Category:Birthright

Birth"right`, n.

Defn: Any right, privilege, or possession to which a person is entitled by birth, such as an estate descendible by law to an heir, or civil liberty under a free constitution; esp. the rights or inheritance of the first born. Lest there be any. . . profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. Heb. xii. 16.

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---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Birthright -

(1.) This word denotes the special privileges and advantages belonging to the first-born son among the Jews. He became the priest of the family. Thus Reuben was the first-born of the patriarchs, and so the priesthood of the tribes belonged to him. That honor was, however, transferred by God from Reuben to Levi (Numbers 3:12 - 3:13; Numbers 8:18).

(2.) The first-born son had allotted to him also a double portion of the paternal inheritance (Deuteronomy 21:15). Reuben was, because of his undutiful conduct, deprived of his birth-right (Genesis 49:4; 1 Chronicles 5:1). Esau transferred his birth-right to Jacob (Genesis 25:33).

(3.) The first-born inherited the judicial authority of his father, whatever it might be (2 Chronicles 21:3). By divine appointment, however, David excluded Adonijah in favor of Solomon.

(4.) The Jews attached a sacred importance to the rank of "first-born" and "first-begotten" as applied to the Messiah (Romans 8:29; Colossians 1:18; Hebrews 1:4). As first-born he has an inheritance superior to his brethren, and is the alone true priest.