in Exodus 11:5 it says that every firstborn son in Egypt will die, does that mean if the firstborn is a daughter and the second born is a son, then the son would die but not the daughter even though she’s really the firstborn?\u00a0 Also in Exodus 34:19, it says the first offspring of every womb belongs to me, including all the firstborn males of your livestock. I’m a bit confused because the first part says the first offspring, which to me implies females included, but the second part specifically talks about firstborn males, so what is it?\u00a0 Does female firstborn count as “firstborn” or in that culture only the male are counted in birth order?<\/p>\n\t
“And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals<\/em>” (Exodus 11:5).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The Hebrew word\u00a0bekhor<\/em> literally means the one who opens the womb. There is nothing in the meaning of the word which defines this to be male or female. Unfortunately, the New International Version adds the word “son” in their translation which leads to your confusion. The New King James Version, the New American Standard Bible, and others are more accurate in this by only saying “firstborn” when bekhor<\/em>\u00a0is used.<\/p>\n
In biblical times, headship in the family was passed down from generation to generation and it was known as the right of the firstborn or the blessing. That right did not always go to the literal firstborn. Abraham had a son named Ishmael who was fourteen years older than his son Isaac. But since it was through Isaac that God’s promises were to come, Abraham sent Ishmael out of his home, and Isaac was considered to be Abraham’s only son (Genesis 22:16). Isaac had twin boys, but even before they were born, God stated that the older would serve the younger, thus indicating that the second born son would be given the blessing and hold the position of “firstborn” in Isaac’s household (Genesis 25:23). Jacob, Isaac’s second-born son who became the firstborn, also did not pass the blessing on to his eldest son because he committed incest. Nor were his second or third sons considered because they were violent men. The right of the firstborn (the headship) was given to his fourth son, Judah (Genesis 49:1-12). In Hebrew culture, the headship typically went to the first male in the family. Inheritance issues arose when a family had no male descendants.<\/p>\n
Because of this, “firstborn” could be used to refer to the heir of the family, the one who would head the family after his father died. In Exodus 11:5, this is not the case since the same context talked of the firstborn of the animals — animals don’t have heirs.<\/p>\n
“All that open the womb are Mine, and every male firstborn among your livestock, whether ox or sheep<\/em>” (Exodus 34:19).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In this passage, the Hebrew word\u00a0zakar<\/em> (male) is included with firstborn, so it is limited to only males. Other verses on this topic do the same (Exodus 13:12; 22:29; Deuteronomy 15:19). If\u00a0bekhor<\/em> only meant a male, then specifying a male\u00a0bekhor<\/em> would be redundant.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: in Exodus 11:5 it says that every firstborn son in Egypt will die, does that mean if the firstborn is a daughter and the second born is a son, then the son would die but not the daughter even though she’s really the firstborn?\u00a0 Also in Exodus 34:19, it says the first offspring of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[76],"class_list":["post-28388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-terminology"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":50579,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-the-redemption-laws-only-apply-to-firstborn-sons\/","url_meta":{"origin":28388,"position":0},"title":"Do the redemption laws only apply to firstborn sons?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In your article on\u00a0Jephthah's vow, you used the verses Exodus 13:2, 12-15 that all firstborn children belong to God, and as such Jephthah couldn't redeem her. But I've heard commentaries saying that these verses only talked about males. Is there something I'm missing in this? Thanks in advance and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":81000,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-exodus-2228-29-talking-about-child-sacrifice\/","url_meta":{"origin":28388,"position":1},"title":"Is Exodus 22:29 talking about child sacrifice?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In Exodus 22:29, is God allowing child sacrifice? I'm sure that's not what's present here, and I'm taking it as them becoming a part of the priesthood. If correct, are there other verses that can cover this idea? Answer: Human communication relies heavily on implications. We don't say everything.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69837,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-idea-of-redemption-confuses-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":28388,"position":2},"title":"The idea of redemption confuses me","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 17, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi there, I'm reading through the Bible for the first time. I'm up to Numbers 18 and was confused by verses 14-16. For reference (I'm using an NIV, but I might switch to ESV sometime): \"Everything in Israel that is devoted to the Lord is yours. The first offspring\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89689,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-does-firstborn-refer-to-in-hebrews-1223\/","url_meta":{"origin":28388,"position":3},"title":"Who does “firstborn” refer to in Hebrews 12:23?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In reading Hebrews 12:23 in another language, I noticed that \"firstborn\" is in the plural. Does it refer to the Christians in the church? Answer: One of the interesting results of studying with people with different backgrounds is that things will be pointed out that you never considered before.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3152,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-could-samuel-offer-a-burnt-offering-when-he-was-not-a-levite\/","url_meta":{"origin":28388,"position":4},"title":"How could Samuel offer a burnt offering when he was not a Levite?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 27, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How could Samuel offer a burnt offering when he was not a Levite? Answer: Samuel was a descendant of Levi, his lineage being traced in\u00a0I Chronicles 6:33-38. Samuel was born in the territory of Ephriam, where his family had lived for several generations. \"Now there was a certain man\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5177,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-jesus-created-since-he-is-the-firstborn-of-creation\/","url_meta":{"origin":28388,"position":5},"title":"Was Jesus created since he is the firstborn of creation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 8, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Throughout the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit and Jesus are mentioned. For clarity, I wanted to know if the Holy Spirit and Jesus were created by God or were they ever in existence. Many people use the analogy that all three are of one body, but the Bible says that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28388\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}