(The History of Ancient Israel)
So, seeing how important Birthrights we really need to know what exactly birthrights are:
It is a right or privilege someone is entitled to just because of their birth into it.[1]
A birthright is an inheritance that is guaranteed to someone just because of who their parents where and when they were born! A Birthright is literally Someone’s Right by Birth!
Birthrights in the Middle East usually were about the same thing with a major difference: a father/patriarch would have property and wealth and have children that would inherit his property just for being his children, however not all of his children would have the birthright! In a traditional Birthright only, the First-Born son was entitled to the Birthright: while his siblings would also get a share of the father's wealth the First-born son would get the majority of the father's wealth and responsibility because of his birthright.
So how do Birthrights fit in with covenants?
If you remember before in the Covenant article that covenants were very serious agreements that often affected the children of the person who made the covenant. Therefore, the covenant that their parents made would become their Birthright or responsibility of their child (ren) because it would get passed onto him/them.
And this is also true with the covenants God makes with humans: the agreements and promises God makes with an individual human/group of humans usually does not stop with just them it often applied to their children and then their children to infinite generations! One covenant God made with one person could affect a massive amount of people because of their lineage to this individual!
So, when God makes a covenant the children of the person or people, he made a covenant with becomes their Birthright: it is their right of birth to inherit the covenant of their parent(s). This is very important to know the connection between covenants and birthrights because it’s a major part of the Bible.
(You can either close this extra window to return to "the one man that changed it all" or click here to return to the history of ancient Israel main menu)
Sources:
[1]
[A] Merriam-Websiter “Birthright”
Website:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/birthright
[B] Dictionary.com “Birthright”
Website: