Firstborn

Biblical Texts

The term "firstborn" means "that which first opens the womb." Korean Bibles render it variously as chotaesaeng ("firstborn"), cheoeum nan geot ("that which is born first"), and cheot saekki ("first young").

• Exodus 13:1-16: Immediately after the Exodus, God commands that the firstborn of both people and animals be sanctified and given to Him. The male firstlings of the livestock are to be offered. The firstling of a donkey is to be redeemed with a lamb, or else its neck is to be broken. Every firstborn son must be redeemed.
• Exodus 22:29-30; 34:19-20: The firstborn of cattle and sheep are to remain with their mothers for seven days and be offered on the eighth day.
• Numbers 3:11-13, 40-51: God takes the Levites as His own in place of the firstborn sons of Israel. The 273 firstborn sons in excess of the number of Levites are redeemed at five shekels each, and the money is given to Aaron and his sons.
• Numbers 18:15-18: A firstborn son is redeemed for five shekels at one month of age. The firstborn of cattle, sheep, and goats are not redeemed but are offered on the altar, and their meat becomes the portion of the priests.
• Deuteronomy 15:19-23: The firstborn of cattle and sheep are not to be worked or shorn; they are to be eaten year by year at the place God chooses. Those with a blemish are not to be offered as sacrifices.
• Leviticus 27:26: Because the firstborn already belong to God, they cannot be separately dedicated as a votive offering.

Background

Exodus 13:14-15 grounds this institution in the last of the ten plagues. God struck down the firstborn of Egypt, while the firstborn sons of Israel were spared by the blood of the Passover lamb. For this reason the firstborn of Israel belong to God. Exodus 4:22 calls the whole nation of Israel God's "firstborn": "Israel is my son, even my firstborn."

The eldest son represented the household and was entitled to a double portion of the inheritance (Deuteronomy 21:17). This is discussed in the article Birthright. Abel's offering of "the firstlings of his flock" in Genesis 4:4 is also cited as an example of a firstborn offering (Cain and Abel).

Significance Across Scripture

The people who returned from exile pledged to bring their firstborn to God (Nehemiah 10:36).

Luke 2:22-24 records that Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem. Luke connects this event with the law that "Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord" (Luke 2:23), and it is on this occasion that Simeon and Anna meet Jesus in the Temple.

The New Testament applies the term "firstborn" (Greek prōtotokos) to Jesus Christ. Christ is "the firstborn among many brethren" (Romans 8:29), "the firstborn of every creature," and "the firstborn from the dead" (Colossians 1:15, 18). Hebrews 12:23 calls the church "the general assembly and church of the firstborn."

Interpretations and Debates

• Redemption distinguished from purification: The offering of doves in Luke 2:24 is the offering for a mother's purification prescribed in Leviticus 12, not the redemption price of a firstborn. Luke makes no separate mention of the five-shekel redemption payment.
• "Firstborn" in Colossians 1:15: Arianism and Jehovah's Witnesses read this expression to mean that Christ was the first created being. Churches that follow the Nicene Creed understand it to denote preeminent status rather than being created first in time. In support they cite Psalm 89:27, where David is called "firstborn": "I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth."
• "Firstborn son" in Luke 2:7: The Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church take this term to refer to the legal status of a firstborn son and understand it as not contradicting Mary's perpetual virginity. Many Protestants hold that Mary later had other children.
• Present-day application: Most Protestant denominations regard the firstborn regulations as ceremonial law fulfilled in Christ and do not observe them literally. In Judaism, the ceremony of redeeming the firstborn son (pidyon haben) is reportedly still practiced today.
• Distinction from firstfruits: The firstborn refers to what is born from the womb. It is a regulation distinct from that of the firstfruits, the first produce of grain and fruit (Exodus 23:19). In preaching, however, the two are often treated together.

In the Korean Church

In Korean churches, the firstborn regulations are sometimes preached as the principle of "giving the first to God." Some churches connect this with the practice of giving one's first paycheck or first income as an offering. Such applications vary from church to church and are not practices established at the denominational level.