Deuteronomy 21:15–17, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Deuteronomy 21:15–17
The Disfavored Wife's Firstborn Keeps His Right
Loved and hated wives, and a threatened firstborn
A man may have two wives, one loved and another hated, and both may bear sons, the firstborn belonging to the hated wife. When he divides his estate he must not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, who is the actual firstborn.
Household preference is expected to try to rewrite inheritance. The law blocks that transfer.
The double portion stays with the firstborn of the disfavored wife
He shall acknowledge the son of the hated as firstborn by giving him a double portion of all he has, for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his. The rule restrains a father's favoritism inside polygyny.
It does not endorse taking two wives, label a woman hateworthy, or treat children as movable assets of affection. 'Hated' here names disfavor in a household, not a verdict on the woman's worth.
How this should shape us
Do not let a parent's affection or hostility rewrite a child's established right. Use transparent rules and independent review when family power threatens a disfavored partner or child.
Teach it back
Explain Deuteronomy 21:15–17 in your own words. Include its place in Moses' speeches or the final narrative, both movements, one material uncertainty, one affected person or group, and one use the complete context rules out.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: Interpreters disagree about the composition, date, Mosaic presentation, final-form role, legal relationship, rhetoric, history, and reception of “The Disfavored Wife's Firstborn Keeps His Right.” Confidence is strongest in the received unit's movement summarized here; historical and source-critical reconstructions remain probable, plausible, or uncertain as the evidence warrants.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Deuteronomy 21:15–17, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, speech and legal clauses, poetic lines, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Deut.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 21:15–17
Supports: Unit-bounded translation, syntax, lexical, legal, poetic, measure, name, and selected textual notes; silence is not evidence.
NET Bible Deuteronomy PDF, complete PDF pp. 1–111, translation and translator notes attached to 21:15–17
Supports: Concise critical framing of Deuteronomy's law collection, historical setting, relationship to other Torah laws, centralization, and moral tensions.
Yale Bible Study, 'Deuteronomy Part 1,' complete two-page PDF and linked lesson sections on law, legal collections, reform, centralization, and ethics, applied to Deuteronomy 21:15–17
Supports: A current debate map only; no unexposed chapter argument is attributed.
Schmid, Oxford Handbook chapter (2020), official abstract and six-question scope: Pentateuchal setting, reworked Tetrateuch, layers, date, covenant and treaty, and Deuteronomism
Supports: Mosaic speech presentation, self-referential Torah language, final-form function, and one model of earlier independent literary life.
Glatt-Gilad, 'Deuteronomy: The First Torah,' complete article sections on speeches, Torah self-reference, law differences, and Joshua-Kings reception; applied to Deuteronomy 21:15–17
Supports: Sexual violence, consent, status, patriarchal power, comparative law, lexical uncertainty, and survivor-safety controls.
Feinstein, 'The Rape of the Unbetrothed Virgin in Torah and Assyrian Law,' complete sections on Deuteronomy 22:23–29, Exodus 22, Hebrew terms, consent, payment, marriage, and Middle Assyrian comparison; applied to Deuteronomy 21:15–17
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: Deuteronomy 21:15–17, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Deuteronomy
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, speech and legal clauses, poetic lines, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Deut.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 21:15–17
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Deuteronomy with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
eBible.org distribution of the NET Bible, PDF generated 2026-08-12
Supports: Unit-bounded translation, syntax, lexical, legal, poetic, measure, name, and selected textual notes; silence is not evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible Deuteronomy PDF, complete PDF pp. 1–111, translation and translator notes attached to 21:15–17
Open source ↗modern critical open study guide
Deuteronomy Part 1: Law, Reform, and Historical Setting
Joel S. Baden and Yale Bible Study
Yale Divinity School, 2023 course edition
Supports: Concise critical framing of Deuteronomy's law collection, historical setting, relationship to other Torah laws, centralization, and moral tensions.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, 'Deuteronomy Part 1,' complete two-page PDF and linked lesson sections on law, legal collections, reform, centralization, and ethics, applied to Deuteronomy 21:15–17
Open source ↗modern scholarly handbook chapter abstract
The Place of Deuteronomy in the Formation of the Pentateuch
Konrad Schmid
The Oxford Handbook of the Pentateuch, Oxford University Press, 2020
Supports: A current debate map only; no unexposed chapter argument is attributed.
Exact location: Schmid, Oxford Handbook chapter (2020), official abstract and six-question scope: Pentateuchal setting, reworked Tetrateuch, layers, date, covenant and treaty, and Deuteronomism
Open source ↗modern jewish scholarly open composition study
Deuteronomy: The First Torah
David A. Glatt-Gilad
TheTorah.com, 2015
Supports: Mosaic speech presentation, self-referential Torah language, final-form function, and one model of earlier independent literary life.
Exact location: Glatt-Gilad, 'Deuteronomy: The First Torah,' complete article sections on speeches, Torah self-reference, law differences, and Joshua-Kings reception; applied to Deuteronomy 21:15–17
Open source ↗modern jewish scholarly open sexual and comparative law study
The Rape of the Unbetrothed Virgin in Torah and Assyrian Law
Eve Levavi Feinstein
TheTorah.com, 2013
Supports: Sexual violence, consent, status, patriarchal power, comparative law, lexical uncertainty, and survivor-safety controls.
Exact location: Feinstein, 'The Rape of the Unbetrothed Virgin in Torah and Assyrian Law,' complete sections on Deuteronomy 22:23–29, Exodus 22, Hebrew terms, consent, payment, marriage, and Middle Assyrian comparison; applied to Deuteronomy 21:15–17
Open source ↗