Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 21:17 
Context21:17 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.
Deuteronomy 30:20
Context30:20 I also call on you 4 to love the Lord your God, to obey him and be loyal to him, for he gives you life and enables you to live continually 5 in the land the Lord promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
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.”
4 tn The words “I also call on you” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 19-20 are one long sentence, which the translation divides into two.
5 tn Heb “he is your life and the length of your days to live.”
