Ki Seitzei 21:17 · unit 8

TT #58 · Parashas Ki Seitzei · First aliya · Passuk 21:17

The Complete Passuk

כִּי֩ אֶת־הַבְּכֹ֨ר בֶּן־הַשְּׂנוּאָ֜ה יַכִּ֗יר לָ֤תֶת לוֹ֙ פִּ֣י שְׁנַ֔יִם בְּכֹ֥ל אֲשֶׁר־יִמָּצֵ֖א ל֑וֹ כִּי־הוּא֙ רֵאשִׁ֣ית אֹנ֔וֹ ל֖וֹ מִשְׁפַּ֥ט הַבְּכֹרָֽה׃

But he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the hated, by giving him a double portion of all that is found with him; for he is the first of his strength, the right of the firstborn is his.

Chabad.org — 21:17

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Bechoros 47a.

Sefaria — Bechoros 47a

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
כִּי הוּא רֵאשִׁית – הָיוּ לוֹ בָּנִים בִּהְיוֹתוֹ נָכְרִי וְנִתְגַּיֵּר, אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן, אֵין לוֹ בְּכוֹר לַנַּחֲלָה, מַאי טַעְמָא? דְּהָא הֲוָה לֵיהּ רֵאשִׁית אוֹנוֹ.

English: “For he is the first” — if a man had children while he was a non-Jew and then converted, Rabbi Yochanan said he has no firstborn for inheritance. Why? Because he already had the first of his strength.

On the daf / in context: Children born before conversion count as “the first of his strength.” Therefore a son born after conversion is not the firstborn for inheritance purposes. (A Jewish man who has a child from a non-Jewess or maidservant is different, because those children are not legally “his.”)

Type of Learning

Derash on “reishis ono” applied to a convert.

What Is Learned

A convert who already had children before conversion has no firstborn for inheritance among the children born after conversion.