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Jacob & JosephĪnother example of the birthright in action is in the story of Joseph. God’s words rang true, the older would serve the younger. Later on, Jacob also tricks his way into getting the special blessing from his father as well. Esau is hungry from his trip and begs for some soup which Jacob gives him in exchange for Esau’s birthright.Įven though Jacob is younger he will receive more of his father’s inheritance and will have his place of authority. Genesis 25:23 ESVįast forward to their adulthood, Esau goes hunting, and when he returns Jacob is making a pot of soup. The one shall be stronger than the other, To his mother was also given a word from God:Īnd two peoples from within you shall be divided Genesis 25 provides the account of the birth of twins, Jacob and Esau.Įsau was the eldest, a hunter, and loved by his father while Jacob was a quiet man who preferred to stay indoors and was loved more by his mother. The birthright situation between Jacob and Esau is probably the most well-known. However, each example still illustrates the power of the birthright in the Old Testament. They shall be mine: I am the Lord.” Numbers 3:11-13 ESV Biblical Examples Of BirthrightsĪs it turns out, some of the most prominent examples of the power of the birthright in Scripture are when it did not, in fact, go to the first born son due to surrounding circumstances. 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 consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both of man and of beast. The Levites then are in service to Aaron as priests for Israel on behalf of all the firstborn.Īnd the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the people of Israel. Instead of taking the firstborn as a priest, God transfers this responsibility to the Levites. Up until this point, the firstborn son was to be dedicated to God as the priest of the family. He may not treat the son of the loved as the firstborn in preference to the son of the unloved, who is the firstborn, but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the firstfruits of his strength.Īnother example is found in Numbers, where we see God making a change to the current birthright system. If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him children, and if the firstborn son belongs to the unloved, then on the day when he assigns his possessions as an inheritance to his sons, It doesn’t matter if he loves one wife more than another, the firstborn gets the birthright. The birthright belongs to his firstborn son. While we don’t see a specific place where the birthright was established in the Bible, we do see its use throughout and several instructions in place to protect or rework the birthright.įor example, in Deuteronomy, we see God’s concern for protecting the birthright by asserting that the father can’t pick and choose who will benefit from it depending on whose mother he loves more. I didn’t know a lot about birthrights before I wrote this post, and I hope that my research will help you to understand this topic better, just like it did for me. The firstborn son would be the priest of the family (until that task was transferred to the Levites by God), they would receive a double portion of their father’s inheritance and the authority of the father. What is a birthright? The birthright was a tradition that stated the firstborn son of each family would receive a special inheritance from their father. Throughout the Old Testament, we can see how significant the birthright is, and how it becomes even more symbolic through Jesus Christ.