or PRIMOGENITURE, the right of the first-born or eldest son.
The birthright, or right of primogeniture, had many privileges annexed
to it. The first-born was consecrated to the Lord, Exod. xxii, 29; had a
double portion of the estate allotted him, Deut. xxi, 17; had a dignity
and authority over his brethren, Gen. xlix, 3; succeeded in the
government of the family or kingdom, 2 Chron. xxi, 3; and, as some with
good reason suppose, in ancient times to the priesthood or chief
government in matters ecclesiastical. Jacob, having bought Esau’s
birthright, acquired a title to the particular blessing of his dying
father; and, accordingly, he had consigned to him the privilege of the
covenant which God made with Abraham, that from his loins the Messiah
should spring: a prerogative which descended to his posterity. Reuben
forfeited the blessings of his birthright, as we see by the express
declaration of his father Jacob, in his benediction of his children,
Gen. xlix, 1, &c, for the crime of incest with his father’s concubine,
on account of which his tribe continued all along in obscurity; while
the priesthood was conferred on Levi, the government on Judah, and the
double portion on Joseph, to descend to their respective tribes. And
this preëminence of the first-born took place from the beginning, and as
much belonged to Cain, before his forfeiture of it, as it did to Reuben
before his. See Genesis iv, 7; xlix, 3. Thus the patriarchs, Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, offered sacrifices, and were priests as well as kings
in their respective families, Gen. xii, 7, 8; xiii, 18; xvii, 7; xxvi,
25; xxxi, 54; xxxv, 7. Job, in Arabia, acted in the same capacity, Job,
i, 5; and it is highly probable that, among the ancient Heathen nations
in general, the first-born were entitled not only to the civil
authority, but also to the priesthood. This seems to have been the case
in Egypt, in the time of Moses: and hence Jehovah’s destroying their
first-born, as it was the last miracle wrought in that country before
the Exodus, so was it the most dreadful, and most effectual in
prevailing on Pharaoh and the Egyptians to dismiss the Israelites.
The birthright, or right of primogeniture, had many privileges annexed
to it. The first-born was consecrated to the Lord, Exod. xxii, 29; had a
double portion of the estate allotted him, Deut. xxi, 17; had a dignity
and authority over his brethren, Gen. xlix, 3; succeeded in the
government of the family or kingdom, 2 Chron. xxi, 3; and, as some with
good reason suppose, in ancient times to the priesthood or chief
government in matters ecclesiastical. Jacob, having bought Esau’s
birthright, acquired a title to the particular blessing of his dying
father; and, accordingly, he had consigned to him the privilege of the
covenant which God made with Abraham, that from his loins the Messiah
should spring: a prerogative which descended to his posterity. Reuben
forfeited the blessings of his birthright, as we see by the express
declaration of his father Jacob, in his benediction of his children,
Gen. xlix, 1, &c, for the crime of incest with his father’s concubine,
on account of which his tribe continued all along in obscurity; while
the priesthood was conferred on Levi, the government on Judah, and the
double portion on Joseph, to descend to their respective tribes. And
this preëminence of the first-born took place from the beginning, and as
much belonged to Cain, before his forfeiture of it, as it did to Reuben
before his. See Genesis iv, 7; xlix, 3. Thus the patriarchs, Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, offered sacrifices, and were priests as well as kings
in their respective families, Gen. xii, 7, 8; xiii, 18; xvii, 7; xxvi,
25; xxxi, 54; xxxv, 7. Job, in Arabia, acted in the same capacity, Job,
i, 5; and it is highly probable that, among the ancient Heathen nations
in general, the first-born were entitled not only to the civil
authority, but also to the priesthood. This seems to have been the case
in Egypt, in the time of Moses: and hence Jehovah’s destroying their
first-born, as it was the last miracle wrought in that country before
the Exodus, so was it the most dreadful, and most effectual in
prevailing on Pharaoh and the Egyptians to dismiss the Israelites.