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 .