Genesischapter 25
34 verses · Moses, by tradition · 15th to 13th century BC · The Law
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 older will serve the younger.”
Introduction
Moses, by tradition, The Law, Genesis Overview.
Moses, by tradition, Narrative and genealogy, The Law, The close of the Abraham cycle and the start of the Isaac and Jacob cycle, Genesis Overview. Genesis was given to Israel as the record of whose line the promise ran through, and this chapter hands it from one generation to the next. It closes Abraham's life, sets down the families that went out from him, and opens the account of Isaac. The first hearers were marching toward a land that bordered Edom, and Edom's father is born here. Listen for the word God speaks before either twin is born, and for the price at which a birthright changes hands. Read it as the door into the rest of Genesis.
Context
- Who
- Israel in the wilderness, one of two brother nations, marching toward a land next door to the other
- What
- A chapter of succession that records Abraham's last sons, his death and burial, the line of Ishmael, and the birth of Esau and Jacob.
- Where
- Abraham's camp and his grave at Machpelah, then Isaac's household at Beer-lahai-roi in the Negev.
- When
- The patriarchal age, with the twins born about 2006 BC and Abraham dying about 1991 BC on the traditional dating.
- Why
- To show the estate and the promise settled on Isaac, and the promise's next step chosen before the twins were born.
Historical context
The chapter belongs to four generations at once: Abraham in his last years, Ishmael and Isaac at their father's grave, and the twins born to Isaac and Rebekah.
Show the rest of the historical context, 6 more paragraphs
The dates come from the chapter itself. Abraham lives a hundred and seventy five years and Ishmael a hundred and thirty seven, and Isaac is sixty when the twins are born, which the traditional reckoning places at about 2006 BC with Abraham's death at about 1991 BC.
The places are the cave at Machpelah near Mamre, the territory from Havilah to Shur where Ishmael's descendants settled, and Beer-lahai-roi in the Negev where Isaac was living.
The occasion is a succession: an estate settled, a father buried, one line closed out and another opened.
A first hearer knew how an estate was managed. Secondary heirs were provided for with gifts and sent away so that the principal heir kept the property undivided, which is exactly what verses 5 and 6 describe, and doing it while the father was alive settled it beyond dispute.
He also knew what a birthright was worth, a double share of the estate and the headship of the family, and that it could be transferred or sold between brothers, since documents of the period record such sales. What the chapter reports is the price, bread and lentil stew, which was cheap and ordinary food.
The names on Ishmael's list would have meant something to him as well. They are the desert peoples of northern Arabia and the Sinai fringe, and several of them appear again in later Assyrian records.
Significance
Israel was told that the word about the two brothers had been spoken before either was born, so their own existence rested on a choice God made rather than on anything their ancestor had earned.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
In Esau they were given a portrait of the appetite that trades a future for a meal, which is the sin the wilderness generation committed again and again over food.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
This chapter is cut in two by the annual cycle, and the cut falls between the eighteenth verse and the nineteenth (src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts). The sons of Keturah, the death of Abraham and the line of Ishmael close the fifth portion of the year. The generations of Isaac open the sixth portion on the Sabbath after it, and with them the birth of Jacob and Esau and the selling of the birthright. A congregation therefore hears the two halves of this chapter a week apart. The card above carries both portions and the prophetic reading set beside each.
How it is read
The corpus holds the English text of three comments on this chapter and the reference alone for twenty one more. Radak and Sforno are quoted from the CC-BY translation of Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash.
Sforno reads the sons of the second verse as sons raised in the house rather than fathered there. He writes of the sons of Keturah that "she raised them in his house". He sets the case beside the five sons of Michal, who raised the children of her sister, and he holds that Abraham himself fathered Ishmael and Isaac alone (Sforno on Genesis 25:2:1).
Radak reads the naming of the field at every burial as a tribute to Abraham. The whole land had been promised to him, and he could bury his own wife in it only after buying a plot, and he never once questioned God about it (Radak on Genesis 25:10:1). On the line of Ishmael he gives two reasons for its being written at all. It honours Abraham, whose firstborn Ishmael was, and it shows the twelve princes promised for him (Radak on Genesis 25:12:1).
Rashi comments on twenty verses of this chapter, and the corpus holds the text of none of them, because the licence Sefaria reports for that English version keeps it out. They run from Rashi on Genesis 25:1:1 on Keturah to Rashi on Genesis 25:27:1 on the two boys growing up. They cover the gifts to the sons of the concubines in the sixth verse and the burial by both sons in the ninth. They cover the prayer of Isaac in the twenty first verse, the struggle in the womb in the twenty second and the word about two nations in the twenty third. Ibn Ezra stands on the eighth verse at Ibn Ezra on Genesis 25:8:1.
What the rabbis say
The corpus records forty places where the Midrash and the Talmud cite this chapter, thirty one under Midrash and nine under Talmud. It carries the locator for each one with no text, so the references stand here and the sayings are read at the source.
Bereshit Rabbah reads the third verse at 66:4, the fifth at 61:7, the seventh at 58:9 and 62:1, and the tenth at 62:2. It reads the thirteenth verse at 45:9, the fifteenth at 98:15, the twenty second at 63:6 and the twenty fifth at 63:12. It reads the twenty eighth verse at 37:2 and the thirty fourth at 63:14.
Aggadat Bereshit reads the eleventh verse at 33:1, the twelfth at 37:4, the nineteenth at 37:1, the twentieth at 71:3 and the twenty first at 52:1. It reads the twenty sixth verse at 49:3 and the thirtieth at 82:1. Midrash Sekhel Tov reads the second verse at Bereshit 25:2:1 and 25:2:2, and the sixteenth at Bereshit 25:16:1. Bamidbar Rabbah reads the first verse at 11:2 and the thirty first at 4:8, and Bereshit Rabbati reads the thirty second at Parashat Chayei Sarah 22.
The Talmud is cited at Bava Kamma 92b:9 on the first verse, Zevachim 62a:14 on the fourth and Bava Batra 16b:16 on the seventeenth. It is cited at Avodah Zarah 11a:6 on the word about the two nations and at Berakhot 5b:24 on the twenty fourth verse. It is cited at Bava Batra 16b:11 on the twenty ninth verse and at Berakhot 7b:6 on the selling of the birthright. Avot DeRabbi Natan reads the death of Abraham at 25:1 and the twenty seventh verse at 2:5.
Sources: Radak, Radak on Genesis 25:10:1 and 25:12:1, in HaChut Hameshulash, translated by Eliyahu Munk, CC-BY, about 1200; Sforno, Sforno on Genesis 25:2:1, in HaChut Hameshulash, translated by Eliyahu Munk, CC-BY, about 1520; Rashi and Ibn Ezra, their twenty one comments on Genesis 25, cited by reference; the licence Sefaria reports for the English versions keeps the text out of the corpus; The Midrash and the Talmud, the forty locators on Genesis 25 in scripts/data/sources/sefaria/genesis/25.json; MannaFest, the annual cycle table at src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, 2026.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Keturah's Sons Sent Eastward
Genesis 25:1-4
Abraham had taken another wife, named Keturah: Abraham marries again after Sarah's death and fathers six more sons, so the man Romans 4:19 calls as good as dead ends with eight. Midian stands fourth in the list. Midianite traders will pull Joseph out of the pit and sell him into Egypt at 37:28. Moses will marry the daughter of a priest of Midian at Exodus 2:21.
Genesis 25:1
“Then again Abraham took a wife,.... Three years after the death of Sarah, and when his son Isaac was married, and he alone, and now one hundred and forty years of age: and her name was Keturah; who she was, or of what family, is not said. An Arabic writer (z) says she was a daughter of the king of the Turks; another (a) of them calls her the daughter of King Rama; and another (b) the daughter of Pactor, king of Rabbah; but there were then no such people in being.”
1 more voice on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Genesis 25:1
“By her he had six sons, in whom the promise made to Abraham concerning the great increase of his posterity was in part fulfilled. The strength he received by the promise still remained in him, to shew how much the virtue of the promise exceeds the power of nature.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan: John Wesley saw a promise at work in these six sons. The strength Abraham received for Isaac's birth still remained in him, and his posterity grew as God had said. Adam Clarke, following Calmet, placed these sons in the Arabian desert and tied Zimran to a people Pliny called the Zamarenians.
Genesis 25:2
“Zimran - Stephanus Byzantinus mentions a city in Arabia Felix called Zadram, which some suppose to have been named from this son of Keturah; but it is more likely, as Calmet observes, that all these sons of Abraham resided in Arabia Deserta; and Pliny, Hist. Nat., lib. vi., c. 28, mentions a people in that country called Zamarenians, who were probably the descendants of this person. Jokshan - Several learned men have been of opinion that this Jokshan was the same as Kachtan, the father of the Arabs.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan: Adam Clarke traced the Sabeans who raided Job's herds at Job 1:15 to this Sheba, and the sons of Dedan carry plural names. He took them as tribes. The Targum of Onkelos read the three names as people living in camps, tents and islands.
Genesis 25:3
“Sheba - From whom sprang the Sabeans, who robbed Job of his cattle. See Bochart and Calmet. Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim - We know not who these were, but as each name is plural they must have been tribes or families, and not individuals. Onkelos interprets these words of persons dwelling in camps, tents, and islands; and Jonathan ben Uzziel calls them merchants, artificers, and heads or chiefs of people.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher: Midian's five sons close the list of Keturah's line. Adam Clarke said the commentators offer only conjectures about them. Ephah returns at Isaiah 60:6, where camels of Midian and Ephah bring gold and frankincense.
Genesis 25:4
“Ephah, and Epher, etc. - Of these we know no more than of the preceding; an abundance of conjectures is already furnished by the commentators.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Genesis 25:5-6
Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac: The whole estate goes to one son, and the rest are given gifts and sent away while their father is alive to see it done. Clarke reads the timing as deliberate, so that no one could contest a settlement in Canaan with Isaac after the funeral. They go east. Genesis has moved men east before, Cain to a land east of Eden and Lot toward the plain, each time away from the promise.
Genesis 25:5
“And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. By his last will and testament; not all out of his own hand, while he lived, at least he reserved somewhat for himself, and for gifts to his other children; so his servant declared to the parents and friends of Rebekah, Gen 24:35; wherefore some render the words here "had given" (d); or the sense is, that he had at that time purposed and promised to give all that he had to Isaac, and now he actually did it. (d) נתן "dederat", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.”
2 more voices on this verse
Genesis 25:5
“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.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Genesis 25:5
“In this all, which he settled upon Isaac, are perhaps included the promise of the land of Canaan, and the entail of the covenant. Or, God having already made him the heir of the promise, Abraham therefore made him heir of his estate.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
the sons of his concubines: The concubines are plural, and Adam Clarke named them as Hagar and Keturah, so Ishmael is among the sons sent east. John Wesley thought Ishmael received a portion now, though he had been sent away empty at first, and held that justice required it. Clarke guessed the gifts were breeding cattle, seed and tools.
Genesis 25:6
“Unto the sons of the concubines - Viz., Hagar and Keturah, Abraham gave gifts. Cattle for breed, seed to sow the land, and implements for husbandry, may be what is here intended. And sent them away - while he yet lived - Lest after his death they should dispute a settlement in the Land of Promise with Isaac; therefore he very prudently sent them to procure settlements during his lifetime, that they might be under no temptation to dispute the settlement with Isaac in Canaan.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Genesis 25:6
“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.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Genesis 25:6
“Abraham gave gifts--While the chief part of the inheritance went to Isaac; the other sons (Ishmael included) migrated to "the East country," that is, Arabia, but received each a portion of the patrimony, perhaps in cattle and other things; and this settlement of Abraham's must have given satisfaction, since it is still the rule followed among the pastoral tribes.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Abraham Dies, Full of Years
Genesis 25:7-8
Abraham lived a total of 175 years: He lives 175 years, a hundred years after he left Haran at seventy-five. God had told him at 15:15 that he would go to his fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age. The wording of that promise comes back here. He is gathered to his people before the text says one word about a grave.
Genesis 25:7
“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.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Genesis 25:7
“The days of the years, etc. - There is a beauty in this expression which is not sufficiently regarded. Good men do not live by centuries, though many such have lived several hundred years, nor do they count their lives even by years, but by days, living as if they were the creatures only of A Day; having no more time than they can with any propriety call their own, and living that day in reference to eternity.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
old and contented, and was gathered: Adam Clarke read breathed his last as simply expired. Jerome kept the Hebrew old and contented against the Greek version, which had Abraham die lacking. John Wesley saw Abraham at a ripe old age as satisfied with living here and longing for a better place.
Genesis 25:8
“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. He was full of years - A good man, though he should not die old, dies full of days, satisfied with living here, and longing to live in a better place.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Genesis 25:8
“Then Abraham gave up the ghost - Highly as I value our translation for general accuracy, fidelity, and elegance, I must beg leave to dissent from this version. The original word יגוע yigva, from the root גוע gava, signifies to pant for breath, to expire, to cease from breathing, or to breathe one’s last; and here, and wherever the original word is used, the simple term expired would be the proper expression.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Genesis 25:9-10
His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah: The two sons who had been apart for most of their lives stand at one grave. Isaac is named first, though he is the younger. Genesis brings rival brothers back together over a father's burial, Esau with Jacob at 35:29 and Joseph with his brothers at 50:13. Ishmael had been sent away at 21:14 and comes back for this.
Genesis 25:9
“And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah,.... Isaac, though the younger brother, is set first, because he was born of the lawful wife of Abraham, the free woman, whereas Ishmael was born of a concubine and a bondwoman; Isaac was heir not only to Abraham's temporal estate, but of the promise made concerning the Messiah, (not so Ishmael,) and was on all accounts the greater man.”
2 more voices on this verse
Genesis 25:9
“His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him - Though Ishmael and his mother had been expelled from Abraham’s family on the account of Isaac, yet, as he was under the same obligation to a most loving affectionate father as his brother Isaac, if any personal feuds remained, they agreed to bury them on this occasion, that both might dutifully join in doing the last offices to a parent who was an honor to them and to human nature: and, considering the rejection of Ishmael from the inheritance, this transaction shows his character in an amiable point of view; for though…”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Genesis 25:9
“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.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Abraham was buried there with his wife Sarah: The field bought in chapter 23 now holds both of them. John Gill counted thirty-eight years between Sarah's burial there and his own. If Abraham died at Beersheba, Gill reckoned the body was carried about sixteen miles to Hebron.
Genesis 25:10
“The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth,.... Of one of them, Ephron, the rest being witnesses of it, Gen 23:16, there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife; Sarah had been buried there thirty eight years before, which was the reason why his sons buried, him there; if he died in Beersheba, as seems probable, see Gen 24:62; from thence to Hebron were sixteen miles (h); so far was he carried to be interred. (h) Bunting's Travels, p. 57.”
God blessed his son Isaac: The blessing passes at the funeral. Genesis gives the succession one line, that God blessed Isaac and that Isaac lived near Beer-lahai-roi. There is no ceremony and no speech over him. The heir of the covenant is living in open country in the Negev.
Genesis 25:11
“And it came to pass, after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac,.... Yet more and more, both with spiritual and temporal blessings; showing hereby, that, though Abraham was dead, he was not unmindful of his covenant, which should be established with Isaac, Gen 17:19, and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi; which was near the wilderness of Beersheba and Paran, where Ishmael dwelt; so that they were not far from one another, see Gen 16:14.”
2 more voices on this verse
Genesis 25:11
“God blessed his son Isaac - The peculiar blessings and influences by which Abraham had been distinguished now rested upon Isaac; but how little do we hear in him of the work of faith, the patience of hope, and the labor of love! Only one Abraham and one Christ ever appeared among men; there have been some successful imitators, there should have been many.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Genesis 25:11
"The Lord blessed Isaac," the text says, "and he dwelt at the well of vision." This is the whole blessing with which the Lord blessed Isaac: that he might dwell "at the well of vision." That is a great blessing for those who understand it. Would that the Lord might give this blessing to me too, that I might deserve to dwell "at the well of vision."What kind of person can know and understand what the vision is "which Isaiah the son of Amos saw"? What kind of person can know what Nahum's vision is?
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · HOMILIES ON GENESIS 11.3patristic
The Generations of Ishmael
Genesis 25:12-16
This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael: Ishmael gets a toledot of his own, the Hebrew heading that opens an account of a man's line. Missler reads the whole book by its eleven headings. The branch outside the covenant is put on record and closed before the chosen line goes on, as Cain was before Seth. Twelve princes are counted by name, in the order of their birth, which is what God promised Abraham for this son at 17:20.
Genesis 25:12
“These are the generations of Ishmael - The object of the inspired writer seems to be to show how the promises of God were fulfilled to both the branches of Abraham’s family. Isaac has been already referred to; God blessed him according to the promise. He had also promised to multiply Ishmael, and an account of his generation is introduced to show how exactly the promise had also been fulfilled to him.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael: Adam Clarke traced the Nabateans, whose capital was Petra, to Nebaioth the firstborn. Kedar he tied to the Cedreans who lived beside them. John Gill noted that Isaiah 60:7 names Nebaioth, where the flocks of Kedar and the rams of Nebaioth are brought to the altar of the LORD.
Genesis 25:13
“And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael,.... After mentioned: by their names, according to their generations; which were imposed upon them at their birth, and are recited according to the order in which they were born, as follows: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth: mentioned in Isa 60:7; and from whence a people of the Arabs are called Nabathaeans, and their country Nabathaea. Josephus (i) says, that all the country from Euphrates to the Red sea is called the Nabatene country.”
1 more voice on this verse
Genesis 25:13
“Nebajoth - From whom came the Nabatheans, whose capital was Petra, or, according to Strabo, Nabathea. They dwelt in Arabia Petraea, and extended themselves on the east towards Arabia Deserta. Kedar - The founder of the Cedreans, who dwelt near to the Nabatheans. The descendants of Kedar form a part of the Saracens. Adbeel, and Mibsam - Where these were situated is not known.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Mishma, Dumah, Massa: Mishma, Dumah and Massa are three of Ishmael's twelve sons. Adam Clarke tied Dumah to a place near Mount Seir, named in the oracle of Isaiah 21:11. The three names, he noted, became a Hebrew proverb: hearing, silence and patience.
Genesis 25:14
“Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa - Where the first and last of these settled is not known; but it is probable that Dumah gave his name to a place called Dumah in Arabia. See a prophecy concerning this place, Isa 21:11 (note), from which we find that it was in the vicinity of Mount Seir. These three names have passed into a proverb among the Hebrews, because of their signification. משמע mishma signifies Hearing; דומה dumah, Silence; and משא massa, Patience.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish: Of these five sons of Ishmael, Hadad is the name the texts dispute: older English Bibles have Hadar, and Adam Clarke argued for Hadad from over three hundred manuscripts and 1 Chronicles 1:30. The Berean reads Hadad. Clarke traced the Itureans to Jetur and set Tema in the desert.
Genesis 25:15
“Hadar - This name should be read Hadad as in 1Ch 1:30. This reading is supported by more than three hundred MSS., versions, and printed editions. See Clarke at Gen 25:18 (note). Tema - Supposed to be a place in Arabia Deserta, the same of which Job speaks, Job 6:19. Jetur - From whom came the Itureans, who occupied a small tract of country beyond Jordan, which was afterwards possessed by the half-tribe of Manasseh.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
These twelve princes are named by their villages and encampments, the places where the sons of Ishmael lived. Adam Clarke read the first word as places of encampment in the wilderness, of the kind Arabs had always used. The second he took for towers and fortified rocks.
Genesis 25:16
“These are the sons of Ishmael,.... The twelve before mentioned, Gen 25:13, these are their names, by their towns and by their castles; their towns and their castles being called after their names, some of which we are able to trace at this distance, as the above notes show: twelve princes according to their nations; these were princes, or heads of tribes, and there were twelve of them, and continued so, see Gen 17:20; where is the prophecy, and here an accomplishment of it.”
1 more voice on this verse
Genesis 25:16
“These are their names - By which their descendants were called. Their towns - places of encampment in the wilderness, such as have been used by the Arabs from the remotest times. Their castles, טירתם tirotham, their towers, probably mountain tops, fortified rocks, and fastnesses of various kinds in woods and hilly countries.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Genesis 25:17-18
Ishmael lived a total of 137 years: Ishmael dies at 137 and is gathered to his people, the phrase used of his father nine verses earlier. His account closes with his descendants living in hostility toward all their brothers. That is the angel's word to Hagar at 16:12, in the same words. The word given beside a spring is reported as kept.
Genesis 25:17
“And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years,.... one hundred and thirty seven years old.”
John Gill · Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)Reformed Baptist
settled from Havilah to Shur: Adam Clarke set the bounds wide, from Havilah on the Euphrates near the Tigris to the desert of Shur east of Egypt. He cited Calmet on as you go toward Asshur, which may attach to Egypt, to Shur or to Havilah. Shur is where the angel found Hagar at 16:7.
Genesis 25:18
“They dwelt from Havilah unto Shur - The descendants of Ishmael possessed all that country which extends from east to west, from Havilah on the Euphrates, near its junction with the Tigris, to the desert of Shur eastward of Egypt; and which extends along the isthmus of Suez, which separates the Red Sea from the Mediterranean. As thou goest toward Assyria - “These words,” says Calmet, “may refer either to Egypt, to Shur, or to Havilah. The desert of Shur is on the road from Egypt to Assyria in traversing Arabia Petraea, and in passing by the country of Havilah.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Two Nations Wrestle in the Womb
Genesis 25:19-20
This is the account of Abraham’s son Isaac: The toledot of Isaac is announced, and what follows is the story of his sons. Wesley noticed how little is told of the man except as it touches his father before him and his boys after him. Rebekah is introduced again by her family, daughter of Bethuel and sister of Laban. Laban is planted here long before Jacob needs somewhere to run.
Genesis 25:19
“And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son,.... Moses, having given the genealogy of Ishmael and his posterity, returns to Isaac, the other son of Abraham, with whom and his children the following part of his history is chiefly, if not altogether concerned: Abraham begat Isaac; for the further confirmation of his being his proper legitimate son this clause is added.”
Isaac was forty years old when he married: Isaac marries at forty, and John Gill counted back to Sarah's death three years earlier, when Isaac was thirty-seven. Matthew Henry noted that the son the promised seed was to come through made no haste to marry. Esau also marries at forty, at 26:34.
Genesis 25:20
“And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife,.... Which was three years after the death of his mother; Isaac was born when she was ninety, and therefore must be thirty seven when she died.”
2 more voices on this verse
Genesis 25:20
“Isaac was forty years old when he was married; though he was an only son, and the person from whom the promised seed was to come, yet he made no haste to marry.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Genesis 25:20
“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 spent his day, in quietness and silence.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife: Rebekah is barren for twenty years, from Isaac's marriage at forty to the twins at sixty. Sarah had waited twenty-five years for Isaac, and Rachel will wait through the whole run of Leah's children. Isaac prays, and his parents in chapter 16 had reached for Hagar instead. Wesley says the promise did not excuse the asking.
Genesis 25:21
“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. Though he had prayed for this mercy many years, and it was not granted, yet he did not leave off praying for it.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Genesis 25:21
“Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife - Isaac and Rebekah had now lived nineteen years together without having a child; for he was forty years old when he married Rebekah, Gen 25:20, and he was threescore years of age when Jacob and Esau were born, Gen 25:26. Hence it is evident they had lived nineteen years together without having a child. The form of the original in this place is worthy of notice: Isaac entreated Jehovah, לנכח אשתו lenochach ishto, directly, purposely, especially, for his wife.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Genesis 25:21
“The Jews have a tradition that Isaac, at length, took his wife with him to mount Moriah, where God had promised that he would multiply Abraham's seed ( ch. xxii. 17 ), and there, in his prayer with her and for her, pleaded the promise made in that very place. God heard his prayer, and was entreated of him.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Genesis 25:22-23
the children inside her struggled with each other: The fighting starts before either child is born, and Rebekah takes the question to the LORD. The answer is about nations before it is about brothers: two peoples, one stronger, and the older serving the younger. Paul quotes the line at Romans 9:12. Henry reads it as God making a difference between two who had done neither good nor evil.
Genesis 25:22
“The children struggled together - יתרצצו yithrotsatsu, they dashed against or bruised each other, there was a violent agitation, so that the mother was apprehensive both of her own and her children’s safety; and, supposing this was an uncommon case, she went to inquire of the Lord, as the good women in the present day would go to consult a surgeon or physician; for intercourse with God is not so common now, as it was in those times of great primitive simplicity. There are different opinions concerning the manner in which Rebekah inquired of the Lord.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Genesis 25:22
“So therefore also now it is related of Rebekah: "She departed to inquire of the Lord." As we have said, she should be considered to have departed not by the steps of her feet but by the advances of her mind.You also therefore will be said to have de-parted "to inquire of the Lord" if you have begun to contemplate not those things "which are seen but those which are not seen," that is, not carnal but spiritual things, not present but future things.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · HOMILIES ON GENESIS 12.2patristic
Genesis 25:22
“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? - Before the want of children was her trouble, now the struggle of the children is no less so.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Adam Clarke, quoting Bishop Newton, read Two nations are in your womb as spoken of the peoples more than of the two sons, since it came true in their descendants. John Wesley saw the older serve the younger under David. Origen also read the two peoples inward, virtue and vice within each soul.
Genesis 25:23
“I think that this can be said also of each of us as individuals that "two nations and two peoples are within you." For there is a people of virtue within us, and there is no less a people of vice within us. "For from our heart proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, thefts, false testimonies" but also "deceits, contentions, heresies, jealousies, revelings and such like." Do you see how great a people of evil is within us?”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · HOMILIES ON GENESIS 12.3patristic
2 more voices on this verse
Genesis 25:23
“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 should be that the elder should serve the younger, which was fulfilled in the subjection of the Edomites for many ages to the house of David.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Genesis 25:23
“Two nations are in thy womb - “We have,” says Bishop Newton, “in the prophecies delivered respecting the sons of Isaac, ample proof that these prophecies were not meant so much of single persons as of whole nations descended from them; for what was predicted concerning Esau and Jacob was not verified in themselves, but in their posterity. The Edomites were the offspring of Esau, the Israelites were of Jacob; and who but the Author and Giver of life could foresee that two children in the womb would multiply into two nations?”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Cross references
Genesis 25:23
- Quoted inRomans 9:12not by works but by Him who calls, she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”
'The elder shall serve the younger' (Jacob and Esau)
Genesis 25:24-26
there were indeed twins in her womb: Genesis reports twins twice, here and at the birth of Tamar's sons in chapter 38. Both times the expected order is overturned. Esau comes out red and covered with hair, and in chapter 27 Jacob will counterfeit it with kid skins on his hands and neck. The second comes out gripping the heel, and Esau throws that name back at him at 27:36.
Genesis 25:24
"And her days were fulfilled," the text says, "that she should give birth, and there were twins in her womb." This statement, that is, "her days were fulfilled that she should give birth," is almost never written except of holy women. For this is said of this Rebekah and of Elizabeth the mother of John and of Mary the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whence a birth of this kind seems to me to show something extraordinary and beyond other human beings. The fulfillment of the days seems to indicate the birth of perfect offspring.
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · HOMILIES ON GENESIS 12.3patristic
2 more voices on this verse
Genesis 25:24
“And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled,.... The nine months were up from the time of her conception; or, as the Targum of Jonathan, when the two hundred and seventy days she went with child were completed: behold, there were twins in her womb; as was perceived by the midwife; a double mercy was granted, more given than asked for; probably only one child was asked for, but two given.”
Genesis 25:24
“There were twins - תומם thomim, from which comes Thomas, properly interpreted by the word Διδυμος, Didymus, which signifies a twin; so the first person who was called Thomas or Didymus, we may take for granted, had this name from the circumstance of his being a twin.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
covered with hair like a fur coat: John Wesley took the name Esau to mean made, as if he were born already reared. He read the red, hairy body as a sign of a strong frame and an active, daring man. The colour returns at verse 30, in the name Edom.
Genesis 25:25
“Red, all over like a hairy garment - This simply means that he was covered all over with red hair or down; and that this must be intended here is sufficiently evident from another part of his history, where Rebekah, in order to make her favourite son Jacob pass for his brother Esau, was obliged to take the skins of kids, and put them upon his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Genesis 25:25
“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. This was an indication of a very strong constitution, and gave cause to expect that he would be a very robust, daring, active man.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
so he was named Jacob: Adam Clarke derived Jacob from a root meaning to supplant, to trip a man by the heel, and read the grip as a sign of the birthright taken later. Origen applied the name to Christ, who supplanted the activity of the adversary. Hosea 12:3 recalls the grip on the heel.
Genesis 25:26
“His name was called Jacob - יעקב Yaccob, from עקב akab, to defraud, deceive, to supplant, i.e., to overthrow a person by tripping up his heels. Hence this name was given to Jacob, because it was found he had laid hold on his brother’s heel, which was emblematical of his supplanting Esau, and defrauding him of his birthright.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Genesis 25:26
In addition, because [Christ] supplanted the activity of the adversary and because he alone sees the Father, he is "Jacob" and "Israel" when he has become man. As we become light because he is the light of the world, so we become Jacob because he is called "Jacob" and Israel because he is named "Israel."
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 1.260patristic
A Birthright Sold for Stew
Genesis 25:27-28
Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field: The boys grow into opposite men, one in the open country and one at home among the tents. The household divides along that line. Isaac loves Esau for one stated reason, a taste for wild game, and the verse gives no reason for Rebekah loving Jacob. That taste is the hinge of chapter 27, where a dish of meat carries the whole deception.
Genesis 25:27
“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.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Genesis 25:27
“A man of the field - איש שדה ish sadeh, one who supported himself and family by hunting and by agriculture. Jacob was a plain man - איש תם ish tam, a perfect or upright man; dwelling in tents - subsisting by breeding and tending cattle, which was considered in those early times the most perfect employment; and in this sense the word תם tam, should be here understood, as in its moral meaning it certainly could not be applied to Jacob till after his name was changed, after which time only his character stands fair and unblemished.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Genesis 25:27
“He was attached to that safe and silent employment of keeping sheep, to which also he bred up his children, ch. xlvi. He frequented the tents of Melchizedek, or Heber, as some understand it, to be taught by them divine things. And this was that son of Isaac on whom the covenant was entailed.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
he loved Esau; but Rebekah loved Jacob: Isaac loved Esau for a taste of wild game, and Rebekah loved Jacob, and Adam Clarke called this an early case of partial love that divided the family. Ambrose of Milan warned parents from this verse to give every child the same measure of love, since favour stirs hatred between brothers. Joseph's story repeats it.
Genesis 25:28
“Isaac loved Esau - but Rebekah loved Jacob - This is an early proof of unwarrantable parental attachment to one child in preference to another. Isaac loved Esau, and Rebekah loved Jacob; and in consequence of this the interests of the family were divided, and the house set in opposition to itself. The fruits of this unreasonable and foolish attachment were afterwards seen in a long catalogue of both natural and moral evils among the descendants of both families.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Genesis 25:28
“And Isaac loved Esau - Isaac though he was not a stirring man himself, yet he loved to have his son active. Esau knew how to please him, and shewed a great respect for him, by treating him often with venison, which won upon him more than one would have thought.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Genesis 25:28
“However, even parents should not be excused for abandoning us, because they have preferred a younger son to an older one. At the same time, care must be taken that no one, while following their example, has an unfair judgment between their children; so that they think one should be loved, the other should be disregarded. For from this fraternal hatred is aroused, and a crime of parricide is made from the despicable gain of money. The same measure of piety should nourish offspring.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · On Jacob and the Blessed Life, Book 2, Chapter II, Section 5patristic
Genesis 25:29-30
while Jacob was cooking some stew: Jacob has the pot on when Esau comes in from the field famished. The older writers divide over whether that was accident or waiting. Esau asks for the food by its colour, that red stew, and says nothing about what is in it. The name Edom is fixed from that sentence, and Obadiah's whole book is one oracle against the nation it becomes.
Genesis 25:29
“Jacob sod pottage--made of lentils or small beans, which are common in Egypt and Syria. It is probable that it was made of Egyptian beans, which Jacob had procured as a dainty; for Esau was a stranger to it.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Genesis 25:29
“Sod pottage - יזד נזיד yazed nazid, he boiled a boiling; and this we are informed, Gen 25:34, was of עדשים adashim, what the Septuagint render φακος, and we, following them and the Vulgate lens, translate lentils, a sort of pulse.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Jerome derived Edom from the Hebrew word for red. Adam Clarke took Esau as truly famished, a man who would have died without food. Matthew Henry answered that he could have eaten far cheaper than his birthright.
Genesis 25:30
“I am faint - It appears from the whole of this transaction, that Esau was so completely exhausted by fatigue that he must have perished had he not obtained some immediate refreshment. He had been either hunting or laboring in the field, and was now returning for the purpose of getting some food, but had been so exhausted that his strength utterly failed before he had time to make the necessary preparations.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Genesis 25:31-34
This is the first place the word birthright stands in the Bible, and it stands in a demand that one be sold. Jacob makes him swear to it, and he will spend twenty years under Laban being handled the same way. The last verse runs its verbs at speed, ate and drank and got up and went away, then gives the one verdict, that Esau despised his birthright. Hebrews 12:16 calls him profane.
Genesis 25:31
“Sell me this day thy birthright - What the בחרה bechorah or birthright was, has greatly divided both ancient and modern commentators. It is generally supposed that the following rights were attached to the primogeniture: 1. Authority and superiority over the rest of the family. 2. A double portion of the paternal inheritance. 3. The peculiar benediction of the father. 4. The priesthood, previous to its establishment in the family of Aaron.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Esau asks what good a birthright is to a man about to die. John Gill set out three readings: the frailty common to all, the danger of a hunter's life in the field, or the famished hour itself. Gill preferred the last.
Genesis 25:32
“And Esau said, behold, I am at the point to die,.... Or, "going to die" (y), going the way of all flesh; which he might say on account of the common frailty and mortality of man, and the brevity of life at most, or by reason of the danger of life he was always exposed to in hunting of wild beasts, as Aben Ezra suggests; or rather, because of his present hunger and faintness, which, unless immediately relieved, must issue in death.”
So Esau swore to Jacob: Jacob makes Esau swear before he hands over the stew, and so Esau sold him the birthright. Ephrem the Syrian thought Jacob acted in trust on the word given before the birth, that the older would serve the younger. Matthew Henry called it the dearest morsel since Eden.
Genesis 25:33
“Esau's profane contempt of the birthright, and the foolish sale he made of it. He is called profane Esau for it ( Heb. xii. 16 ), because for one morsel of meat he sold his birthright, as dear a morsel as ever was eaten since the forbidden fruit; and he lived to regret it when it was too late.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
some bread and lentil stew: Esau ate and drank, got up and went away, and John Wesley saw the contempt in what followed: no attempt to undo the sale, no appeal to his father. Thus Esau despised his birthright, and his neglect put it past recall. Adam Clarke held that the birthright carried the family's spiritual offices.
Genesis 25:34
“Pottage of lentils - See note Gen 25:29. Thus Esau despised his birthright - On this account the apostle, Heb 12:16, calls Esau a profane person, because he had, by this act, alienated from himself and family those spiritual offices connected with the rights of primogeniture.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Genesis 25:34
Jacob saw that the right of the firstborn was despised by Esau, and he contrived to take it from him, trusting in God who had said, "The elder shall serve the younger."
Ephrem the Syrian · written before 373 · COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 23:2patristic
Genesis 25:34
“Thus Esau despised his birth-right - He used no means to get the bargain revoked, made no appeal to his father about it but the bargain which his necessity had made, (supposing it were so) his profaneness confirmed, and by his subsequent neglect and contempt, he put the bargain past recall.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
How this psalm is built
The form: An account that closes one generation and opens the next, telling the middle patriarch mostly through his father before him and his sons after him, as Wesley classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| Two lists of sons | Verses 1 to 4 name the six sons of Keturah with their own sons after them, and verses 13 to 16 name the twelve sons of Ishmael in the order of their birth, ending with the word Genesis had used of the promise at Genesis 17:20, twelve princes. Adam Clarke follows several of the names out into later history, taking Sheba as the father of the Sabeans who robbed Job and reading the plural forms of verse 3 as tribes rather than individuals. The chapter counts what it is about to set aside.Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, 1832, on Genesis 25:3. | Genesis 25:2, Genesis 25:3, Genesis 25:4, Genesis 25:13, Genesis 25:16 |
| Gathered to his people | The phrase stands over Abraham at verse 8 and over Ishmael at verse 17, and in both places it is set apart from the burial that follows or is left unmentioned. Abraham is gathered to his people before the cave is named, so the gathering and the grave are two different statements. The son sent away at Genesis 21:14 is given the same words as his father. | Genesis 25:8, Genesis 25:17 |
| Red and heel | The chapter fixes two names out of what happens at the birth and one more out of a meal. Esau comes out red and covered with hair, and the same word for red returns at verse 30 when he asks for the red stew, which is where Edom comes from. The second twin comes out gripping his brother's heel, and Adam Clarke takes the name Jacob from a verb that means to overthrow a man by tripping up his heels.Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, 1832, on Genesis 25:26. | Genesis 25:25, Genesis 25:26, Genesis 25:30 |
| The branch outside the covenant closed first | Ishmael's account is given in full, with his twelve sons, his years and the country his descendants settled, and then it ends and the account of Isaac begins. Genesis does the same thing with Cain before Seth, so the pattern is the book's own. The line that is set aside is honoured with a record of its own before the chosen line continues. | Genesis 25:12, Genesis 25:18, Genesis 25:19 |
The New Testament's use
11 more paragraphs on the patterns
The oracle of verse 23 is quoted by Paul at Romans 9:12, where the older serving the younger is the proof that God's choice runs by His own purpose rather than by birth order. Matthew Henry reads the verse the same way, that God is a free agent in dispensing His grace and it is His prerogative to make a difference between two who have not yet done good or evil.
Esau's sale of the birthright is taken up at Hebrews 12:16, where he is called profane. Adam Clarke, Matthew Henry and John Wesley all read verse 34 through that verse, and the narrator has already supplied the verdict in his own words, that Esau despised his birthright.
Romans 4:19 describes Abraham's body as good as dead at the time the promise of Isaac was given, which is the background the six sons of Keturah stand against in verses 1 to 4.
The debated concept
The first question is what the birthright was. Adam Clarke says the meaning of the Hebrew word has greatly divided both ancient and modern commentators. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read it as the rights and privileges of the firstborn and treat them as very important. John Wesley reads the loss as spiritual, noting that the privileges would not have put by the stroke of death or eased its pangs, so the undervaluing of it is the sin rather than the loss of an estate. Genesis uses the word here for the first time in Scripture, and uses it in a demand that it be sold.
The second is how much blame each brother carries. Adam Clarke reads Esau as completely exhausted by fatigue and holds that he must have perished without food, which places the sale under duress. Matthew Henry allows that Jacob may be in some measure excusable if he was seeking a thing the oracle had already assigned him, and the exposition of this chapter records that the older writers divide over whether the pot on the fire was an accident or a wait. John Wesley presses the other side, that Esau used no means to get the bargain revoked and made no appeal to his father, so the contempt was settled rather than momentary.
The third is how far the oracle reaches. Adam Clarke cites Bishop Thomas Newton on the prophecies concerning the sons of Isaac and reads them as spoken about nations. Verse 23 says so in its own words, two nations and two peoples, before it says anything about two boys, which is why the quarrel in the following chapters is always larger than a family quarrel.
The divine connection
The chapter puts prayer where the earlier generation had put arrangement. Sarah's barrenness was met at Genesis 16 with a plan involving Hagar. Rebekah's is met with Isaac praying for his wife, and John Wesley draws the rule from it, that God's promise to multiply the family did not excuse the asking but required it.
The oracle is given to the mother rather than to the father, and it is given before the children are born. Everything that follows in Genesis 27 and after is a struggle over something already spoken, which is why the commentators argue so hard about whether Jacob's methods were needed at all.
The burial at verse 9 is the chapter's quietest sign. Isaac and Ishmael stand together at the cave, and the son sent away at Genesis 21:14 comes back for his father's funeral. Genesis does the same thing twice more, with Esau and Jacob at Genesis 35:29 and with Joseph and his brothers at Genesis 50:13.
Keep studying
Studies7
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The context
John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
The form and classifications
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, 1832, on Genesis 25:5; Chuck Missler, The Book of Genesis, cited in the chapter's exposition notes; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, 1765, on Genesis 25:20 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710, on Genesis 25:23.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, On Jacob and the Blessed Life, Book 2, Chapter II, Section 5; Chuck Missler, The Book of Genesis; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 23:2; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis; John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria.