2. A "double portion" of the paternal property was allotted by the. Mosaic law (Deut. xxi, 15-17), nor could the caprice of the father deprive him of it. There is some difficulty in determining precisely what is meant by a double portion. Some suppose that half the inheritance was received by the elder brother, and that the other half was equally divided among the re- maining brethren. This is not probable. The rab- bins believe that the elder brother received twice as much as any of the rest, and there is no reason to doubt the correctness of this opinion. When the first-born died before his father's property was divided, and left children, the right of the father descended to the chil- dren, and not to the brother next of age. Such was the inheritance of Joseph, his sons reckoning with his brethren, and becoming heads of tribes. . This seems to explain the request of Elisha for a " double portion" of Elijah's spirit (2 Kings ii, 9). Reuben, through his unlilial conduct, was deprived of the birthright (Gen. xlix, 4 ; 1 Chron. v, 1). It is likely that some remem- brance of this lost pre-eminence stirred the Reubenite leaders of Korah's rebellion (Num. xvi, 1,2; xxvi, 5- 9 ). Esau's act, transferring his right to Jacob, was al- lowed valid (Gen. xxv, 33).
3. The first-born son succeeded to the official author- ity possessed by his father. If the latter was a king, the former was regarded as his legitimate successor, unless some unusual event or arrangement interfered (2 Chron. xxi, 3). After the law was given through Moses, the right of primogeniture could not be trans- ferred from the first-born to a 3'oungex child at the fa- ther's option. In the patriarchal age, however, it was in the power of the parent thus to convey it from the eldest to another child (Deut. xxi, 15-17; Gen. xxv, 31, 32). David, nevertheless, by divine appointment, excluded Adonijah in favor of Solomon, which deviation from rule was indicated by the anointing (Goodwin, 1. c. 4, with Hottingcr's notes). The first-born of a line is often noted in the early scriptural genealogies, e.g. (Jen. xxii, 21; xxv, 13; Num. xxvi, 5, etc.
4. The Jews attached a sacred import to the title of primogeniture (see Schottgen, Ilor. Ilebr. i, 922), and this explains the peculiar significance of the terms "first-born" and "first-begotten" as applied to the Messiah. Thus in Rom. viii, 29, it is written concern-
BIRZAVITH
818
BISHOP
ing the Son, "That he might he the first-born among nianv brethren;" and in Coloss. i, 18, "Who is the beginning, the first-born from (he dead; that in all things he might have the pre-eminence" (see also Heb.
i. 1. '"'. 6). As the first-born hart a double portion, so the Lord Jesus, as Mediator, has an inheritance supe- rior to his brethren ; he is exalted to the right hand of the Majesty on high, where he reigns until all his en- i ill lie subdued. The universe is his rightful dominion in his mediatorial character. Again, he alone is a true priest ; he fulfilled all the functions of the sa- cerdotal office; and the Levites, to whom, under the law, the priesthood was transferred from all the first- born of Israel, derived the efficacy of their ministra- tions from their connection with the great high-priest (Jahn's Biblical Archaeology, § 1G5). — Kitto, s. v. ; Smith, s. v. See Piumogeniture.
Bir'zavith (Heb. Birza'vith, n^T*i3, prob. in pause for n^f'ia, Birza'yith, as in the margin, or ni'Ha, Birzoth' ', as some would point, meaning apparently olive well; Sept. Bep^aiB v. r. BepZaii, Vulg. Bars dth\ a name occurring in the genealogies of Asher (1 Chron. vii, 31), as the (?) son of Malchiel, being the son of Beriah and great-grandson of Asher (B.C. cir. 1658); and perhaps also, from the mode of its mention, the founder of a place in Palestine known by the same name (comp. the similar expression, "father of Beth- lehem," "father of Tekoa," etc., in chaps, ii and it). Schwarz (Palest, p. 158) identifies it with the ruined village Bir-zeit ("well of oil"), still extant and inhab- ited by Christians, a short distance X. of Jufna or Ophir (Robinson, Researches, iii, 79); but, striking as is the agreement in name, the position (near the south border of Ephraim) seems to preclude the identity, notwithstanding the support claimed by Schwarz in the possible coincidence of the adjoining Japhlet (1 Chron. vii, 32, 33) with Japhleti (Josh, xvi, 3).
Bish'lam (Heb. Bishlam', dbpa, for B'3'd "JSJ, son of peace, i. e. peaceful; Sept. translates iv elpijvy, so most other versions, but Vulg. Beselani), apparently an officer or commissioner (comp. 1 Esrtr. ii, 16) of Artaxerxes (i. e. Smerrtis) in Palestine at the time of the return of Zerubbabel from captivity, and active in the remonstrance sent to the Persian court against the Jews in their efforts to rebuild their temple (Ezra iv, 7). B.C. 522.
Bishop, a term derived through the Saxon (biscop) from the Greek (tTrimcoTrog, episcopus, overseer) as a title of office in the Christian ministry. In the Septua- gint the word designates a holder of public office, wheth- er civil or religious (e. g. 2 Chron. xxxiv, 12, 17 ; Isa. xl, 1 i ). In classical use the word ordinarily has a po- litical meaning ; Cicero is called episcopus ores and cam- "The inspectors or commissioners sent by Athens to her subject states were tirimoiroi (Aristoph. Av. 1022), and their office, like that of the Spartan !l " •», authorized them to interfere in all the polit- ical arrangements of the state to which they were sent. The title was still current and beginning to be used by the Romans in the later (lavs of the republic (Cic. ad Itt, vii, 11). The Hellenistic Jews found it era- ployed in the Sept. , though with no very definite import, tor ..Hirers charged with certain functions (Num. iv 16 • xxxi, 14; 2 Kings xi, 16, 19; Judg. ix, 28; for Heb! ■Wpn, etc. ; so in Wisd. i, 6; 1 Mace, i, 53; comp. Jo- se,,!,. Ant. xii, 5, 4). When the organization of the < nnsti in churches in I (entile cities involved the assign- meat of the work of pastoral superintendence to a dis- tinct class, the title lirioKoirog presented itself as atonce convenient and familiar, and was therefore adopt) rt as readily as the word elder (irow/ftrtpoc) had been in the mother church of Jerusalem" (Smith, Dictionary of th, Bible, s. v.). J J