Genesis 25:22
in Genesis 25But 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,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, wherefore do I live? And she went to inquire of Jehovah.
KJV
And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the Lord.
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This verse in Genesis 25
Commentary
12 notes on this verseSo 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.
This site's exposition
the children inside her struggled with each other
on Genesis 25:22-23
The fighting starts before either child is born. The answer is about nations before it is about brothers: two peoples, one stronger, and the older serving the younger. Henry reads it as God making a difference between two who had done neither good nor evil.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
A commentator
Augustine of HippoTRACTATE ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 11.10.2-3 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
They were wrestling in the womb of their mother, and it was said to Rebekah, when they were wrestling there, "Two peoples are in your womb." Two men, two peoples, a good people, an evil people; but still they are wrestling in one womb.How many evil people there are in the church! And one womb carries them until they are separated in the end. And the good shout against the evil, and the evil shout back against the good, and both are wrestling in the bowels of the one.
Almost everyone accepts the fact that blessed Isaac represented a type of the Lord our Savior. Therefore Isaac prefigured Christ and blessed Rebekah the church, because although like the church she remained sterile for a long time, she conceived through the prayer of blessed Isaac …
"God blessed Isaac," and Isaac prayed for Rebekah, who was barren. After twenty years God heard him, and she conceived. Her sons struggled together within her womb.
The very vitals of Rebekah are stirred, though the child is a long way from birth and there is no breath of air. Behold, the twin offspring struggles in the womb of their mother, though there yet is no sign of the two nations. We might regard as prophetic this struggle of the two infants, who are at enmity even before they are born, who show animosity before animation, for their restlessness disturbed their mother. When, however, the womb is opened, their number known and the symbolic implications of their condition made manifest, we see clearly not only the separate souls of those children but even then the beginning of their rivalry.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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.
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
We know not when we are pleased; we know neither how to want nor how to abound. This struggle between Jacob and Esau in the womb represents the struggle that is maintained between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan, [1.] In the world. The seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent have been contending ever since the enmity was put between them ( ch. iii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
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.
And the children struggled together within her,....
We know not when we are pleased; we know neither how to want nor how to abound. This struggle between Jacob and Esau in the womb represents the struggle that is maintained between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan, [1.] In the world. The seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent have been contending ever since the enmity was put between them ( ch. iii.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּתְרֹֽצֲצ֤וּ | vaiyitrotzatzu | and they struggled together | H7533 → | |
| הַבָּנִים֙ | habanim | the children | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| בְּקִרְבָּ֔הּ | bekirbah | in inward part[s] her | H7130 → | 227 times |
| וַתֹּ֣אמֶר | vatomer | and she said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| כֵּ֔ן | ken | thus | H3651 → | 771 times |
| לָ֥מָּה | lamah | <to> why? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| זֶּ֖ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| אָנֹ֑כִי | ʾanokhi | [am] I | H595 → | 359 times |
| וַתֵּ֖לֶךְ | vatelekh | and she went | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| לִדְרֹ֥שׁ | lidrosh | to consult | H1875 → | 164 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וַיִּתְרֹֽצֲצ֤וּand they struggled together
vaiyitrotzatzuH7533 →
הַבָּנִים֙the children
habanimH1121 →4930 times
בְּקִרְבָּ֔הּin inward part[s] her
bekirbahH7130 →227 times
וַתֹּ֣אמֶרand she said
vatomerH559 →5305 times
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
כֵּ֔ןthus
kenH3651 →771 times
לָ֥מָּה<to> why?
lamahH4100 →752 times
זֶּ֖הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
אָנֹ֑כִי[am] I
ʾanokhiH595 →359 times
וַתֵּ֖לֶךְand she went
vatelekhH1980 →1546 times
לִדְרֹ֥שׁto consult
lidroshH1875 →164 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Samuel 30:8and David inquired of the LORD: “Should I pursue these raiders? Will I overtake them?” “Pursue them,” the LORD replied, “for you will surely overtake them and rescue the captives.”
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 30:18
So David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives.
- 1 Samuel 23:2
So David inquired of the LORD, “Should I go and attack these Philistines?” And the LORD said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”
- Proverbs 3:5–6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
- 2 Samuel 5:19
So David inquired of the LORD, “Should I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?” “Go,” replied the LORD, “for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hand.”
- 2 Samuel 5:23
So David inquired of the LORD, who answered, “Do not march straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the balsam trees.
- 1 Samuel 30:18
Through
1 Samuel 28:6He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets.
it leads to
- Numbers 27:21
He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who will seek counsel for him before the LORD by the judgment of the Urim. At his command, he and all the Israelites with him—the entire congregation—will…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 12:6
He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, will reveal Myself to him in a vision; I will speak to him in a dream.
- 1 Samuel 14:37
So Saul inquired of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You give them into the hand of Israel?” But God did not answer him that day.
- Numbers 27:21
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies8
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, TRACTATE ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 11.10.2-3; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 86.2; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 23:1; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 12.2 and Tertullian, ON THE SOUL 26.2.