Resource > Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable) >
Deuteronomy >
Exposition >
IV. MOSES' SECOND MAJOR ADDRESS: AN EXPOSITION OF THE LAW chs. 5--26 >
B. An exposition of selected covenant laws 12-25 >
6. Laws arising from the sixth commandment 19:1-22:8 >
Wives and children 21:10-21 >
Limits on a father's authority 21:15-17
hide text
The first-born son was to receive the traditional double portion of his father's inheritance. This was to be Israel's practice even though he may have been the son of the wife her husband loved less than another wife he had (cf. Gen. 25:5-6).234The father's authority, therefore, was not absolute in the Israelite home. Ancient Near Easterners regarded the first-born son as the beginning of the father's strength (cf. Gen. 49:3).
Just as men were to treat their wives with consideration (vv. 10-14) so too were fathers to treat their children with consideration (vv. 15-17).
