Genesis 25:24

Gen 25:24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, [there were] twins in her womb.

Ver. 24. And when her days to be delivered.] Which fell out fifteen years before Abraham’s death, to his great comfort, no doubt. God doth for his, his best at last.

There were twins in her womb.] See Son 4:2,Isa 66:8.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Gen_25:24-26

Twins

Birth of Esau and Jacob

I.

THEIR MARKED INDIVIDUALITY.

II. HOW HEREBY IS POINTED OUT THEIR FUTURE DESTINY.

III. HOW THEIR CHARACTERS, SO EARLY DEVELOPED, AFFECTED THE PREFERENCES OF THEIR PARENTS. (T. H. Leale.)

The twins

The children whose birth and destinies were thus predicted, at once gave evidence of a difference even greater than that which will often strike one as existing between two brothers, though rarely between twins. The first was born, all over like a hairy garment, presenting the appearance of being rolled up in a fur cloak or the skin of an animal--an appearance which did not pass away in childhood, but so obstinately adhered to him through life, that an imitation of his hands could be produced with the hairy skin of a kid. This was by his parents considered ominous. The want of the hairy covering which the lower animals have, is one of the signs marking out man as destined for a higher and more refined life than they; and when their son appeared in this guise, they could not but fear it prognosticated his sensual, animal career. So they called him Esau. And so did the younger son from the first show his nature, catching the heel of his brother, as if he were striving to be first-born; and so they called him Jacob, the heel-catcher or supplanter--as Esau afterwards bitterly observed--a name which precisely suited his crafty, plotting nature, shown in his twice over tripping up and overthrowing his elder brother. The name which Esau handed down to his people was, however, not his original name, but one derived from the colour of that for which he sold his birthright. It was in that exclamation of his, Feed me with the same red, that he disclosed his character. (M. Dods, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL NOTES.—

Gen_25:25. Esau.] Signifies hairy. Some understand the word to be derived from a verb meaning done, or finished, and therefore describing one who was prematurely developed.—

Gen_25:26. Jacob.] This name means he shall hold the heel. (Hos_12:4.) Hence the other meaning follows: to grasp the heel as in wrestling, so as to trip one up—the supplanter. (Gen_27:36.) The boys were born fifteen years before Abraham’s death.—

Gen_25:27. A cunning hunter, a man of the field.] Takes to the field for his occupation, is cunning at catching game, and brave in facing danger. The general idea is, that he was to be a man of wild and lawless habits. Jacob was a plain man. Heb. a perfect, blameless man. The same word which is elsewhere applied to a God-fearing character. His gentleness is set over against Esau’s fierce disposition. Dwelling in tents. Their different habits also indicate a difference of disposition. Jacob was a homely, an orderly, and contented man. Esau was an out of doors man, not caring for social pleasures.—

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Gen_25:24-28

BIRTH OF ESAU AND JACOB

In this account of the birth of these two boys we observe—

I. Their marked individuality. These children were most unlike in their characters and dispositions. They seem as if they belonged to different races altogether. There was an antipathy between their characters even before birth. Tendencies develop themselves even before intelligent consciousness, and before there can be any personal responsibility. Thus there may be dark foreshadowings of a man’s future history, even in the silent womb. In the first germs of man’s physical life lie hid those potentialities which time and circumstance will afterwards develop. Though the individual himself commences a new life, yet he is complicated with the past. “Esau seems to have inherited from his mother the rash, sanguine temperament, but without her nobility of soul; from Isaac he derives a certain fondness for good living—at least of game. Jacob inherited from Isaac the quiet, contemplative manner; from Rebekah, however, a disposition for rapid, prudent, cunning invention. Outwardly regarded, Jacob, on the whole, resembled more the father,—Esau the mother.” (Lange.)

II. How hereby is pointed out their future destiny. Esau comes into the world in a kind of hunter’s skin. (Gen_25:25). Here was the cunning hunter—the man of the field—the dexterous taker of game. Jacob was a smooth man, designed for a gentler kind of life. He was essentially the domestic man, “dwelling in tents.” (Gen_25:27.)

III. How their characters, so early developed, affected the preferences of their parents. (Gen_25:28.) “Isaac loved Esau.” Perhaps because in him the opposite of his own character. Isaac himself was a quiet, contemplative man. Esau, on the other hand, was rash, wild, impulsive, and active. Also, Esau was his first-born son, and this conviction of his pre-eminence in birth may have weighed with his father more than all other claims. He might, too, have supposed that Esau was physically and mentally the most fitted to promote the promised prosperity and to achieve the assured victories of his race. Esau was a strong, bold man, and would therefore be the best fitted to secure Canaan for the family of Abraham. It is true that the oracle, pointing out a different destiny for the brothers, had spoken to Rebekah. But Isaac may have doubted its reality, or explained it away, or interpreted it according to his own temper or wish. We all know how our desires and feelings affect our beliefs. The reason for the father’s preference, however, is given here, “because he did eat of his son’s venison” (Gen_25:28). Esau was like his father, in that he had a fondness for the pleasures of the feast. This matter of the venison may have been only one reason amongst others; it shows a tendency, and altogether points to the fact that the father’s preference was founded on nature, not on grace. “Rebekah loved Jacob.” She believed fully in the oracle which had been given to her. The character of Jacob was well suited to carry out her designs; for though he was a quiet man, he had a certain prudence and cunning.

SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES

Gen_25:24-25. The difference is manifest in the outward appearance. The first is red and hairy. These qualities indicate a passionate and precocious nature. He is called Esau the hairy, or the made up, the prematurely developed. His brother is like other children. An act takes place in their very birth, foreshadowing their future history. The second has a hold of his brother’s heel, as if he would trip him up from his very birth. Hence he is called Jacob the wrestler, who takes hold by the heel.—(Murphy.)

Gen_25:26. Brothers unlike, hostile; twins even at enmity, whose physiological unconscious antipathy shows itself already in the womb of the mother—dark forebodings of life not yet existing, bearing witness, however, that the life of man already, in its coming into being, is a germinating seed of a future individuality. This cannot be meant to express a mutual hatred of the embryos. Antipathies however, as well as sympathies may be manifested in the germinating life of man as in the animal and vegetable kingdom.—(Lange.)

Gen_25:27. The boys grew, and it would seem that, as they grew, they were suffered very much to follow the bent of their inclinations in the choice of their respective occupations or modes of life. Their natures were different, and the difference, apparent in their very birth, was significantly indicated in their names. The rough and ruddy aspect of the first-born—more like the coarse robustness of a man than the smooth soft fairness of a child—led to his being called by a name denoting rugged strength, as if he were already full grown and mature; while on the other hand the seemingly accidental circumstance attending his brother’s entrance into the world suggested an appropriate appellation. It is to this appellation, and its import, that Esau afterwards so bitterly alludes in his angry disappointment at the final settlement of the birthright (Gen_27:36). And to the same appellation, for a very different purpose, the prophet Hosea refers, as an instance or emblem of Jacob’s favour with God and his destined superiority, worthy to be cited along with his wrestling with the angel (Hos_12:3-4). With these names, the brothers as they grew up soon began to show that their natures remarkably correspond.—(Candlish.)

Esau’s occupation was, perhaps, determined not only by his disposition, but also by his position in the family. He was the elder son and heir, and seems to have kept that position during his father’s lifetime. The pursuits which he had taken up were of a noble character, and had ever been aspired to by the first-born of the earth. Jacob, on the other hand, seems to have been condemned to the drudgery of domestic service. He really occupied a subordinate place in the household, while his brother assumes the air of a prince and engages in princely sports. Instead of receiving a double portion of the inheritance, Jacob went forth a poor man from his father’s dwelling.

In the dispositions of these two brothers there were

1. Sources of strength. In Esau there were the elements of courage, manly principles, practical power and energy. These might have made a strong character. In Jacob we have all that is quiet, modest, and retiring. These qualities, too, give strength to the religious life.

2. Sources of temptation. Esau was exposed to the danger of becoming coarse and impetuous, rash and ungovernable; while Jacob was likely to degenerate into a character that was timid, sly, and full of low cunning. Strongly marked elements of character may be made a power for good, but they may also become a power for evil.

Gen_25:28. The children please their parents according as they supply what is wanting in themselves. Isaac, himself so sedate, loves the wild, wandering hunter, because he supplies him with pleasures which his own quiet habits do not reach. Rebekah becomes attached to the gentle, industrious shepherd, who satisfies those social and spiritual tendencies in which she is more dependent than Isaac. Esau is destructive of game; Jacob is constructive of cattle.—(Murphy.)

There is “a dead fly in the ointment.” “Isaac loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.” Alas, that the parents should be so shortsighted! Do they not perceive that a single blemish or mistake may make all their care and toil fruitless? Do they not especially note the quick kindling of the proud eye, or the sudden swelling of the indignant bosom, as the flattery of capricious fondness and the injustice of wanton cruelty and coldness by turns inflame and exasperate the feelings? Set not up, ye Christian parents, one child above another, but set up Christ above all. Let not Isaac love Esau because he “eats of his venison,”—sympathising in his venturous trade, and enjoying the fruits of it. Let not Rebekah love the more peaceful Jacob because, dwelling in tents, he gives her more of his company and fellowship. But let both learn to love their children in the Lord.—(Candlish.)

This preference of the father for Esau was,—

1. A weakness unworthy of such a man.

2. It was the source of many troubles which afterwards arose in his family. Many of the distresses and vexations which embittered the remainder of Isaac’s life are to be traced to this.

3. It kindled the flames of jealousy and resentment between the members of his family.

4. It was contrary to that principle of equity which should guide all conduct. Children of one family should be regarded with equal love.

How humiliating the reason assigned for Isaac’s preference of his elder son! By what grovelling and unworthy motives are wise and good men sometimes actuated. How mortifying a view of human nature to see prudence, justice, and piety controlled by one of the lowest and grossest of our appetites!—(Bush.)

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

25:24-26 When the twins were born, the unusual circumstances inspired each boy’s name and hinted at what would happen to them in the future.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 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's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

24. And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled. Moses shows that the intestine strife in her womb continued to the time of bringing forth; for it was not by mere accident that Jacob seized his brother by the heel and attempted to get out before him. The Lord testified by this sign that the effect of his election does not immediately appear; but rather that the intervening path was strewed with troubles and conflicts. Therefore Esau’s name was allotted to him on account of his asperity; which even from earliest infancy assumed a manly form; but the name Jacob signifies that this giant, vainly striving in his boasted strength, had still been vanquished.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

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.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, literally, and were fulfilled her days to bring forth; ejplhrwqhsan aiJ hJmerai tou tekein aujthn. (LXX; cf Luk_1:57 Luk_2:6) Jarchi accounts for the different phrase used of Thamar, (Gen_38:27) who also bore twins, by supposing that she had not completed her days, but gave birth to Pharez and Zarah in the seventh month (vide Rosenm in loco )behold, there were twins in her womb (cf. Gen_38:27, where the full form of the word for twins is given)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Two Sons, Esau and Jacob

v. 24. And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.

v. 25. And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. So Esau was the first of the twins to be born, and, in allusion to the reddish, thick growth of hair which even then covered his body like a garment of skins, he was given the name, which means "the hairy one. " Thus early his sensual, hard characteristics, his wildness, became evident.

v. 26. And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau’s heel; and his name was called Jacob. The name signifies "the holder of the heel," "the cunning one," because he was supposed to have taken advantage of his brother thus early in life. And Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.

v. 27. And the boys grew; and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. The natural wildness of Esau’s character was soon revealed in the fact that he became skilful in the chase, loved to roam across the country far and wide for the mere love of killing game. Jacob was the very opposite, a quiet young man, opposed to all violence, much preferring to remain in the tents and tend to the matters at home.

v. 28. And Isaac loved Esau because he did eat of his venison, literally, game, the result of the chase, was in his mouth, he was very partial to its wild taste; but Rebekah loved Jacob, partly because she remembered the promise of the Lord, partly because of his love for the quiet life of the home.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

behold, there

"she was surprised to learn that there"

red all over like a hairy garment

Possible meanings are 1) his skin was red and he had a lot of hair on his body or 2) he had a lot of red hair on his body. AT: "red and hairy like a garment made of animal hair" (See: Simile)

Esau

Translators may add a footnote that says "The name Esau sounds like the word 'hairy.'"

grasping Esau's heel

"holding the back part of Esau's foot"

Jacob

Translators may also add a footnote that says "The name Jacob means 'he grasps the heel.'"

sixty years old

"60 years old" (See: Numbers)

translationWords

womb

Esau

Jacob

year

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

וימלאו ימיה AND WHEN HER DAYS TO BEAR WERE FULL — But in the case of Tamar it is written, (37:27) “And it came to pass at the time of her travail”, for her days were not fulfilled as she gave birth to them (her children) at the end of seven months.

והנה תומם BEHOLD, THERE WERE TWINS — The word for twins is written defective (without א and י) whilst in the case of Tamar it is written תאומים (with א and י); because in the latter case both children proved righteous whilst here one was righteous and the other wicked (Genesis Rabbah 63:8).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

וימלאו ימיה, the days of her pregnancy.

והנה תומים בבטנה, the twins in her womb emerged. The word תומים is spelled defective with the letter א of the root, i.e. the middle letter missing. According to an aggadic interpretation the missing letter hints at the fact that only one of these twins would become a righteous Individual (quoted by Rashi).

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.