The firstborn of the hated wife.
The firstborn, in patriarchal and tribal societies, had recognized rights and honors, correlative with the duties and responsibilities which his position as prospective head of the household entailed on him. The principle is here asserted that individual preferences and partialities are not to be allowed to set aside the rights of the son who is lawfully the firstborn. Men would fain, sometimes, bend justice to their likings. Where an Israelite had two wives, either together or in succession, the one loved and the other hated, he might be tempted to pass by the son of the hated, and confer the rights of the firstborn on the son of the wife whom he loved, though it was the son of the hated wife who was entitled to that honor. With strict impartiality, the Law steps in and forbids this act of injustice. It demands that the son of the hated wife have all his rights. It will tolerate no tampering with them.
Lessons:
1. The evils of polygamy.
2. The sin of allowing likes and dislikes to influence us to acts of injustice.
3. The danger of natural preferences degenerating into blameworthy partialities.
4. The duty of doing always what is right, whatever the bent of our private inclinations.—J.O.