With the beginning of a chapter all about the firstborn (Bechorot 46a), what better time to discuss why the firstborn, the bechor, is significant in Judaism. The laws about bechor clearly indicate its supremacy. Firstborn animals have to be given to God as we have seen in our masechet. The Torah tells us:

“You shall consecrate to the Eternal your God all male firstlings that are born in your herd and in your flock: you must not work your firstling ox or shear your firstling sheep.”(Devarim 15:19)

A human firstborn son is holy to God as well.

“Consecrate to Me every male firstborn; human and animal, the first [male] issue of every womb among the Israelites is Mine” (Shemot 13:2)

This consecration meant that the bechorim were to serve God when the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, was built. The reason for this sacred status is because God saved the Israelite firstborns when He killed the firstborn of the Egyptians:

“When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, God slew every [male] first-born in the land of Egypt, the first-born of both human and animal. Therefore I sacrifice to God every first male issue of the womb, but redeem every male first-born among my children.” (Shemot 13:15)

The Jewish people are called God’s firstborn, implying that they are as special to him as a firstborn son is to his parents.

“Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says God: Israel is My first-born son” (Shemot 4:22)

The special status of the firstborn extends to the economic realm. The firstborn receives a double portion of inheritance from his father and the father cannot favor a child born later, to a different wife, over the first one:

“If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him sons, but the firstborn is the son of the unloved one— when he wills his property to his sons, he may not treat as firstborn the son of the loved one in disregard of the son of the unloved one who is older. Instead, he must accept the firstborn, the son of the unloved one, and allot to him a double portion of all he possesses; since he is the first fruit of his vigor, the birthright is his due” (Devarim 21:15-17)

The many benefits given by the Torah to the firstborn seem to indicate that his preferred status is guaranteed. But when we look not at the laws but at the stories in the Torah, the opposite is evident. In almost every story, the chosen son is not the firstborn but a later child. Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers, Moses and Aaron, David and his brothers – the list goes on and on. Even the very first pair of brothers, Cain and Abel, do not escape this scenario. Abel is born second and yet he is the one favored by God:

“God paid heed to Abel and his offering, but paid no heed to Cain and his offering.” (Bereshit 4: 4-5)

The bechor is pushed aside on the national level as well as the family one. After the people sin with the Golden Calf in the desert, the firstborn are replaced by the Levites in the Temple service:

“I hereby take the Levites from among the Israelites in place of all the male firstborn, the first issue of the womb among the Israelites: the Levites shall be Mine” (Bamidbar 3:13)

Even the law that forbids the father from preferring the son of beloved wife over the son of the hated wife, shows us that in reality that was what was often done. Laws exist to prevent behavior that is already happening; fathers were “choosing” their firstborn and not going with the actual bechor.

The question of if the natural firstborn can lose his status is present in the stories of both Reuven, the son of Jacob, and Efraim and Menashe, Joseph’s sons. When Jacob blesses his children on his deathbed he passes over the true firstborn, Reuven, and chooses two other sons as “firsts,” Judah and Joseph:

“Reuben, you are my first-born,

My might and first fruit of my vigor,
Exceeding in rank
And exceeding in honor.

Unstable as water, you shall excel no longer” (Bereshit 49:3-4)

Jacob plays the same game with his grandchildren. When Joseph presents Efraim and Menashe to him, placing Menashe in the position of the firstborn, Jacob switches them:

“But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head—thus crossing his hands—although Manasseh was the firstborn” (Bereshit 48:14)

What do all these contradictory ideas tell us about the bechor? On the one hand, there is no denying the specialness of a firstborn child. The firstborn confers the status of parents on his (and her!) mother and father and ensures their continuity and in a sense their immortality. This is why God punishes the Egyptians by killing off the firstborn; it Is a way of showing that they will die off and fade from history. The value and preciousness of the firstborn child are what God is expressing when He calls Israel His firstborn.

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Giving the firstborn son higher status seems to be a logical choice and it solves the problem of how to choose which child will get more inheritance or a leadership position. However, it can backfire. What if the firstborn is not a natural leader? What if he is not wise or creative or brave? What if he is a loser? Firstborns do not follow a meritocracy. Sometimes the later children are the stars and that seems to be the case in the Torah stories of the second born leaders we mentioned above.

Firstborns have a natural advantage of being chosen, while later children have to work their way up through their talents. The Torah allows for both kinds of leadership.

P.S. The author is a proud firstborn child and knows that we really are the best – shhh, don’t tell the others.