Deuteronomy 21:16,Deuteronomy 21:17

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:15-17

This law restrains men from disinheriting their eldest sons out of mere caprice, and without just provocation. I. The case here put (Deut. 21:15) is very instructive. 1. It shows the great mischief of having more wives than one, which the law of Moses did not restrain, probably in hopes that men's own experience of the great inconvenience of it in families would at last put an end to it and make them a law to themselves. Observe the supposition here: If a man have two wives, it is a thousand... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:16

Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath ,.... By a will in writing, or byword of mouth, or by a deed of gift, actually bestowing his goods upon them, and dividing among them what he is for the present possessed of; see Luke 15:12 , that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn ; that is, when such is the case, that the son of his wife he has the least value for is really his firstborn,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:15-17

If a man have two wives, one of whom is a favorite and the other disliked, and if his firstborn son be the child of the latter, he is not to allow his love for the other to prejudice the right of the son, but must allow him, both in his own lifetime and in the disposition of his property after death, the full privilege and right of a firstborn son. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:15-17

Home partialities never to warp home justice. This paragraph indicates deep insight into human nature, and a far-seeing wisdom which surely indicates its superhuman origin. It is designed to restrict the action of the father with reference to the inheritance of the children, in cases where there were two families, not, apparently, by two wives living at the same time (as is the passage favored polygamy), but rather by two of whom the second became the wife after the death of the first... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:15-17

The rights of the firstborn in the house of a bigamist. Bigamy was not encouraged by the Mosaic Law. Where it took place in man's passion, the Law stepped in to regulate the relations in the household impartially. The house of a bigamist may be the scene of sudden jealousies and dispeace, but God steps in to forbid it being the scene of injustice. The discomfort is providentially inseparable from the bigamy—it would have been a pity had it been otherwise! But the Lord steps in to prevent... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:15-17

Monogamy essential to domestic peace. Every indication of God's will is a finger-post to felicity. A wise man will not wait for peremptory law. The faintest whisper of Jehovah's will is law to him. Without doubt, that each man should be the husband of one wife was the ordination of God. I. THE FIRSTBORN SON IS PLACED IN A POSITION OF SPECIAL PRIVILEGE AND POWER . All human government is built upon the model of the family. Within the compass of the family the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:15-18

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... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:16

He may not make ; literally, is not able to make ; i . e . is legally incapable of making. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Deuteronomy 21:15-17

Moses did not originate the rights of primogeniture (compare Genesis 25:31), but recognized them, since he found them pre-existing in the general social system of the East. Paternal authority could set aside these rights on just grounds Genesis 27:33, but it is forbidden here to do so from mere partiality. read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:1-23

Respect for human life (21:1-23)Murder made the land unclean, and the uncleanness could be removed only by the execution of the murderer (see Numbers 35:29-34). Where the murderer could not be found, the elders of the town nearest the place of the murder had to go to an unpolluted stream nearby and carry out the ritual slaughter of a young cow instead of the unknown murderer. The blood of the cow washed away in the stream symbolized the removal of uncleanness caused by the unlawful bloodshed... read more

Deuteronomy 21:16,deuteronomy 21:17

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:15-17

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:16

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:15-17

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:15-17

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:15-17

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:15-17

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:15-18

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:16

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Deuteronomy 21:15-17

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:1-23

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