Covenant14 min
The Firstborn
Genesis Gen 48:13–20; Psa 89:27; Col 1:15–18
The Torah instituted firstborn privilege: double portion, consecration to YHWH, the priestly role. The narrative then overturned that privilege six times — Cain to Abel, Ishmael to Isaac, Esau to Jacob, Manasseh to Ephraim, Reuben to Joseph-and-Judah, Jesse's older sons to David. Psalm 89 reframed the word itself: 'I will make him my firstborn.' The New Testament finished the sentence.