Free Bible Commentary
“Genesis 25:24-27”
Categories: Genesis“When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. Now the first came forth red, all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau. Afterward his brother came forth with his hand holding on to Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob; and Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them. When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents.”
---End of Scripture verses---
“When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.” (verse 24) Rebekah survived the painful pregnancy that pushed her to her limits and wit's end. Sometimes we have to trudge through very dark and difficult days when the pain seems interminable and the end looks unreachable. But the Lord is always faithful and merciful to carry us through the dismal hours and brighten our lives with fresh hope and new reasons to press onward. God delivered Rebekah from her predicament with the delivery of her children. Behold! Two babies to love! Double the pleasure, double the joy, double the work!
“Now the first came forth red...” (verse 25) Baby Esau came out red or ruddy all over. “Hebrew 'admoni is also used—admiringly—of David in 1 Samuel 16:12 and 17:42. The term, therefore, is not likely to mean redheadedness, which was popularly associated with the sinister and dangerous. More likely, a ruddy complexion is intended... here is an undoubted implicit word play between 'admoni and Edom, which is another name for Esau...” (Nahum Sarna)
“All over like a hairy garment.” (verse 25) Like many of the words and phrases used in this passage, this detail is revealed to signify momentous events that would play out in the future interactions of these two brothers. It was the hairy arm of Esau that Rebekah and Jacob would exploit to deceptively steal away Abraham's final blessing from the elder Esau (Genesis 27:1-29). “And they named him Esau.” Because he was so “well developed” at his birth, “The Jewish commentators form this name from the verb to make, and render it well-made; but the usual explanation is hairy, from a word now extant only in Arabic.” (Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers)
“Afterward his brother came forth with his hand holding on to Esau’s heel...” (verse 26) Some commentators see this as a mere figure of speech depicting Jacob's birth coming immediately, “on the heal” of Esau's delivery, with little or no intervening time. But, like the hairiness of Esau, the heal-grabbing of Jacob was literal and foreboding of future affairs. While the newly born Jacob was pure and innocent and incapable of underhanded ambitions, in foretelling fashion, it seemed as though he was trying to pull his brother back and take the place of preeminence. The prophet says as much in Hosea 12:3—“In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his maturity he contended with God.”
“So his name was called Jacob.” (verse 26) “That is, One that takes by the heel or supplants. The Heb. for 'heel' is ‘âḳêb, and the name 'Jacob' was popularly regarded as having been derived from the same root, with the meaning of 'one who seeks to trip up or supplant'; compare the use of the word; 'supplant' in Jeremiah 9:4.” (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) Nahum Sarna also had this to say about the name “Jacob”: “By folk etymology, the name is derived from Hebrew 'akev, 'heel.' In reality, Hebrew ya'akov stems from a Semitic root '-k-v, 'to protect.' It is abbreviated from a fuller form with a divine name or epithet as its subject. Ya'akov-'el, 'May El protect,' is a name that has turned up several times in cuneiform texts over a wide area. The name Jacob is thus, in origin, a plea for divine protection of the newly born—most appropriate for the one who was to live his entire life in the shadow of danger.”
“Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field...” (verse 27) “The two lads pursued incompatible vocations and lifestyles. The description of Esau as a hunter and as 'one who lives by the sword' (27:40) reflects a very early stage in the history of Edom, the time when the tribe was still engaged in hunting as an economic necessity and had not yet become a settled monarchy... the national Edomite god Qaus, whose name is Arabic for 'bow'...was originally the god of hunting and warfare. Hunting as a way of life was held in low esteem in Israel. The only hunter, other than Esau, mentioned by name in the Bible is Nimrod, in 10:9.” (Nahum Sarna)
“But Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents.” (verse 27) “Quiet or harmless, Lat. Integer. 'Plain,' in Old English, is used for 'simple,' 'honest'... The meaning seems to be that of a solid, simple, home-abiding man. Dwelling in tents, Cf. Genesis 4:20. The life of Jacob, the herdsman and the shepherd, is contrasted with that of the fierce and roving huntsman. The ideal patriarchal habit of life seems to be pastoral.” (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges)
Please read Genesis 25:28-34
Hae a blessed day!
- Louie Taylor
