Deuteronomy 21:17

Summary

The verse states the legal obligation of a father regarding inheritance: he must recognize the firstborn son — specifically the son of the "hated" (less-favored) wife — and give him a double portion of the estate, because that son is called the "beginning of his vigor," to whom the right of the firstborn belongs.

Key words

• bekhor ("firstborn", H1060) — the term around which the whole legal case turns; placed early in the sentence as the object under discussion.
• yakkir ("he will acknowledge", H5234A) — hiphil (causative) imperfect: the father is caused/required to formally "recognize" the status, not merely to feel or believe it.
• pi shenayim ("mouth of two", H6310K + H8147) — a construct idiom, literally "a mouth of two [shares]," denoting a double portion.
• re'shit 'ono ("beginning of his vigor", H7225G + H0202) — construct chain naming the firstborn as the initial expression of the father's manly strength/potency.
• mishpat habbekhorah ("the claim of the birthright", H4941H + H1062) — construct phrase naming the legal right itself that belongs to the firstborn.

What the text says

The sentence opens with ki ("that/if", H3588A) introducing a subordinate condition continuing from the preceding verses about a man with two wives. The object phrase 'et-habbekhor ben-hassenu'ah ("the firstborn, son of the hated [wife]") is placed before the verb yakkir, giving it emphasis as the topic under legal consideration. The verb yakkir is hiphil, meaning the father is not simply aware of the son's status but is required to formally and outwardly "acknowledge" it, with legal effect.

The purpose of this acknowledgment is expressed through the infinitive latet ("to give", H5414G), followed by the idiom pi shenayim — literally "a mouth of two [portions]" — meaning a double share is due, applied to kol 'asher yimmatse' lo ("all that is found to be his," H4672, niphal imperfect, passive sense: whatever turns out to belong to him).

A second ki (H3588A) shifts from conditional to causal sense ("for/because"), introducing the rationale: hu re'shit 'ono ("he is the beginning of his vigor"), a construct phrase linking the firstborn son to the father's own procreative strength ('on, H0202). The final clause, lo mishpat habbekhorah ("to him belongs the claim/right of the birthright"), uses mishpat (H4941H, "claim, legal right") rather than a term for property itself, framing the double portion as a matter of legal entitlement.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders pi shenayim ("mouth of two") as διπλᾶ ("double things"), losing the idiomatic "mouth" image but preserving the sense of a double share; the Vulgate similarly gives "duplicia" ("double things"). For re'shit 'ono ("beginning of his vigor"), the LXX has ἀρχὴ τέκνων αὐτοῦ ("beginning of his children") and the Vulgate "principium liberorum ejus" ("beginning of his children"), both replacing the Hebrew term 'on ("vigor/strength") with a reference to "children" rather than physical/procreative strength.