If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated: (Deuteronomy 21:15)
The word “hated” in such cases implies sexual aversion toward (2 Sam. 13:15). This was the case with Jacob and Leah (see Gen. 29:16, 30, 31). It is not unlikely that in such case the husband’s affection for the children of the favored wife would be very much more marked.