Genesis 25:25

25:25 The first came out reddish ¹  all over, ²  like a hairy ³  garment, so they named him Esau. ⁴ 

Genesis 32:31

32:31 The sun rose ⁵  over him as he crossed over Penuel, ⁶  but ⁷  he was limping because of his hip.

Genesis 35:20

35:20 Jacob set up a marker ⁸  over her grave; it is ⁹  the Marker of Rachel’s Grave to this day.

Genesis 45:15

45:15 He kissed all his brothers and wept over them. After this his brothers talked with him.

¹ sn Reddish. The Hebrew word translated “reddish” is אַדְמוֹנִי (’admoni), which forms a wordplay on the Edomites, Esau’s descendants. The writer sees in Esau’s appearance at birth a sign of what was to come. After all, the reader has already been made aware of the “nations” that were being born.

² tn Heb “all of him.”

³ sn Hairy. Here is another wordplay involving the descendants of Esau. The Hebrew word translated “hairy” is שֵׂעָר (se’ar); the Edomites will later live in Mount Seir, perhaps named for its wooded nature.

⁴ tn Heb “And they called his name Esau.” The name “Esau” (עֵשָׂו, ’esav) is not etymologically related to שֵׂעָר (se’ar), but it draws on some of the sounds.

⁵ tn Heb “shone.”

⁶ sn The name is spelled Penuel here, apparently a variant spelling of Peniel (see v. 30).

⁷ tn The disjunctive clause draws attention to an important fact: He may have crossed the stream, but he was limping.

⁹ tn Heb “standing stone.”

¹⁰ tn Or perhaps “it is known as” (cf. NEB).