Deuteronomy 21:16-17

21:16 In the day he divides his inheritance ¹  he must not appoint as firstborn the son of the favorite wife in place of the other ²  wife’s son who is actually the firstborn. 21:17 Rather, he must acknowledge the son of the less loved ³  wife as firstborn and give him the double portion ⁴  of all he has, for that son is the beginning of his father’s procreative power ⁵  – to him should go the right of the firstborn.

[21:16]  ¹ tn Heb “when he causes his sons to inherit what is his.”

[21:16]  ² tn Heb “the hated.”

[21:17]  ³ tn See note on the word “other” in v. 15.

[21:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “measure of two.” The Hebrew expression פִּי שְׁנַיִם (piy shÿnayim) suggests a two-thirds split; that is, the elder gets two parts and the younger one part. Cf. 2 Kgs 2:9; Zech 13:8. The practice is implicit in Isaac’s blessing of Jacob (Gen 25:31-34) and Jacob’s blessing of Ephraim (Gen 48:8-22).

[21:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “his generative power” (אוֹן, ’on; cf. HALOT 22 s.v.). Cf. NAB “the first fruits of his manhood”; NRSV “the first issue of his virility.”