Genesis 26:5 | 51
23
The Lord said to her,
“ Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”
24
When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy gar ment; so they named him Esau. a 26 Af ter this, his broth er came out, with his hand grasp ing Esau’ s heel; so he was named Ja cob. b Isaac was six ty years old when Re bek ah gave birth to them.
27
The boys grew up, and Esau be came a skillful hunt er, a man of the open coun try, while Jacob was con tent to stay at home among the tents.
28
Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Re bek ah loved Ja cob.
29
Once when Ja cob was cook ing some stew, Esau came in from the open coun try, fam ished. 30 He said to Ja cob,“ Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’ m fam ished!”( That is why he was also called Edom. c)
31
Ja cob re plied,“ First sell me your birth right.”
32
“ Look, I am about to die,” Esau said.“ What good is the birth right to me?”
33
But Ja cob said,“ Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, sell ing his birth right to Ja cob.
34
Then Ja cob gave Esau some bread and some len til stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.
So Esau de spised his birth right.
Isaac and Abimelek
26:1-11Ref— Ge 12:10-20; 20:1-18
Now there was a fam ine in the land— besides the pre vi ous fam ine in Abra ham’ s
26 time— and Isaac went to Abim e lek king of the Phi lis tines in Ge rar. 2 The Lord ap peared to Isaac and said,“ Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. 3 Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your de scen dants I will give all these lands and will con firm the oath I swore to your fa ther Abra ham. 4 I will make your de scen dants as nu mer ous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your off spring d all na tions on earth will be blessed, e 5 be cause Abra ham obeyed me and did ev ery thing I re quired
a
25 Esau may mean hairy. b
26 Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he deceives. c
30 Edom means red. d
4 Or seed e
4 Or and all nations on earth will use the name of your offspring in blessings( see 48:20)
25:23 older will serve the younger The opposite of the norm for male birth in patriarchal culture. 25:25 red The Hebrew word used here, admoni, is used elsewhere only of David( 1Sa 16:12; 17:42). It may refer to skin or hair color. Admoni and the red food Esau requests from Jacob when giving up his birthright( called in Hebrew adom) is connected by wordplay to the Hebrew word edom( Edom)— the name of the nation identified with the descendants of Esau( compare Nu 20; 1Sa 14:47; 2Ki 8:22; Ob 11 – 21). See the people diagram“ Esau’ s Family Tree” on p. 70. hairy The Hebrew word used here, se’ ar, sounds similar to the name Esau and also Seir, the territory of the Edomites( Ge 32:3; 36:8; Dt 2:5). 25:26 hand grasping Esau’ s heel This seems to be indicative of the prophecy that the older( Esau) would serve the younger( see Hos 12:3). so he was named Jacob This is wordplay: In Hebrew, the name Jacob is ya’ aqov, while the word for“ heel” is aqev. The name ya’ aqov is actually derived from the Hebrew word aqav, meaning“ to protect.” Ya’ aqov is likely an abbreviated version of the name ya’ aqov-el, meaning“ May God protect.” Compare Ge 27:36 and note. See the table“ Symbolic Names of People in Hebrew” on p. 1388.
25:27 – 34 The section describes Jacob and Esau’ s struggle for tribal preeminence. The story( and others that follow) shows Jacob to be a schemer and manipulator as he gains the birthright of the firstborn from Esau. He will later deprive his eldest son( Reuben) of his birthright( 49:3 – 4) and prefer Joseph’ s younger son over the firstborn in his blessing( 48:13). The Mosaic Law will later forbid a father with multiple wives from favoring a younger son merely because he comes from a preferred wife( Dt 21:15 – 17).
25:30 red The Hebrew word used here, adom, echoes the Hebrew word admoni, which was employed to describe Esau’ s appearance at birth( see note on Ge 25:25).
25:31 birthright The right of first inheritance, according to which the firstborn son would receive a double inheritance( Dt 21:17). 25:33 swore In ancient Near Eastern culture, swearing an oath was an irrevocable act.
26:1 – 5 Abraham had fled to Egypt when he experienced famine( see Ge 12:10 – 20 and note). Here God appears to Isaac and tells him not to go to Egypt( v. 2). Instead, Isaac should go elsewhere within the land God has promised( v. 3). After giving Isaac this instruction, God repeats the covenant promises he made to Abraham( vv. 4 – 5). The events of vv. 1 – 33 may have taken place before the birth of Jacob and Esau( ch. 25), since Isaac’ s lie about Rebekah not being his wife( v. 7) would likely not have worked otherwise.
26:1 Abimelek This name could be a title and is fairly common, thus this is not necessarily the exact same king Abraham earlier encountered( ch. 20), although it could be. See note on 21:32; compare note on 20:2.
FAMINES IN GENESIS
Abram and Sarai Travel to Egypt Ge 12:10 Isaac and Family Settle in Gerar Ge 26:1 Joseph’ s Family Follows Him to Egypt Ge 41:53— 42:5
26:2 appeared This could indicate that God appeared in visible form to Isaac, as he did with Abraham at times( ch. 18; see note on 12:7). God coming to Isaac confirms his status as the recipient of the covenant promises given to his father( see 12:1 – 3; 15). See the table“ Old Testament Theophanies” on p. 924. 26:4 stars in the sky See note on 15:5.