Deuteronomy 21:17

21:17 Rather, he must acknowledge the son of the less loved ¹  wife as firstborn and give him the double portion ²  of all he has, for that son is the beginning of his father’s procreative power ³  – to him should go the right of the firstborn.

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¹ tn See note on the word “other” in v. 15.

² 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).

³ 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.”