What Does "Firstborn" Mean?
When seeking to define a word, our natural inclination might be to run to a dictionary (Bible or otherwise), and that can be a useful first step. But in seeking to understand the meaning of the written (or spoken) word, there is one thing that reigns supreme over all others—context. Etymology, and the changing meaning of a word over time are interesting and often helpful in aiding our understanding, but they always play a subservient role to context when it comes to understanding an author or speaker’s intent. A great example of this principle is the Bible’s use of the word “firstborn.”
Lexical Definition
What is a “firstborn”? When we consult a secular dictionary, the meaning is straightforward:
From dictionary.com:
adjective
1. first in the order of birth; eldest.
noun
2. a firstborn child.
3. a first result or product.
From m-w.com:
adjective:
: first brought forth: ELDEST.
Pretty simple, right? The meaning is built right into the word itself. But if we take this lexical definition and apply it to Scripture, it causes Scripture to contradict Scripture:
First One Born?
Jacob/Israel
God calls Israel (Jacob) “my firstborn”:
"Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD, " Israel is My son, My firstborn. — Exodus 4:22
But Jacob was not actually the first one born to Isaac—Esau was:
Afterward his brother came forth with his hand holding on to Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob; and Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them. — Genesis 25:26 (cf. Genesis 32:8)
Ephraim
God says that Ephraim is His firstborn:
I will make them walk by streams of waters,
On a straight path in which they will not stumble;
For I am a father to Israel,
And Ephraim is My firstborn.” — Jeremiah 31:9
But Ephraim was not the first one born to Joseph—Manasseh was:
Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.” He named the second Ephraim, “For,” he said, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.” — Genesis 41:51–52
David
God calls David “my firstborn”:
I have found David My servant; With My holy oil I have anointed him…I also shall make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth. — Psalm 89:20, 27
But David was not the first one born to Jesse. David was the youngest of 8 sons; Eliab was the first one born:
Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “Yahweh has not chosen these.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the young men?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is shepherding the sheep.” — I Samuel 16:10, 11a
And the three older sons of Jesse had gone. They had gone after Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and the second to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. — 1 Samuel 17:13
You’ll note here that it is God who says “my firstborn,” and not the fathers of these offspring.
Okay, fine…so there’s no problem since Jacob, Ephraim, and David were not called the “firstborn” of their respective fathers. Right? Isn’t this just a thing where God decides He’s going to bestow some sort of honor upon someone?
Well, yes and no…
Firstborn No More
Being a “firstborn” is not an immutable trait, an accident of timing because we also see some fathers bestowing the blessing of the firstborn to other than their respective firstborn children:
Esau
Probably the most familiar case of a firstborn losing (or forfeiting) his birthright is Esau, who sold his “birthright” to his brother Jacob for a pot of stew:
And Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?” And Jacob said, “First swear to me”; so he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. — Genesis 25:32, 33
Reuben
And the slightly-less-familiar case of Reuben forfeiting his birthright as the firstborn because he profaned his father’s bed (1 Chronicles 5:1, cf. Genesis 35:22); the birthright was then given to Joseph instead.
Manasseh
We covered Manasseh, above, but note here that it’s not just God who decides to call him the firstborn; his grandfather Jacob did as well:
And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one [Manasseh] is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head.” But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also will become a people, and he also will be great. However, his younger brother [Ephraim] shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become the fullness of nations.” — Genesis 48:18, 19
Adonijah
Adonijah was actually the 4th son born to King David:
Amnon — son of Ahinoam, David’s firstborn (2 Samuel 3:2), killed by Abasalom (2 Samuel 13:28, 29)
Kileab (aka Daniel) — son of Abigail (1 Chronicles 3:1). He is never mentioned again in Scripture.
Absalom — son of Maacah (2 Samuel 3:3), killed by Joab (2 Samuel 18:14)
Adonijah — son of Haggith (2 Samuel 3:4)
By man’s standards, Adonijah should have been made king, but he tried to steal the throne (1 Kings 1) rather than have the title conferred upon him. But God had other plans:
Behold, a son will be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. He shall build a house for My name, and he shall be a son to Me and I will be a father to him; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’ — 1 Chronicles 22:9, 10
And Adonijah knew this full well:
So he [Adonijah] said, “You know that the kingdom was mine and that all Israel expected me to be king; however, the kingdom has turned about and become my brother’s, for it was his from Yahweh. — 1 Kings 2:15
Hosah
Also Hosah, one of the sons of Merari had sons: Shimri the first (although he was not the firstborn, his father made him first), — 1 Chronicles 26:10
As you can see, it doesn’t take a postgradute degree in biblical studies to see that “firstborn” does not necessarily mean “first one born,” and that it’s a significant enough title to inspire murderous (Esau) or treasonous (Adonijah) intent when it is lost. In short, being the “firstborn” is a big deal.
But why is it such a big deal?
The Privileges of the Firstborn
As far as I can tell, we aren’t given any clues about the privileges of the firstborn until we get to Deuteronomy:
“If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him sons, if the firstborn son belongs to the unloved, then it shall be in the day he wills what he has to his sons, he cannot make the son of the loved the firstborn before the son of the unloved, who is the firstborn. But he shall recognize the firstborn, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the first of his vigor; the legal judgment for the firstborn belongs to him. — Deuteronomy 21:15–17
A Double Portion of the Estate
Ah! So, when a man dies, a double portion of his inheritance is to be allotted to his firstborn son. That’s a pretty big deal. One of my students was a bit perplexed by this and wondered how one goes about calculating a “double portion.” The formula is simple:
If = 2 x (Estate / (# of children + 1))So, if a man’s estate were worth $1,000,000 and he had four children, the firstborn would get:
If = 2 x ($1,000,000 / (4 + 1))If = 2 x ($1,000,000 / 5)If = 2 x $200,000If = $400,000The firstborn’s inheritance would be $400,000, whereas the other three children would each receive $200,000. Cha-ching!
Leadership of the Clan (or Kingdom)
Later, during the time of the kings, we learn that the throne was passed down to the firstborn son:
And their father [Jehoshaphat] gave them many gifts of silver, gold, and precious things, with fortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the firstborn. — 2 Chronicles 21:3
This also seems to have been the case with non-royal family lines. The firstborn would become the judicial leader of his clan (Genesis 37:21, 22; Genesis 49:3).
Priestly Responsibility
Not only was the firstborn charged with governing the family, but he was also tasked with the responsibility of interceding on behalf of his family before God. We see an inference of this when God changed that traidition when establishing the Levitical priesthood:
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Now, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of every firstborn, the first offspring of the womb among the sons of Israel. So the Levites shall be Mine. For all the firstborn are Mine; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, from man to beast. They shall be Mine; I am Yahweh.” — Numbers 3:11–13
So, put all together, we see that the firstborn was entitled to three things:
A double-portion of the father’s estate (property),
The leadership of the clan or kingdom (power), and
A responsibility to intercede on behalf of his family before God (privilege).
In a nutshell, “firstborn” isn’t really so much about birth order at all as it is a matter of rights, privilege, and honor.
Jesus, THE Firstborn
I’m not going to be able to do this justice in the space and time I have available to me here—this topic is too deep to cover adequately in just one blog post—but hopefully this will give you a decent-enough sampling for now.
The author of Hebrews calls Jesus “the firstborn”:
And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, “And let all the angels of God worship Him.” — Hebrews 1:6
So, as the firstborn, He is the heir of all things:
in these last days spoke to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds, — Hebrews 1:2 (cf., John 3:16…Jesus is the monogenes, the one-and-only son)
He is the rightful head of the body of Christ, the church:
And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. — Ephesians 1:22, 23
And He as been given all authority and power, both in heaven and on earth:
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. — Matthew 28:18
And He has first place in everythijng:
Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. — Colossians 1:18
And He is our priest forever:
just as He says also in another passage, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” — Hebrews 5:6
In Romans, He is called “the firstborn among many brothers.” (Romans 8:29) In Colossians, He is called “the firstborn of all creation” (1:15) and “the firstborn from the dead” (1:18), and He is again called “the firstborn of the dead” in Revelation 1:5.
Why Does This Matter?
I completely ran out of time to cover this in class, but I do want to point out that this is not just a simple exercise in Scripture reading.
Why does all of this matter? Because Arian groups such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses latch onto this concept of the first one born, and insist that “Jesus is the first thing created by God, and that by Jesus all other things are created” (https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/colossians/1/#v51001016), but in so doing, they turn a willfully-blind eye to all that the Scripture has to say about what it means to be a firstborn.
Homework
A couple of weeks ago, I was handed this question. Lord willing, next week we shall address it:
“People who have never had a chance to hear the gospel can look at the world and see there’s a God out there but, according to John 3:16, you have to believe that Jesus died on the cross to be saved. Since God is just, how is it fair for them to go to hell?”