Genesis 25:22

25:22 But the children struggled ¹  inside her, and she said, “If it is going to be like this, I’m not so sure I want to be pregnant!” ²  So she asked the Lord, ³ 

Genesis 25:28

25:28 Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for fresh game, ⁴  but Rebekah loved ⁵  Jacob.

Genesis 27:4

27:4 Then prepare for me some tasty food, the kind I love, and bring it to me. Then ⁶  I will eat it so that I may bless you ⁷  before I die.”

Genesis 27:33

27:33 Isaac began to shake violently ⁸  and asked, “Then who else hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it just before you arrived, and I blessed him. ⁹  He will indeed be blessed!”

Romans 9:10-16

9:10 Not only that, but when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, ¹⁰  our ancestor Isaac – 9:11 even before they were born or had done anything good or bad (so that God’s purpose in election ¹¹  would stand, not by works but by ¹²  his calling) ¹³  – 9:12 ¹⁴  it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger,” ¹⁵  9:13 just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” ¹⁶ 

9:14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not! 9:15 For he says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ¹⁷  9:16 So then, ¹⁸  it does not depend on human desire or exertion, ¹⁹  but on God who shows mercy.

¹ tn The Hebrew word used here suggests a violent struggle that was out of the ordinary.

² tn Heb “If [it is] so, why [am] I this [way]?” Rebekah wanted to know what was happening to her, but the question itself reflects a growing despair over the struggle of the unborn children.

³ sn Asked the Lord. In other passages (e.g., 1 Sam 9:9) this expression refers to inquiring of a prophet, but no details are provided here.

⁴ tn Heb “the taste of game was in his mouth.” The word for “game,” “venison” is here the same Hebrew word as “hunter” in the last verse. Here it is a metonymy, referring to that which the hunter kills.

⁵ tn The disjunctive clause juxtaposes Rebekah with Jacob and draws attention to the contrast. The verb here is a participle, drawing attention to Rebekah’s continuing, enduring love for her son.

⁶ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.

⁷ tn Heb “so that my soul may bless you.” The use of נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) as the subject emphasizes that the blessing will be made with all Isaac’s desire and vitality. The conjunction “so that” closely relates the meal to the blessing, suggesting that this will be a ritual meal in conjunction with the giving of a formal blessing.

⁸ tn Heb “and Isaac trembled with a great trembling to excess.” The verb “trembled” is joined with a cognate accusative, which is modified by an adjective “great,” and a prepositional phrase “to excess.” All of this is emphatic, showing the violence of Isaac’s reaction to the news.

⁹ tn Heb “Who then is he who hunted game and brought [it] to me so that I ate from all before you arrived and blessed him?”

¹⁰ tn Or possibly “by one act of sexual intercourse.” See D. Moo, Romans (NICNT), 579.

¹¹ tn Grk “God’s purpose according to election.”

¹² tn Or “not based on works but based on…”

¹³ tn Grk “by the one who calls.”

¹⁴ sn Many translations place this verse division before the phrase “not by works but by his calling” (NA²⁷/UBS⁴, NIV, NRSV, NLT, NAB). Other translations place this verse division in the same place that the translation above does (NASB, KJV, NKJV, ASV, RSV). The translation has followed the latter to avoid breaking the parenthetical statement.

¹⁵ sn A quotation from Gen 25:23.

¹⁶ sn A quotation from Mal 1:2-3.

¹⁷ sn A quotation from Exod 33:19.

¹⁸ sn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.

¹⁹ tn Grk “So then, [it does] not [depend] on the one who desires nor on the one who runs.”