John Wesley

Then Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram in a thicket, caught by its horns.

“Behold a ram - Tho' that blessed Seed was now typified by Isaac, yet the offering of him up was suspended 'till the latter end of the world, and in the mean time the sacrifice of beasts was accepted, as a pledge of that expiation…”

And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time,

“Called unto Abraham - Probably while the ram was yet burning. Very high expressions are here of God's favour to Abraham, above any he had yet been blessed with.”

Some time later, Abraham was told, “Milcah has also borne sons to your brother Nahor:

“This is recorded here, 1. To show that tho' Abraham saw his own family highly dignified with peculiar privileges, yet he did not look with contempt upon his relations, but was glad to hear of the increase and prosperity of their families.”

“I am a foreigner and an outsider among you. Give me a burial site among you so that I can bury my dead.”

“I am a stranger and a sojourner with you - Therefore I am unprovided, and must become a suiter to you for a burying-place. This was one occasion which Abraham took to confess that he was a stranger and a pilgrim upon earth.”

“Listen to us, sir. You are God’s chosen one among us. Bury your dead in the finest of our tombs.

“Thou art a prince of God among us - So the word is; not only great, but good. He called himself a stranger and a sojourner, they call him a great prince.”

and said to Ephron in their presence, “If you will please listen to me, I will pay you the price of the field.

“I will give thee money for the field - It was not in pride that Abraham refused the gift; but 1. Abraham was rich in silver and gold, and therefore would not take advantage of Ephron's generosity.”

“Listen to me, my lord. The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”

“The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver - About fifty pounds of our money, but what is that between me and thee? - He would rather oblige his friend than have so much money.”

So the field and its cave were deeded by the Hittites to Abraham as a burial site.

“A burying place - 'Tis worth noting, 1. That a burying-place was the first spot of ground Abraham was possessed of in Canaan. That it was the only piece of land he was ever possessed of, tho' it was all his own in reversion.”

Before the servant had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor.

“God, in his providence, doth sometimes wonderfully own the prayer of faith, and gratify the innocent desires of his praying people even in little things, that he may shew the extent of his care, and may encourage them at all times, to seek him, and…”

saying, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld His kindness and faithfulness from my master.

“When God's favours are coming towards us; we must meet them with our praises. The Lord led me to the house of my master's brethren -- those of them that were come out of Ur of the Chaldees, though they were not come to Canaan…”

Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the LORD; we have no choice in the matter.

“The thing proceedeth from the Lord - Providence smiles upon it, and we have nothing to say against it. A marriage is then likely to be comfortable when it appears to proceed from the Lord.”

Early in the evening, Isaac went out to the field to meditate, and looking up, he saw the camels approaching.

“Merciful providences are then doubly comfortable, when they find us in the way of our duty: some think Isaac was now praying for good success in this affair, and meditating upon that which was proper to encourage his hope in God concerning it; and now…”

Now Abraham had taken another wife, named Keturah,

“By her he had six sons, in whom the promise made to Abraham concerning the great increase of his posterity was in part fulfilled.”

Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac.

“And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac - As he was bound to do in justice to Sarah his first wife, and to Rebekah who married Isaac upon the assurance of it.”

But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.

“He gave gifts - Or portions to the rest of his children, both to Ishmael, though at first he was sent empty away, and to his sons by Keturah. It was justice to provide for them; parents that do not that, are worse than infidels.”

Abraham lived a total of 175 years.

“And these are the days of Abraham -- he lived one hundred and seventy-five years; just a hundred years after he came to Canaan; so long he was a sojourner in a strange country.”

And at a ripe old age he breathed his last and died, old and contented, and was gathered to his people.

“He died in a good old age, an old man - So God had promised him. His death was his discharge from the burdens of his age: it was also the crown of the glory of his old age.”

His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite.

“Here is nothing recorded of the pomp or ceremony of his funeral; only we are told, his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him - It was the last office of respect they had to pay to their good father.”

and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban the Aramean.

“And Isaac was forty years old - Not much is related concerning Isaac, but what had reference to his father, while he lived, and to his sons afterward; for Isaac seems not to have been a man of action, nor much tried, but to have…”

Later, Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.

“And Isaac intreated the Lord for his wife - Though God had promised to multiply his family, he prayed for it; for God's promises must not supersede but encourage our prayers, and be improved as the ground of our faith.”

But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So Rebekah went to inquire of the LORD,

“The children struggled within her - The commotion was altogether extra-ordinary, and made her very uneasy: If it be so, or, since it is so, why am I thus?”

and He declared 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…

“Two nations are in thy womb - She was now big not only with two children, but two nations, which should not only in their manners greatly differ from each other, but in their interest contend with each other, and the issue of the contest…”

The first one came out red, covered with hair like a fur coat; so they named him Esau.

“Esau when he was born was red and hairy, as if he had been already a grown man, whence he had his name Esau, made, reared already.”

When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home.

“Esau was an hunter - And a man that knew how to live by his wits, for he was a cunning hunter. A man of the field - All for the game, and never so well but as when he was in pursuit of it.”

Because Isaac had a taste for wild game, he loved Esau; but Rebekah loved Jacob.

“And Isaac loved Esau - Isaac though he was not a stirring man himself, yet he loved to have his son active.”