Abraham and his descendants
1 ① Abraham married another wife named Keturah. 2She bore him Zimram, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. 3Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan, and the sons of Dedan were the Asshurites, the Letushites, and the Leummites. 4The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah.
5Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. 6To the sons of his concubines Abraham gave presents, and as long as he lived he sent them away from his son Isaac, to the land of the east. 7Abraham had lived a hundred and seventy-five years. 8Then at a good old age Abraham breathed his last, an old man, after a full span of years, and was gathered to his ancestors. 9His sons, Isaac and Ishmael, buried him in the cave at Machpelah, 10in the field of Ephron the Hittite, son of Zohar. This was the field near Mamre that Abraham bought from the Hittites. Abraham and his wife, Sarah, were buried there. 11After Abraham’s death God blessed his son Isaac who lived near the well of Lahai-roi.
12These are the descendants of Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar, the Egyptian. 13These are the names of the sons of Ishmael in order of their birth. Ishmael’s firstborn was Nebaioth, and after him Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. 16These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, according to their settlements and camps, twelve tribal princes. 17Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people.
18His descendants lived in the territory stretching from Havilah to Shur, near the border of Egypt in the direction of Assyria. They have been fighting continually among themselves.
19This is the story of Isaac, son of Abraham. 20Isaac was forty when he married Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel, the Aramean from Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean.
The birth of Esau and Jacob
21 ② Isaac prayed to Yahweh for his wife, because she could not have children. Yahweh heard Isaac’s prayer and Rebekah, his wife, conceived. 22As the children struggled together within her, she said, “If it is like this, why do I continue to live?” She went to consult Yahweh, 23and Yahweh said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples will be born of you; one nation will be stronger than the other, and the elder shall serve the younger.”
24When the time came for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb. 25The first to be born was red and his whole body was like a hairy garment, so they called him Esau. 26Then his brother was born and his hand had gripped Esau’s heel so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty at the time of their birth.
27When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country; Jacob was a quiet man living in tents. 28Isaac who had a liking for game loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
29Once when Jacob was making a stew, Esau came back from the country and he was famished; 30and he said to Jacob, “Let me have some of that red stew, for I am famished.” That is why he was also called Edom. 31Jacob said, “First sell me your right as the first born.” 32Esau said, “Since I am to die soon, what good is my right as the firstborn to me?” 33Then Jacob said, “Give me your oath first.” So he swore to him and sold his firstborn right to Jacob. 34Then Jacob gave him bread and the lentil stew. Esau ate and drank and then got up and went his way. So it was that Esau thought nothing of his right as the firstborn.
- Gen 25,1 Medan, Midian, Sheba, Dedan: these are names of tribes and peoples of Arabia. Since the Israelites considered them their relatives by race and language, they wanted them to also be Abraham's descendants. Gen 25,21 We may be astonished that the Israelites called themselves the sons of Israel (or sons of Jacob) rather than the sons of Abraham. Let us remember first what has been said in the Introduction: the sequence Abraham, father of Isaac, father of Jacob is only a construction of the history of these first fathers of the people of God. These three names were kept in the early traditions of different regions, and the corresponding persons had not lived at the same time. Abraham would have lived in the 18th century before Jesus, Isaac doubtless a little later, but in another corner of Southern Palestine, at Gerar, and Jacob in the 16th or 15th century. If the name of Abraham has been eclipsed by that of Jacob the reason is without a doubt the following. Abraham was in fact the great patriarch of the south of Palestine, he had settled in Mamre, near Hebron; he was taken to be the ancestor of David. Did David not reign in Hebron? Popular traditions recounted in the Bible come from the tribes established in central Palestine, where the powerful kingdom of Israel would be established after the schism. Then it seems that in this northern kingdom the figure of Abraham was demoted with the first place given to Israel-Jacob; then they had the twelve tribes descending from the twelve sons of Jacob. Two nations are in your womb (v. 23). We must not forget that, in this story, each character represents a group of people bearing the same name. Just as Jacob-Israel was considered the ancestor of the Israelites, so Esau or Edom (25:31) was considered the ancestor of the Edomites, neighbors and rivals of the Israelites. These chapters show the freedom of God who chooses the Israelites rather than the Edomites to be the instrument of his salvation; even among the Israelites God chooses whom he wants to be put in charge of a more or less transcendent mission. In this chapter we are given three reasons for the rejection of Esau: - A passage in chapter 25 shows Esau to be guilty: he himself scorned his sacred rights as eldest son. - Another passage, 26:34, mentions his marriage to foreign women. - A third passage (in chapter 27) shows how God takes advantage of one of Jacob's tricks to achieve his goals. The Israelites were not very scrupulous about lying. For them Jacob's trick only showed that he was determined to get God's promises by any means, and in so doing, he becomes deserving of these promises. In Hebrews 12:16 Esau will be mentioned as an example of a godless person, one who sells God's blessing for a meal. How many lost opportunities in our own life: stupid things in life have bewitched us and caused us to miss what alone is worth keeping!
- Gen 25,1 Medan, Midian, Sheba, Dedan: these are names of tribes and peoples of Arabia. Since the Israelites considered them their relatives by race and language, they wanted them to also be Abraham's descendants. Gen 25,21 We may be astonished that the Israelites called themselves the sons of Israel (or sons of Jacob) rather than the sons of Abraham. Let us remember first what has been said in the Introduction: the sequence Abraham, father of Isaac, father of Jacob is only a construction of the history of these first fathers of the people of God. These three names were kept in the early traditions of different regions, and the corresponding persons had not lived at the same time. Abraham would have lived in the 18th century before Jesus, Isaac doubtless a little later, but in another corner of Southern Palestine, at Gerar, and Jacob in the 16th or 15th century. If the name of Abraham has been eclipsed by that of Jacob the reason is without a doubt the following. Abraham was in fact the great patriarch of the south of Palestine, he had settled in Mamre, near Hebron; he was taken to be the ancestor of David. Did David not reign in Hebron? Popular traditions recounted in the Bible come from the tribes established in central Palestine, where the powerful kingdom of Israel would be established after the schism. Then it seems that in this northern kingdom the figure of Abraham was demoted with the first place given to Israel-Jacob; then they had the twelve tribes descending from the twelve sons of Jacob. Two nations are in your womb (v. 23). We must not forget that, in this story, each character represents a group of people bearing the same name. Just as Jacob-Israel was considered the ancestor of the Israelites, so Esau or Edom (25:31) was considered the ancestor of the Edomites, neighbors and rivals of the Israelites. These chapters show the freedom of God who chooses the Israelites rather than the Edomites to be the instrument of his salvation; even among the Israelites God chooses whom he wants to be put in charge of a more or less transcendent mission. In this chapter we are given three reasons for the rejection of Esau: - A passage in chapter 25 shows Esau to be guilty: he himself scorned his sacred rights as eldest son. - Another passage, 26:34, mentions his marriage to foreign women. - A third passage (in chapter 27) shows how God takes advantage of one of Jacob's tricks to achieve his goals. The Israelites were not very scrupulous about lying. For them Jacob's trick only showed that he was determined to get God's promises by any means, and in so doing, he becomes deserving of these promises. In Hebrews 12:16 Esau will be mentioned as an example of a godless person, one who sells God's blessing for a meal. How many lost opportunities in our own life: stupid things in life have bewitched us and caused us to miss what alone is worth keeping!
