Genesis 25
25
Abraham and Keturah
1Abraham again took a wife, and her name was #1 Chr. 1:32, 33Keturah. 2And #1 Chr. 1:32, 33she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3Jokshan begot Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4And the sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abidah, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.
5And #Gen. 24:35, 36Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. 6But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines which Abraham had; and while he was still living he #Gen. 21:14sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to #Judg. 6:3the country of the east.
Abraham’s Death and Burial
7This is the sum of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived: one hundred and seventy-five years. 8Then Abraham breathed his last and #Gen. 15:15; 47:8, 9died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and #Gen. 25:17; 35:29; 49:29, 33was gathered to his people. 9And #Gen. 35:29; 50:13his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of #Gen. 23:9, 17; 49:30Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, 10#Gen. 23:3–16the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth. #Gen. 49:31There Abraham was buried, and Sarah his wife. 11And it came to pass, after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac. And Isaac dwelt at #Gen. 16:14Beer Lahai Roi.
The Families of Ishmael and Isaac
12Now this is the #Gen. 11:10, 27; 16:15genealogy of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham. 13And #1 Chr. 1:29–31these were the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15Hadar, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16These were the sons of Ishmael and these were their names, by their towns and their settlements, #Gen. 17:20twelve princes according to their nations. 17These were the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred and thirty-seven years; and #Gen. 25:8; 49:33he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people. 18#Gen. 20:1; 1 Sam. 15:7(They dwelt from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt as you go toward Assyria.) He died #Gen. 16:12in the presence of all his brethren.
19This is the #Gen. 36:1, 9genealogy of Isaac, Abraham’s son. #Matt. 1:2Abraham begot Isaac. 20Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, #Gen. 22:23; 24:15, 29, 67the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, #Gen. 24:29the sister of Laban the Syrian. 21Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; #1 Sam. 1:17; 1 Chr. 5:20; 2 Chr. 33:13; Ezra 8:23; Ps. 127:3and the Lord granted his plea, #Rom. 9:10–13and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” #1 Sam. 1:15; 9:9; 10:22So she went to inquire of the Lord.
23And the Lord said to her:
#Gen. 17:4–6, 16; 24:60; Num. 20:14; Deut. 2:4–8“Two nations are in your womb,
Two peoples shall be separated from your body;
One people shall be stronger than #2 Sam. 8:14the other,
#Gen. 27:29, 40; Mal. 1:2, 3; Rom. 9:12And the older shall serve the younger.”
24So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. 25And the first came out red. He was #Gen. 27:11, 16, 23like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau. 26Afterward his brother came out, and #Hos. 12:3his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so #Gen. 27:36his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
27So the boys grew. And Esau was #Gen. 27:3, 5a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was #Job 1:1, 8a mild man, #Heb. 11:9dwelling in tents. 28And Isaac loved Esau because he #Gen. 27:4, 19, 25, 31ate of his game, #Gen. 27:6–10but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Esau Sells His Birthright
29Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. 30And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom.
31But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.”
32And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so #Matt. 16:26; Mark 8:36, 37what is this birthright to me?”
33Then Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.”
So he swore to him, and #Heb. 12:16sold his birthright to Jacob. 34And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then #Eccl. 8:15; Is. 22:13; 1 Cor. 15:32he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau #Heb. 12:16, 17despised his birthright.
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Genesis 25: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Genesis 25
25
Abraham and Keturah’s Descendants
1Now Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was Keturah. # 25:1 It is not clear when Abraham took Keturah to be his wife. It is possible this happened after the death of Sarah. This would mean that he married her when he was more than one hundred and thirty-seven years old. (Sarah died at age one hundred and twenty-seven, and Abraham was ten years older than Sarah.) The six sons would have been born when Abraham was between the ages of one hundred and thirty-seven and one hundred and seventy-five. Another possibility is that Abraham had taken Keturah while Sarah was still living. The name Keturah may be a variant of a word referring to the smoke from a sacrifice or from incense (“sweet smelling smoke” or “sweet incense”). Jewish tradition states that Keturah was actually Hagar who returned from her exile and married Abraham, who changed her name to Keturah. 2She and Abraham had sons named Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. 4Dedan’s sons were the Ashurites, the Letushites, and the Leummites. Midian’s sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, # 25:4 Or “Enoch.” Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the descendants of Keturah. # 25:4 See 1 Chron. 1:32–33.
5Abraham gave all that he possessed to Isaac, 6but to his sons by his concubines he gave gifts while he was still living. # 25:6 These gifts may have included jewels, precious metals, animals, slaves, or combinations of these. It is unlikely that he gave them land, for he wanted these sons to have a legal settlement that would enable them to begin life on their own, away from Isaac. He sent them all away eastward, separating them from his son Isaac.
The Death of Abraham
7Abraham lived a total of one hundred and seventy-five years. 8Abraham took his final breath, dying at a good old age. After having lived a full, content life, he joined his ancestors. 9His sons, Isaac and Ishmael, buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field which had belonged to Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre. 10They buried him next to his wife Sarah, in the same field that Abraham purchased from the Hittites. 11After Abraham had passed, God greatly blessed his son Isaac, and Isaac settled near the well named the Well of the Living One Who Watches Over Me. # 25:11 Isaac was a man of the well (see Gen. 26:18–25). Isaac lived near Beer-Lahai-Roi, which means “The Well of the Living One Who Watches Over Me.” This is where Hagar once cried out for deliverance and God heard her. In a time of desperation Ishmael drank from this well of grace. It is the place where God sees our problems and provides a well of mercy and satisfaction. Isaac did not visit there; he lived there, making the all-seeing God his source of supply. He saw a realm where the Living One sees all things. It was a well of perpetual revelation and grace.
The Descendants of Ishmael
12This is the account of the descendants of Abraham’s son Ishmael, # 25:12 See 1 Chron. 1:29–31. whom Sarah’s servant, Hagar the Egyptian, bore to Abraham.
13The names of Ishmael’s sons in their birth order are: Nebaioth the firstborn; and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16These twelve sons of Ishmael became princes # 25:16 Or “tribal chieftains.” of twelve tribes that were named after them, listed by the places they settled and camped. 17-18They occupied the land from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt, in the direction of Assyria. And Ishmael lived in hostility toward all of his people. At the age of one hundred and thirty-seven, Ishmael breathed his last and died # 25:17–18 The Hebrew word for “died” is gava‘, the word commonly used for the death of a righteous person. The Semitic origin of the word gava‘ is “to hunger,” “to be empty,” or “to have a longing to be filled with something.” The famed Jewish sage, Rashi, translated this as “Ishmael died [as a righteous man] still hungering for righteousness.” and was joined to his ancestors.
The Birth of Jacob and Esau
19This is how the story of Isaac begins. He was the beloved son of Abraham # 25:19 Or “Abraham became the father of Isaac.” The redundancy of Abraham in this verse is a literary device for showing the promise given to Abraham was passed on to his son. and the successor of Abraham’s blessing.
20When he was forty, he married Rebekah. She was the daughter of Bethuel and the sister of Laban. Both her father and brother were Arameans from Paddan-Aram. # 25:20 Paddan-Aram is also called “Aram Naharaim,” which means “Aram of the two rivers” (see Gen. 24:10). It is another name for Mesopotamia, the area between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in modern Iraq. 21Now, Rebekah was unable to have children, but Isaac pleaded with Yahweh on behalf of his wife because she was barren—and she did get pregnant, for Yahweh responded to Isaac’s prayer. # 25:21 During their twenty-year wait for children, there is no mention that Isaac fathered children with his handmaiden, as his father Abraham did. Isaac loved Rebekah and was patient and prayerful until the miracle happened. 22During her pregnancy, Rebekah could feel twins thrashing and struggling # 25:22 The Hebrew is literally “they crushed each other.” It was an intense struggle going on inside of Rebekah. with each other inside her womb. So she went to inquire of Yahweh, saying, “Why do I have to live with this?” 23And Yahweh answered her, # 25:23 We do not know how God answered her. It could have been by an audible voice or in a dream. saying,
“The two sons in your womb will become two nations,
and the two peoples within you will become rivals. # 25:23 Or “divided,” a Hebrew word used for a river dividing into branches (see Gen. 2:10).
One people will become stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”
24And when the time came for Rebekah to give birth, sure enough, she had twins! 25The first one came out reddish and covered with hair like a hairy garment; # 25:25 Or “a mantle.” so they named him Esau. # 25:25 Esau is a wordplay on the Hebrew word se‘ar meaning “hairy.” 26And his brother came out with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so, they named him Jacob. # 25:26 The Hebrew word for “Jacob” sounds like the words for “heel” and “cheat” (see Gen. 27:36). Jacob can be translated “heel grabber” or “supplanter.” Even in the womb, Jacob was jostling for the right of the firstborn. Isaac was sixty when the twins were born. # 25:26 Isaac waited twenty years for God to fulfill the promise of a child. God’s promises are worth waiting for.
Esau Sells His Birthright
27When the boys grew up, Esau became a rugged outdoorsman and a hardy hunter, but Jacob was more contemplative, # 25:27 Although the Hebrew word tam can mean “blameless” (see Job 1:1), it is better translated “meditative,” “tranquil,” “quiet,” or “contemplative.” content to stay close to home. 28Isaac loved Esau because he was fond of eating wild game, but Rebekah dearly loved Jacob.
29One day, when Jacob was cooking a stew, # 25:29 Jewish sages state that Abraham, Jacob and Esau’s grandfather, had just died, and the stew Jacob was cooking was fulfilling a cultural obligation to cook and was related to the prescribed season of mourning. See Bava Basra 16b. Esau returned from hunting, # 25:29 Or “from the field.” and he was famished. 30Smelling the aroma of food, Esau said to Jacob, “I’m starving! Let me eat some of that red stuff you’re cooking.” (This is why he is also called Edom.) # 25:30 Edom sounds like the Hebrew word for “red.”
31“Yes, but first you must trade me your birthright,” # 25:31 The birthright refers to the right of the firstborn to inherit from the father a double portion—twice as much as the younger siblings inherit. Jacob now rightfully possessed the rights and blessings of the firstborn, which included authority, headship, a double portion of the inheritance, and the right to be the priest of the family. God identifies himself as the “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (Ex. 3:6). The God of Abraham is God of Promises Fulfilled. The God of Isaac is the God of Inheritance and Miracles. The God of Jacob is the God of Transformation, for Jacob would become Israel, a prince with God. God gives us the promise, but the promise requires a miracle to perform it. This miracle-promise releases true transformation within the heart of man. This is the revelation of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob replied.
32“Can’t you see I’m dying of hunger?” Esau said. “What good is the birthright if I’m dead?”
33But Jacob insisted, “First, swear to me that you’ll give it to me.” So, Esau swore an oath and surrendered his birthright to Jacob.
34Then Jacob gave Esau some lentil stew and bread. When Esau had finished eating and drinking, he just got up and walked away. Esau cared nothing about his own birthright. # 25:34 See Heb. 12:16.
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