Genesis 25:23
in Genesis 25and 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.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jehovah said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, And two peoples shall be separated from thy bowels: And the one people shall be stronger than the other people; And the elder shall serve the younger.
KJV
And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.
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This verse in Genesis 25
Commentary
17 notes on this verseI 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?
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.
This site's exposition
the older will serve the younger
Adam Clarke, quoting Bishop Newton, read Two nations are in your womb as spoken of the peoples more than of the two sons. John Wesley saw the older serve the younger under David. Origen also read the two peoples inward, virtue and vice within each soul.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
We must now take a look at the history of the city of God, as it takes its course from this point on among the descendants of Abraham. In the period from Isaac's birth to his seventieth year, when his first children were born, there is one memorable fact: He asked God that his wife, who was barren, might bear him a child. God heard the prayer, and she conceived twins who leaped while still in her womb. She was troubled by the disturbance, and, asking the Lord, she received this answer: "Two nations are in your womb; two people shall stem from your body. One people shall be stronger than the other, and the elder shall serve the younger."This is interpreted by the apostle Paul as an obvious proof of the working of grace: "For before the children had yet been born or had done anything of good or evil," the younger was chosen, through no merits of his own, and the older rejected. So far as original sin goes, both were equal. As for personal sins, neither had any.
How then do the wicked serve the good? As persecutors serve the martyrs; as a file or hammer, gold; as a mill, wheat; as ovens, the baking of bread: those are consumed, so that these may be baked.
Good souls want to win over the evil, but the wicked long to destroy the just. It is the desire of the good that those who are bad be corrected, while the destruction of the good is the pursuit of the wicked.
The fact that we read "One people shall be stronger than the other, and the elder shall serve the younger" we do not see fulfilled according to the letter in Esau and Jacob. For Scripture does not mention that Esau served blessed Jacob bodily.
Eighthly, a second time through Isaac and Rebecca, when twins were born, it was said: The elder shall serve the younger, thereby again showing there are two states, one of bondage and the other of freedom.
9 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening7 voices
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.
Observe here, (1.) God is a free agent in dispensing his grace; it is his prerogative to make a difference between those who have not as yet themselves done either good or evil. This the apostle infers hence, Rom. ix. (2.) In the struggle between grace and corruption in the soul, grace, the younger, shall certainly get the upper hand at last.
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
), was presage of the accomplishment of it, and served greatly to illustrate the type. There was a great difference in their bodies,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
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.
And the Lord said unto her,....
Observe here, (1.) God is a free agent in dispensing his grace; it is his prerogative to make a difference between those who have not as yet themselves done either good or evil. This the apostle infers hence, Rom. ix. (2.) In the struggle between grace and corruption in the soul, grace, the younger, shall certainly get the upper hand at last.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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?
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?
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֨אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֜ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לָ֗הּ | lah | to <the> her | ||
| שְׁנֵ֤י | shenei | two | H8147 → | 768 times |
| גוֹיִם֙ | goyim | nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| בְּבִטְנֵ֔ךְ | bevitnekh | [are] in womb your | H990 → | 72 times |
| וּשְׁנֵ֣י | ushenei | and two | H8147 → | 768 times |
| לְאֻמִּ֔ים | leumim | peoples | H3816 → | 31 times |
| מִמֵּעַ֖יִךְ | mimeayikh | from inward parts your | H4578 → | |
| יִפָּרֵ֑דוּ | yiparedu | they will separate | H6504 → | 26 times |
| וּלְאֹם֙ | uleom | and a people | H3816 → | 31 times |
| מִלְאֹ֣ם | milom | more than a people | H3816 → | 31 times |
| יֶֽאֱמָ֔ץ | yeematz | it will be strong | H553 → | |
| וְרַ֖ב | verav | and [the] great [one] | H7227 → | 454 times |
| יַעֲבֹ֥ד | yaavod | it will serve | H5647 → | 288 times |
| צָעִֽיר׃ | tzair | [the] young [one] | H6810 → | 23 times |
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֜הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לָ֗הּto <the> her
lah
שְׁנֵ֤יtwo
sheneiH8147 →768 times
גוֹיִם֙nations
goyimH1471 →561 times
בְּבִטְנֵ֔ךְ[are] in womb your
bevitnekhH990 →72 times
וּשְׁנֵ֣יand two
usheneiH8147 →768 times
לְאֻמִּ֔יםpeoples
leumimH3816 →31 times
מִמֵּעַ֖יִךְfrom inward parts your
mimeayikhH4578 →
יִפָּרֵ֑דוּthey will separate
yipareduH6504 →26 times
וּלְאֹם֙and a people
uleomH3816 →31 times
מִלְאֹ֣םmore than a people
milomH3816 →31 times
יֶֽאֱמָ֔ץit will be strong
yeematzH553 →
וְרַ֖בand [the] great [one]
veravH7227 →454 times
יַעֲבֹ֥דit will serve
yaavodH5647 →288 times
צָעִֽיר׃[the] young [one]
tzairH6810 →23 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
Genesis 27:29May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. May you be the master of your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you…
it leads to
- Numbers 24:9
He crouches, he lies down like a lion; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him? Blessed are those who bless you and cursed are those who curse you.”
- Genesis 12:3
I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
- Isaiah 49:23
Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow to you facedown and lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD;…
- Genesis 9:25–26
he said, “Cursed be Canaan! A servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”
- Romans 9:12
not by works but by Him who calls, she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”
- Numbers 24:9
Through
Genesis 27:40You shall live by the sword and serve your brother. But when you rebel, you will tear his yoke from your neck.”
it leads to
- 2 Kings 8:20–22
In the days of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against the hand of Judah and appointed their own king.
- 2 Samuel 8:14
He placed garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites were subject to David. So the LORD made David victorious wherever he went.
- 2 Chronicles 21:8
In the days of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against the hand of Judah and appointed their own king.
- 2 Kings 8:20–22
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies18
On this verse
About Genesis
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, City of God 16.35; Caesarius of Arles, Commentary (church-history corpus); Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 86.2; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 86.3; Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 6; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 12.3.