FIRST-BORN. (See PRIMOGENITURE.) In Scripture the term first-born is often used in a figurative sense, to signify that which is first, most excellent, or most distinguished in any thing. Thus it is said of Christ that he is "the first-born of every creature;" and in Revelation he is called "the first-begotten of the dead," that is, according to the commentators, begotten of the Father before any creature was produced, and the first who rose from the dead by his own power. "The first-born of the poor" signifies the most miserable of all the poor; and in Job, "the first-born of death" means the most terrible of all deaths.