– As the word itself says, it is the first born. According to Jewish Law, not only the first offspring of an animal, but also the first child of a couple should be offered to the Lord on the seventh day:
Ex 13 :2 : You shall consecrate to me every firstborn among the Israelites.
Ex 22,28-29 : You will give me the firstborn of your children.
Num 18:17 : But thou shalt not redeem the firstborn of the cow, or of the sheep, or of the goat.
Deut 15:19 : Thou shalt consecrate to the LORD thy God every firstborn male born of thy flock.
– Should then be rescued:
Ex 13,11-16 : However, you shall redeem every firstling of a donkey with a lamb.
Lev 27:26 : However, no one may consecrate the firstlings of his livestock, for they already belong to the Lord.
Numbers 3:41,45 : You shall take the Levites for me in place of all the firstborn of Israel.
Num 18:15 : Thou shalt command, however, that the firstborn of man, as well as the firstborn of animals, be redeemed.
– The Law assisted him with special rights over property and siblings:
Gen 25:31 : Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”
Gen 27:19-40 : Jacob replied: “I am Esau, your firstborn; I did what you asked.”
Deuteronomy 21:17 : He will recognize the son of the despised woman as the firstborn, giving him a double portion of all her goods.
Heb 12:16 : No one sensual or profane like Esau, who sold his birthright for a plate of food.
– But he could be disinherited or sell his birthright:
Gen 25:31 : Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”
1Ch 5,1 : He was the eldest, yet how he had defiled his father’s bed, his birthright.
– Jesus, as the firstborn, was offered to the Lord and redeemed with a pair of pigeons:
Lk 2: 22 : When the days of his purification were over […] they took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.
– On the spiritual plane, we are adopted children of God by baptism, and Jesus is the firstborn:
Rom 8:29 : So that he might be the firstborn among a multitude of brothers.
– Possesses over all creatures the precedence of a firstborn among brothers:
Col 1,15.18 : He is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation.
Revelation 1 :5 : And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead.
