25:23
“And the LORD said to her, ’Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.’”
The chapter at a glance
- 1–6Keturah’s sonsAll goes to Isaac; the others are sent away with gifts
- 7–11Abraham’s deathFull of years, gathered to his people
- 12–18Ishmael’s generationsGod keeps His word to Hagar’s son
- 19–26The twinsThe older shall serve the younger
- 27–28Two sons, two parentsFavoritism divides the home
- 29–34The birthrightEsau despises his inheritance
The chapter in brief
Abraham takes another wife, Keturah, whose sons, among them Midian, he sends away eastward with gifts, for “Abraham gave all he had to Isaac.” Abraham dies at 175, “in a good old age, an old man and full of years,” and Isaac and Ishmael bury him beside Sarah at Machpelah. The generations of Ishmael follow, twelve princes as God promised. Then the generations of Isaac: Rebekah is barren, Isaac prays, and the LORD grants his prayer. The twins struggle within her, and when she inquires of the LORD He tells her that two nations are in her womb and “the older shall serve the younger.” Esau is born red and hairy; Jacob comes out holding his brother’s heel. Esau grows into a skillful hunter whom Isaac loves; Jacob is a quiet man whom Rebekah loves. One day Esau comes in exhausted, and Jacob trades him a bowl of red stew for his birthright. “Thus Esau despised his birthright.”
Two generations pass in one chapter, and the promise passes with them, not by human custom but by God’s choice. The firstborn by birth is not the heir by promise; the line runs through the younger, chosen when the twins were not yet born and “had done nothing either good or bad,” as Paul puts it, “not because of works but because of him who calls” (Romans 9:11). That is grace, the same grace by which God saves sinners in Christ. And the line it keeps is the line to Him: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and on to the Son of David (Matthew 1:1-2). Yet the chapter is honest about the people God chooses. Jacob takes advantage of a hungry brother, and Esau trades away a sacred inheritance for a meal. God’s purpose stands, but it does not stand because of anyone’s merit.
Points for discussion
vv. 1–6
Keturah and the sole heir
Keturah’s sons include Midian, ancestor of the Midianites, who will matter later in Israel’s story (Exodus 2:15-21; Judges 6). God’s promise that Abraham would be “the father of a multitude of nations” (17:4) is visible here. 1 Chronicles 1:32 calls Keturah “Abraham’s concubine,” and verse 6 speaks of “his concubines,” so she may have been a secondary wife, and some readers think the marriage came earlier than its place in the narrative. Either way, the chapter’s point is verse 5: “Abraham gave all he had to Isaac.” The gifts to the other sons are generous, but the inheritance is singular. Genesis describes Abraham’s household as it was; it does not hold up his concubines as a pattern (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4-6).
vv. 7–11
Full of years
Abraham “breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people” (v. 8). “Gathered to his people” is said before he is buried, and he is buried far from his ancestors’ graves, so it seems to say more than burial: many readers hear in it a hint of life with those who went before. Jesus’ words that God “is not God of the dead, but of the living” (Matthew 22:32) bear that hope out. Isaac and Ishmael stand together at the grave (v. 9), a quiet moment of family peace after the pain of chapter 21.
vv. 12–18
Twelve princes
Ishmael’s line is recorded with its own “These are the generations” (v. 12), twelve princes “according to their tribes” (v. 16). God said He would do exactly this (17:20). The son who was not chosen to carry the covenant line is still not forgotten; the God who saw Hagar (16:13) keeps His Word to her son. Election in Genesis is never contempt for those outside the line.
vv. 19–26
“The older shall serve the younger”
Isaac waited twenty years for children: forty when he married (v. 20) and sixty when they were born (v. 26). The heirs of promise come by prayer and by God’s gift, as Isaac himself did. The oracle of verse 23 speaks of “two nations,” Israel and Edom, and of the order reversed. Paul quotes it in Romans 9:12, alongside Malachi 1:2-3, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” Readers differ on what kind of choosing is meant. One reading, held by many Arminian brothers, sees God choosing nations for a role in history, as the oracle’s “two nations” suggests. Another sees the nations’ destinies grounded in God’s free choice of persons, which is how Paul uses the text: the point of Romans 9:11 is that the choice came before birth and “not because of works.” This commentary holds the second reading, with the Reformed confessions, because we believe it most faithfully reflects the Word, while gladly owning as brothers those who differ and who also confess salvation by grace through faith in Christ. “Love” and “hate” in Malachi are covenant language for choosing and passing over (compare Genesis 29:30-31), not personal malice. And election is a ground of humility, never of pride: Jacob was not chosen because he was better, as the next five verses prove.
For discussion
If God’s choice did not depend on Jacob’s character, why does Genesis show us Jacob’s faults so plainly? Consider 1 Corinthians 1:26-31.
vv. 27–28
Two sons, two parents
“Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.” One sentence sets up the deception of chapter 27. Isaac’s love has a reason attached, and it is his appetite. Favoritism is not condemned in a sermon here; it is simply shown, and the next chapters show what it costs.
vv. 29–34
The birthright
The birthright carried the firstborn’s place as head of the family and a double share of the inheritance (Deuteronomy 21:17), and in this family it carried the promise. Esau’s “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” (v. 32) puts the next hour above everything God had attached to the family. The narrator’s verdict falls on Esau: “Thus Esau despised his birthright” (v. 34), and Hebrews 12:16 calls him “unholy” for selling it “for a single meal.” But Jacob is not praised. He bargains with a brother’s hunger rather than feeding him, and the name Esau later gives him, “cheated” (27:36), already fits. Both brothers show what the human heart is without grace.
Threads across the chapter
Heir and others. Isaac receives all while Keturah’s sons get gifts (vv. 5-6), and Jacob receives the birthright while Esau goes his way (vv. 29-34): the promise is singular.
God’s word kept. Abraham dies “full of years” (v. 8), Ishmael’s twelve princes appear (vv. 12-16), and Rebekah conceives in answer to prayer (v. 21), each fulfilling something God had said.
Reversal. The older serves the younger (v. 23), the second twin holds the first one’s heel (v. 26), and the firstborn sells his place (vv. 29-34).
Appetite. Isaac loves Esau for his game (v. 28) and Esau sells his birthright for stew (vv. 30-34), so hunger shapes the family’s choices.
Key words
- 25:12, 19
- תּוֹלְדֹת toledot“Generations”; the heading that marks each new section of Genesis, here closing Ishmael’s line and opening Isaac’s
- 25:26
- עָקֵב aqev“Heel”; the word behind Jacob’s name, Ya’aqov, “he takes by the heel”
- 25:31–34
- בְּכֹרָה bekorah“Birthright”; the firstborn’s place and double share
- 25:34
- בָּזָה bazah“Despised”; to treat as worthless, the narrator’s verdict on Esau
Cross-references
- Romans 9:10-13Paul quotes the oracle: chosen before birth, not because of works
- Malachi 1:2-3“I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated”
- Hebrews 12:16-17Esau sold his birthright for a single meal
- Genesis 17:20God’s promise of twelve princes from Ishmael
- Deuteronomy 21:15-17The firstborn’s double portion
- Matthew 22:32God of the living, not the dead
- 1 Corinthians 1:26-31God chooses so that no one may boast
- Matthew 1:2The line runs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob
- 1
Why might Genesis close Abraham’s life and Ishmael’s line before telling of Jacob and Esau’s birth?
- 2
What does Romans 9:10-13 add to our reading of the oracle in verse 23, and why does Paul stress “not because of works”?
- 3
Which character in verses 27-34 do you find hardest to sympathize with, and why does Genesis refuse to make either brother a hero?
- 4
What “single meals” tempt us to treat lightly what God has given us in Christ?
- 5
How should the truth that God chooses by grace make us humbler and kinder toward those who do not yet believe?
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