Free Bible Commentary
“Genesis 25:19-23”
Categories: Genesis“Now these are the records of the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham became the father of Isaac; and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived. But the children struggled together within her; and she said, ‘If it is so, why then am I this way?’ So she went to inquire of the Lord. The Lord said to her, ‘Two nations are in your womb; and two peoples will be separated from your body; and one people shall be stronger than the other; and the older shall serve the younger.’”
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“Now these are the records of the generations of Isaac…” (verse 19) This is “toledot” number 8 in Genesis, the “generations” of Isaac. What follows is not the typical genealogy but it simply serves to mark a shift from the previous context back to a patriarchal narrative. “Nothing is recorded of the first twenty years of Isaac’s marriage. Only a few isolated events in his life are preserved in the literature, where he is eclipsed by the towering figure of his father Abraham and overshadowed by the dynamic, forceful personality of his son Jacob. Yet Isaac is more than a mere transition between Abraham and Jacob, and the biblical account does contain unmistakable elements of individuality. Isaac’s name, uniquely bestowed by God, is not changed…he alone remains monogamous; he is the only patriarch to engage in agriculture and the only one never to leave the promised land.” (Nahum Sarna)
“Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah…to be his wife.” (verse 20) People have made wild speculations about Rebekah’s age at the time of her marriage, some even insisting that she was only three years old! While that is patently preposterous, it seems highly likely that she was quite a bit younger than her forty-year-old husband. Exactly how much would be impossible to conclude with precision, but she was definitely old and strong enough to fetch water from a well and carry the filled water jugs, likely on her shoulder, to refresh parched animals (Genesis 24:15-20)
“Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived.” (verse 21) As with his father before him, Isaac’s wife struggled to conceive a child. Many of us know how troubling and discouraging it can be for a couple to be unable to have children when they really want them. This was especially true in this time and culture when bearing children was a mark of honor and a necessity for the family’s livelihood. Of course, the ability to reproduce was even more critical with this particular couple for the perpetuation of the line of Abraham to produce the Christ. “This is one of a number of interesting parallels between the lives of Isaac and Abraham. Things never run smoothly for God's elect. There will always be problems and trials that discover and test faith in the Lord. We may readily believe that both Isaac and Rebekah sought the prayers and counsel of the mighty Abraham who lived for another sixteen years after Rebekah's conceiving twins.” (James Burton Coffman)
“But the children struggled together within her…” (verse 22) Unfortunately the difficulties didn’t subside with the conception of Jacob and Esau—the struggles had just begun! “Rebekah experiences an unusually difficult pregnancy. Instead of the normally gentle quickening, the fetal movements are spasmodic and she has fears of miscarrying. Not only is the report of the difficult pregnancy unique in the biblical literature, but the Hebrew also uses an unusual verb (va-yitrotsetsu), which literally means ‘they crushed, thrust, one another,’ and which foretokens the future hostile relationship between the children who are about to be born.” (Nahum Sarna)
“And she said, ‘If it is so, why then am I this way?’” (verse 22) After all the longing and fretting and praying to become pregnant, afterword Rebekah wondered within herself it if was really worth it! It is possible that her pregnancy was so extremely difficult that she despaired of her life! The Complete Jewish Bible translates her words as follows: “If it is going to be like this, why go on living?” She made a similar statement when she desired a wife for Jacob in Genesis 27:46—“Rebekah said to Isaac, ‘I am tired of living because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?’”
“So she went to inquire of the Lord.” (verse 22) This time more than prayer was involved in dealing with her dilemma because the text says she “went” and actually made an inquiry from the Lord. The unanswered question is just exactly how she went about doing that. Again, much speculation has been made about her method. Some suggest that she went to an “oracle” or a “medium” to do this, but I don’t believe the Lord would have answered her through such a pagan practice. Others surmise that she went to the well at Beer-lahai-roi where the angel of the Lord spoke to Hagar about the child in her womb (Genesis 16:11-14). I believe the simplest and safest answer is that Rebekah visited her godly father-in-law, Abraham, who inquired of the Lord for her about the matter. He was both the founding patriarch of the family and the nation of Israel, as well as being a prophet of the Lord according to God’s own declaration (Genesis 20:7).
“The Lord said to her, ‘Two nations are in your womb; and two peoples will be separated from your body; and one people shall be stronger than the other; and the older shall serve the younger.’” “Rebekah is informed that she carries twins, that each will be the progenitor of a people, that the movements in her womb result from sibling rivalry for priority of birth, and that physical strength would be decisive; ultimately, however, hegemony would belong to the loser in the uterine struggle. In historic terms, the seniority of Esau is reflected in his having achieved a settled kingdom earlier than Israel, as noted in 36:31; the supremacy of Jacob found expression in David’s crushing victories over Edom.” (Nahum Sarna) “The offspring of Esau, the eldest, should become tributary to the posterity of Jacob, the younger; which was verified in the times of David, when the Edomites were subdued by him, 2 Samuel 8:14.” (Gills Exposition of the Entire Bible)
Please read Genesis 25:24-27 for tomorrow.
- Louie Taylor
