FIRST-BORN
sons enjoyed certain special privileges (Deut. 21:17; Gen. 25:23, Gen. 25: 31, 34;49:3; 1-Chr 5:1; Heb. 12:16; Psa 89:27). (See BIRTHRIGHT.) The "first-born of the poor" signifies the most miserable of the poor (Isa. 14:30). The "church of the first-born" signifies the church of the redeemed. The destruction of the first-born was the last of the ten plagues inflicted on the Egyptians (Exo 11:1......
FIRST-BORN, REDEMPTION OF
From the beginning the office of the priesthood in each family belonged to the eldest son. But when the extensive plan of sacrificial worship was introduced, requiring a company of men to be exclusively devoted to this ministry, the primitive office of the first-born was superseded by that of the Levites (Num. 3:11), and it was ordained that the first-born of man and of unclean animals should henc......
FIRST-BORN, SANCTIFICATION OF THE
A peculiar sanctity was attached to the first-born both of man and of cattle. God claimed that the first-born males of man and of animals should be consecrated to him, the one as a priest (Exo 19:22, Exo 19: 24), representing the family to which he belonged, and the other to be offered up in sacrifice (Gen. 4:4). ......