What Does Deuteronomy 21:17 Mean in the King James?
But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Recognition is the legal act that prevents a father’s unequal affection from erasing the firstborn son’s claim.
THE MEANING
Where affection is uneven, this verse names a boundary: a father’s dislike of the mother does not cancel the firstborn son’s standing. His place is acknowledged and his share is doubled because he is named as the beginning of his father’s strength.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The son of the less-loved wife has no rightful claim to recognition or inheritance.
THE ROOT
יַכִּיר
yakir
GROWS FROM
נכר
n-k-r
Recognize, distinguish, identify.
The verb translated “acknowledge” shares its root with words for recognizing someone and for a stranger, someone distinguished as unfamiliar. The verse requires the father to identify the son’s standing even when the household’s affection marks him as unwanted.
ALSO GROWS
hikkir: Recognized, identified.
הִכִּיר
This is the same root’s act of seeing and naming who someone is; here, the father must name the son as firstborn.
nokhri: A person regarded as unfamiliar or outside.
נָכְרִי
This branch shows the root’s sense of distinguishing someone; the verse insists that the son’s identity and standing remain clear despite rejection.
הַבְּכֹר
ha-bekhor
GROWS FROM
בכר
b-k-r
Be first; bring forth first.
The firstborn belongs to a word family that also names the first yield of a harvest. The shared root connects precedence to what emerges first, rather than to which child receives more affection.
ALSO GROWS
bekhor: Firstborn son.
בְּכוֹר
This is the same family as the verse’s firstborn, whose place is recognized and protected.
bikkurim: First fruits, the earliest yield.
בִּכּוּרִים
The first yield and the firstborn share the language of what comes first; the verse treats that precedence as carrying a claim.
רֵאשִׁית
reshit
GROWS FROM
ראש
r-ʾ-sh
Head, top, first point, or origin.
“Beginning” comes from the word for head or first point. The verse names the son as the beginning of his father’s strength, linking the firstborn’s status to the origin of that strength.
ALSO GROWS
rosh: Head, top, or chief.
רֹאשׁ
The shared root makes “beginning” carry the image of what stands at the head or leads off.
reshit: Beginning, first part, or origin.
רֵאשִׁית
This is the word used in the verse: the firstborn is described as the origin of his father’s strength.
THE PATTERN
A person’s rightful standing is not to be changed by a decision-maker’s partiality.
Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment.My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.THE THREAD
Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:Genesis 49:3 calls Reuben the firstborn and uses the same phrase, “the beginning of my strength.” The repeated wording ties firstborn status to the first emergence of the father’s vigor, giving the doubled inheritance its stated ground.
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