I. Name

The word šeger occurs six times in the Hebrew Bible, always in connection with the offspring of cattle. The stereotyped expression šĕgar ʾălāpêkā, forming a fixed pair with ʿaštĕrôt ṣôʾnkā, ‘the offspring of your flock’ (Deut. 7.13; Deut. 28.4, Deut. 18, Deut. 51), refers to the increase of herds. Whereas the peṭer-reḥem designates the human firstborn (literally ‘that which opens up the womb’), the peṭer šeger bĕhēmâ is the firstborn of cattle (Exod. 13.12). In the Hebrew text of Si…