God's Firstborn

 

Then you shall say to Pharaoh: “This is what the Lord says: ‘Israel is My firstborn son.’”                                                            Exodus 4:22

The Holy One, blessed be He, Himself referred to Israel as His firstborn son. Our Sages taught that when the Nation of Israel stood at the foot of Mount Sinai and declared “na’aseh v’nishma (we will do and listen),” God called them His firstborn son. [Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 89b] Though the appellation appears before Israel stood at Mount Sinai, He Who sees all of history at the outset knew that the Nation of Israel was destined to stand at Sinai and declare “na’aseh v’nishma,” accepting the yoke of God’s kingship and of His mitzvot lovingly as sons. [Rashi’s commentary on the Talmudic statement]

Ḥizkuni advances the origin of appellation of Israel as God’s firstborn to before the creation of the world, writing:

“Israel is My firstborn son” – all nations are My sons, however, Israel is more precious to Me than other nations and they are My firstborn, since I thought to create them prior to any other nation.

That is, before actively commencing creation of the world, God decided to create the Nation of Israel. It is likely that Ḥizkuni’s comment is related to the Talmudic statement we quoted, since the apparent reason for God’s decision to create Israel first was that it was destined to be the nation to accept Torah.

Meshech Ḥochma comments:

The firstborn receives a double portion of his father’s inheritance, since it was he who made him a father; similarly, as it were, Israel made God the Father of the World by recognizing His Providence and uniqueness in the universe. This is a simple truth.

That is, Israel is deserving of being called God’s firstborn since it is we who, as it were, made God the Master of the Universe when we accepted the yoke of His kingship and mitzvot, since “There is no king without subjects.” [Ẓiyun l’Nefesh Ḥaya, Pesaḥim 56a]

Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch adds that the appellation “God’s firstborn” is forward looking as well, anticipating the time all nations will accept Torah, since “with Israel, the mother womb of humanity is opened; with Israel is commenced the list in which all nations should appear as My sons.” Thus, Israel has been God’s firstborn since before the creation of the world and will continue to be until the end of days.