15 'When a man hath two wives, the one loved and the other hated, and they have borne to him sons (the loved one and the hated one), and the first-born son hath been to the hated one; 16 then it hath been, in the day of his causing his sons to inherit that which he hath, he is not able to declare first-born the son of the loved one, in the face of the son of the hated one—the first-born. 17 But the first-born, son of the hated one, he doth acknowledge, to give to him a double portion of all that is found with him, for he 'is' the beginning of his strength; to him 'is' the right of the first-born.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Deuteronomy 21:15-17
Commentary on Deuteronomy 21:15-17
(Read Deuteronomy 21:15-17)
This law restrains men from disinheriting their eldest sons without just cause. The principle in this case as to children, is still binding to parents; they must give children their right without partiality.