, not by parental affection or choice, thereby reinforcing its legal immutability and preventing its manipulation.

#### Verse Breakdown
* **"Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit [that] which he hath":** This opening clause sets the precise legal and social context, describing the critical moment when a father is distributing his estate among his male heirs. In ancient Israel, inheritance was not merely an economic transaction but a foundational act that determined the future social standing, economic stability, and familial continuity of the household members. This act of inheritance was a solemn and binding legal process.
* **"[that] he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated":** This is the core prohibition and the central thrust of the statute. It explicitly forbids the father from manipulating or altering the established order of inheritance. Specifically, he is prohibited from elevating a son born to his "beloved" wife (even if that son is not the biological firstborn of the father) to a position of precedence or privilege over the son born to his "hated" (less favored) wife, if that latter son is indeed the true biological firstborn. This directly counters the human inclination to favor children from a preferred union, ensuring that legal right prevails over emotional bias.
* **"[which is indeed] the firstborn":** This concluding phrase serves as an emphatic clarification and reinforcement of the legal reality. It unequivocally states that the true firstborn, the one who is "indeed" the firstborn by virtue of birth, must receive his rightful inheritance. This final declaration underscores the law's unwavering commitment to objective truth and established legal right, ensuring that subjective emotional bias cannot undermine the divinely ordained principles of justice and order.

#### Literary Devices
Deuteronomy 21:16 masterfully employs several literary devices to convey its powerful and unambiguous message. Foremost, it functions as a clear **Legal Statute**, a prescriptive law designed to regulate behavior, ensure justice, and maintain social order within the Israelite community. The verse makes prominent use of **Contrast**, specifically between the "beloved" wife and the "hated" wife, which vividly highlights the very human emotional biases and partialities that the divine law seeks to counteract. This stark contrast underscores the profound impartiality of God's justice set against the backdrop of human partiality. Furthermore, the repetition of "firstborn" ("the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, [which is indeed] the firstborn") serves as a potent device of **Emphasis**, powerfully reinforcing the immutable legal status of the true firstborn. This deliberate emphasis ensures that there is no ambiguity regarding whose rights are being protected, making the law's intent unequivocally clear and forceful.

### THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
This law profoundly reveals God's character as a God of absolute justice, divine order, and unwavering impartiality. It stands as a divine intervention against human favoritism and the potential for abuse of power within the most intimate of relationships—the family. While human beings are inherently prone to partiality, driven by emotion and preference, God's law unequivocally demands equity, meticulously protecting the vulnerable and upholding established rights. This foundational principle resonates throughout the entirety of Scripture, demonstrating that God's concern for righteousness extends to all facets of life, ensuring that even in complex social structures like polygamy, the foundational principles of fairness and truth are meticulously maintained. The law prevents a father's emotional preferences from undermining the legal and social order, thereby reflecting God's own consistent, righteous, and equitable governance over His people.

* [Deuteronomy 21:17](/deuteronomy/21-17 "Deuteronomy 21:17 - The Firstborn's Double Portion")
* [Psalm 33:5](/psalm/33-5 "Psalm 33:5 - God's Love for Righteousness and Justice")
* [Proverbs 28:21](/proverbs/28-21 "Proverbs 28:21 - It is Not Good to Show Partiality")

### REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Deuteronomy 21:16, though rooted in the specific context of ancient Israelite inheritance law, offers timeless and profoundly relevant principles for contemporary believers. It serves as a powerful and enduring reminder of the inherent dangers of favoritism and partiality in all our dealings, whether within our families, in the church community, or in our professional and public lives. We are unequivocally called to embody God's character of justice and impartiality, ensuring that our decisions are consistently based on what is objectively right and equitable, rather than being swayed by personal preferences, emotional biases, or who we "like" more. This necessitates upholding established principles, respecting the inherent dignity and rights of others, and actively resisting the pervasive temptation to manipulate situations for personal gain or to unfairly benefit those we favor. As followers of Christ, we are commissioned to reflect the God who shows no partiality ([Romans 2:11](/romans/2-11 "Romans 2:11 - God Shows No Partiality")), actively seeking and promoting fairness, equity, and justice in our families, communities, and all spheres of influence, thereby demonstrating the transformative power of God's righteous character in a world often swayed by prejudice and injustice.

#### Questions for Reflection
* **How does this law challenge our natural human tendency towards favoritism or partiality in our relationships and decisions, and what steps can we take to counteract it?**
* **In what specific areas of your life might you be tempted to bypass established principles or rights due to personal preference, emotional bias, or a desire to please certain individuals?**
* **How can we, as believers, actively and consistently demonstrate God's impartiality and justice in our families, our local churches, our workplaces, and our broader communities?**

### FAQ
**Does this law endorse polygamy?**

Answer: No, this law does not endorse polygamy but rather meticulously regulates it to mitigate its inherent injustices and potential for familial discord. While polygamy was a recognized social practice in ancient Israel and the broader ancient Near East, God's original, perfect design for marriage, as revealed in [Genesis 2:24](/genesis/2-24 "Genesis 2:24 - The One Flesh Union"), was monogamous, emphasizing a "one flesh" union. The Mosaic Law often dealt with existing societal realities by providing regulations that aimed to reduce harm, ensure justice, and maintain social order, even if those realities fell short of God's ideal. In this specific case, the law acknowledges the pervasive potential for strife, emotional pain, and unfairness in polygamous households where a father might favor one wife and her children over another. By stipulating clear and unalterable inheritance rules, it sought to protect the rights of the true biological firstborn, regardless of the father's marital preferences or emotional attachments, thus preventing further injustice within a complex social structure without affirming the practice of polygamy itself.

### CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Deuteronomy 21:16, with its profound emphasis on the rightful inheritance of the true firstborn, finds its ultimate and most glorious fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. He is the preeminent "Firstborn" in every conceivable sense, not by human preference or partiality, but by divine decree, eternal reality, and redemptive accomplishment. Christ is majestically described as the [firstborn over all creation](/colossians/1-15 "Colossians 1:15 - Christ, the Firstborn of All Creation"), signifying His supreme authority, unique position as the uncreated Creator, and His cosmic preeminence as the one through whom all things were brought into existence. He is also declared to be the [firstborn from among the dead](/colossians/1-18 "Colossians 1:18 - Christ, the Firstborn from the Dead"), having triumphantly conquered sin, death, and the grave, thereby securing an eternal and incorruptible inheritance for all who place their faith in Him. Our spiritual inheritance in Christ is not subject to fickle human favoritism, the arbitrary decisions of men, or the complexities of earthly family dynamics, but is divinely guaranteed by God's perfect justice, boundless grace, and unwavering covenant faithfulness. Through His finished redemptive work on the cross and His glorious resurrection, believers are graciously adopted into God's eternal family and become [heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ](/romans/8-17 "Romans 8:17 - Heirs with Christ"), receiving an inheritance that is [imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you](/1_peter/1-4 "1 Peter 1:4 - An Imperishable Inheritance"). This inheritance is secured by the true Firstborn, Jesus Christ, who perfectly fulfills the law's demand for absolute justice, righteous distribution, and eternal blessing.

Note: Commentary is generated by AI with a directive for Biblical fidelity. Always rely on the Holy Spirit for discernment. The Scripture text and cross-references are from verified, non-AI sources.

Cross-References

1 Chronicles 26:10

Also Hosah, of the children of Merari, had sons; Simri the chief, (for [though] he was not the firstborn, yet his father made him the chief;)

1 Chronicles 5:2

For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him [came] the chief ruler; but the birthright [was] Joseph's:)

2 Chronicles 21:3

And their father gave them great gifts of silver, and of gold, and of precious things, with fenced cities in Judah: but the kingdom gave he to Jehoram; because he [was] the firstborn.

Hebrews 12:16

Lest there [be] any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.

Hebrews 12:17

For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

Philippians 4:8

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things [are] honest, whatsoever things [are] just, whatsoever things [are] pure, whatsoever things [are] lovely, whatsoever things [are] of good report; if [there be] any virtue, and if [there be] any praise, think on these things.

Romans 8:29

¶ For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.