• Birthday
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • BIRTHDAY

      The day or anniversary of one’s birth. The Hebrews kept a record of birth dates, as the Bible’s genealogical and chronological data reveal, (Num. 1:2, 3; Josh. 14:10; 2 Chron. 31:16, 17) The ages of Levites, priests and kings were not left to guesswork. (Num. 4:3; 8:23-25; 2 Ki. 11:21; 15:2; 18:2) This was also true in the case of Jesus. (Luke 2:21, 22, 42; 3:23) According to the Scriptures, the day the baby was born was usually one of rejoicing and thanksgiving on the part of the parents, and rightly so, for “look’ sons are an inheritance from Jehovah; the fruitage of the belly is a reward.” (Ps. 127:3; Jer. 20:15; Luke 1:57, 58) However, there is no indication in the Scriptures that faithful worshipers of Jehovah ever indulged in the pagan practice of annually celebrating birthdays. Josephus wrote that Herod Agrippa I celebrated his birthday, like his uncle Antipas, but these supposed Jewish proselytes were notorious for imitating pagan customs instead of conforming to the Hebrew Scriptures.—Antiquities of the Jews, Book XIX, chap. VII, par. 1.

      The Bible makes direct reference to only two birthday celebrations, those of Pharaoh of Egypt (eighteenth century B.C.E.) and Herod Antipas (first century C.E.). These two accounts are similar in that both occasions were marked with great feasting and granting of favors; both are remembered for executions, the hanging of Pharaoh’s chief baker in the first instance, the beheading of John the Baptist in the latter.—Gen. 40:18-22; 41:13; Matt. 14:6-11; Mark 6:21-28.

      While the expression “on the day of our king,” at Hosea 7:5, may possibly indicate a birthday party for the apostate king of Israel when the princes “sickened themselves . . . because of wine,” it could as easily be the anniversary day of his accession to the throne when similar festivities were held.

      When Job’s sons “held a banquet at the house of each one on his own day” it should not be supposed that they were celebrating their birthdays. (Job 1:4) “Day” in this verse translates the Hebrew word yohm, possibly from a root meaning “to be hot,” and therefore meaning a period of time from sunrise to sunset. On the other hand, “birthday” is a compound of the two Hebrew words yohm (day) and hul·leʹdheth, from ya·ladhʹ, a Hebrew root meaning “to bear young,” hence referring to the day of one’s birth. This distinction between “day” and one’s birthday may be noted in Genesis 40:20, where both expressions appear: “Now on the third day [yohm] it turned out to be Pharaoh’s birthday [literally, “the day (yohm) of the birth (hul·leʹdheth) of Pharaoh”].” So it is certain that Job 1:4 does not refer to a birthday, as is unquestionably the case at Genesis 40:20. It would seem that Job’s seven sons held a family gathering (possibly a spring or harvest festival) and as the feasting made the week-long circuit, each son hosted the banquet in his own house “on his own day.”

      With the introduction of Christianity the viewpoint of birthday celebrations did not change. Jesus inaugurated a binding Memorial, not of his birth, but of his death, saying: “Keep doing this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19) If early Christians did not celebrate or memorialize the birthday of their Savior, much less would they celebrate their own day of birth. Historian Augustus Neander writes: “The notion of a birthday festival was far from the ideas of the Christians of this period.” (The History of the Christian Religion and Church, During the First Three Centuries, translated by Henry John Rose, New York, 1848, p. 190) “Origen [a writer of the third century C.E.] . . . insists that ‘of all the holy people in the Scriptures, no one is recorded to have kept a feast or held a great banquet on his birthday. It is only sinners (like Pharaoh and Herod) who make great rejoicings over the day on which they were born into this world below.’”—The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911, Vol. X, p. 709.

      Clearly, then, the festive celebration of birthdays does not find its origin in either the Hebrew or the Greek Scriptures. Additionally, M’Clintock & Strong’s Cyclopœdia (Vol. I, p. 817) says the Jews “regarded birthday celebrations as parts of idolatrous worship. . . , and this probably on account of the idolatrous rites with which they were observed in honor of those who were regarded as the patron gods of the day on which the party was born.”

      Astrology teaches that the life and fortune of a person largely depend on the position of the heavenly bodies at the time of birth, hence the need to observe annually the return of the stars to that position. The horoscope is accordingly consulted by such cultists to learn of one’s future. Astrology, however, is emphatically condemned by the Scriptures.—Deut 18:10-12; Job 31:26-28; Isa. 47:13.

      Certain primitive societies view birthdays as danger periods when one is susceptible to attack by evil spirits. Hence, parties and good wishes of friends, bringing gifts to appease the evil spirits, and offering sacrifices to “their protective spirits” are all part of the birthday celebration. (Funk and Wagnalls Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend, Vol. One, p. 144) “Every Egyptian attached much importance to the day, and even to the hour of his birth; and it is probable that, as in Persia . . . each individual kept his birthday with great rejoicings, welcoming his friends with all the amusements of society, and a more than usual profusion of delicacies of the table.”—M’Clintock & Strong’s Cyclopœdia, Vol. I, p. 817.

  • Birthright
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • BIRTHRIGHT

      The right that naturally belonged to the father’s firstborn son. Under the patriarchal system the oldest son became the head of the family upon the death of the father, with authority over the others as long as they were in the household. He was responsible to care for the members of his father’s household. He also succeeded to the father’s position in representing the family before Jehovah. The firstborn generally received the father’s special blessing. (Gen. 27:4, 36; 48:9, 17, 18) Moreover, he was entitled to two parts of the father’s estate; that is, he received twice as much as each of his brothers. Under the Mosaic law a man with more than one wife could not take the birthright from the oldest son and give it to the son of a specially loved wife.—Deut. 21:15-17.

      In patriarchal times the birthright could be transferred by the father to another son for a cause, as in the case of Reuben, who lost his right as firstborn due to fornication with his father’s concubine. (1 Chron. 5:1, 2) The firstborn could sell his birthright to one of his brothers, as did Esau, who despised his birthright and sold it to his brother Jacob in exchange for something to eat. (Gen. 25:30-34; 27:36; Heb. 12:16) There is no record that Jacob asserted his purchased birthright in getting a double share of Isaac’s property (which was movable or personal property, for Isaac owned no land, except the field of Macpelah, in which was a cave for a burial place). Jacob was interested in the passing on of spiritual things to his family, that is, the promise given to Abraham concerning the seed.—Gen. 28:3, 4, 12-15.

      With respect to the kings of Israel, the birthright seems to have carried with it the right of succession to the throne. (2 Chron. 21:1-3) However, Jehovah