Originally posted by simply_dba This does not guarantee the first row.How about this? select col1 from t1 where rownum=1
In database there is no concept of first row, last row etc... If you are inserting records with timestamp or with sequence only then you can get the first row inserted or last row inserted.

In 8k blocksize database try this

create table test (a char(2000), b char(2000), c char(2000), d char(2000));

insert into test values ('1','b','c','d');
insert into test values ('2','b','c','d');
insert into test values ('3','b','c','d');

select a from test where rownum=1; -- what is value of a shown by this query?

delete from test where a='1';

commit;

insert into test values ('4','b','c','d');

select a from test where rownum=1; -- what is value of a now shown by this query?