Discovery BoxGenesis 25:1-34
Context25:1 Abraham had taken 1 another 2 wife, named Keturah. 25:2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 25:3 Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. 3 The descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, Letushites, and Leummites. 25:4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were descendants 4 of Keturah.
25:5 Everything he owned Abraham left to his son Isaac. 25:6 But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines 5 and sent them off to the east, away from his son Isaac. 6
25:7 Abraham lived a total of 7 175 years. 25:8 Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man who had lived a full life. 8 He joined his ancestors. 9 25:9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah 10 near Mamre, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar, the Hethite. 25:10 This was the field Abraham had purchased from the sons of Heth. 11 There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. 25:11 After Abraham’s death, God blessed 12 his son Isaac. Isaac lived near Beer Lahai Roi. 13
25:12 This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, 14 whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham.
25:13 These are the names of Ishmael’s sons, by their names according to their records: 15 Nebaioth (Ishmael’s firstborn), Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 25:14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 25:15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 25:16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names by their settlements and their camps – twelve princes 16 according to their clans.
25:17 Ishmael lived a total of 17 137 years. He breathed his last and died; then he joined his ancestors. 18 25:18 His descendants 19 settled from Havilah to Shur, which runs next 20 to Egypt all the way 21 to Asshur. 22 They settled 23 away from all their relatives. 24
25:19 This is the account of Isaac, 25 the son of Abraham.
Abraham became the father of Isaac. 25:20 When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, 26 the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. 27
25:21 Isaac prayed to 28 the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 25:22 But the children struggled 29 inside her, and she said, “If it is going to be like this, I’m not so sure I want to be pregnant!” 30 So she asked the Lord, 31 25:23 and the Lord said to her,
“Two nations 32 are in your womb,
and two peoples will be separated from within you.
One people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”
25:24 When the time came for Rebekah to give birth, 33 there were 34 twins in her womb. 25:25 The first came out reddish 35 all over, 36 like a hairy 37 garment, so they named him Esau. 38 25:26 When his brother came out with 39 his hand clutching Esau’s heel, they named him Jacob. 40 Isaac was sixty years old 41 when they were born.
25:27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled 42 hunter, a man of the open fields, but Jacob was an even-tempered man, living in tents. 43 25:28 Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for fresh game, 44 but Rebekah loved 45 Jacob.
25:29 Now Jacob cooked some stew, 46 and when Esau came in from the open fields, he was famished. 25:30 So Esau said to Jacob, “Feed 47 me some of the red stuff – yes, this red stuff – because I’m starving!” (That is why he was also called 48 Edom.) 49
25:31 But Jacob replied, “First 50 sell me your birthright.” 25:32 “Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die! What use is the birthright to me?” 51 25:33 But Jacob said, “Swear an oath to me now.” 52 So Esau 53 swore an oath to him and sold his birthright 54 to Jacob.
25:34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew; Esau ate and drank, then got up and went out. 55 So Esau despised his birthright. 56
Genesis 11:1
Context11:1 The whole earth 57 had a common language and a common vocabulary. 58
Genesis 11:1
Context11:1 The whole earth 59 had a common language and a common vocabulary. 60
Genesis 2:3
Context2:3 God blessed the seventh day and made it holy 61 because on it he ceased all the work that he 62 had been doing in creation. 63
Psalms 12:3
Context12:3 May the Lord cut off 64 all flattering lips,
and the tongue that boasts! 65
Psalms 12:2
Context12:2 People lie to one another; 66
they flatter and deceive. 67
Psalms 2:4
Context2:4 The one enthroned 68 in heaven laughs in disgust; 69
the Lord taunts 70 them.
Psalms 2:2
Context2:2 The kings of the earth 71 form a united front; 72
the rulers collaborate 73
against the Lord and his anointed king. 74
Psalms 3:2
Context3:2 Many say about me,
“God will not deliver him.” 75 (Selah) 76
Psalms 3:2
Context3:2 Many say about me,
“God will not deliver him.” 77 (Selah) 78
Psalms 2:1
Context2:1 Why 80 do the nations rebel? 81
Why 82 are the countries 83 devising 84 plots that will fail? 85
Jude 1:16
Context1:16 These people are grumblers and 86 fault-finders who go 87 wherever their desires lead them, 88 and they give bombastic speeches, 89 enchanting folks 90 for their own gain. 91
Revelation 13:1
Context13:1 Then 92 I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It 93 had ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns were ten diadem crowns, 94 and on its heads a blasphemous name. 95
Revelation 13:5-6
Context13:5 The beast 96 was given a mouth speaking proud words 97 and blasphemies, and he was permitted 98 to exercise ruling authority 99 for forty-two months. 13:6 So 100 the beast 101 opened his mouth to blaspheme against God – to blaspheme both his name and his dwelling place, 102 that is, those who dwell in heaven.
[25:1] 2 tn Heb “And Abraham added and took.”
[25:3] 3 sn The names Sheba and Dedan appear in Gen 10:7 as descendants of Ham through Cush and Raamah. Since these two names are usually interpreted to be place names, one plausible suggestion is that some of Abraham’s descendants lived in those regions and took names linked with it.
[25:6] 5 tn Heb “the sons of the concubines who [belonged] to Abraham.”
[25:6] 6 tn Heb “And he sent them away from upon Isaac his son, while he was still living, eastward to the land of the east.”
[25:7] 7 tn Heb “and these are the days of the years of the lifetime of Abraham that he lived.” The normal genealogical formula is expanded here due to the importance of the life of Abraham.
[25:8] 8 tn Heb “old and full.”
[25:8] 9 tn Heb “And he was gathered to his people.” In the ancient Israelite view he joined his deceased ancestors in Sheol, the land of the dead.
[25:9] 10 sn The cave of Machpelah was the place Abraham had purchased as a burial place for his wife Sarah (Gen 23:17-18).
[25:10] 11 tn See the note on the phrase “sons of Heth” in Gen 23:3.
[25:11] 12 sn God blessed Isaac. The Hebrew verb “bless” in this passage must include all the gifts that God granted to Isaac. But fertility was not one of them, at least not for twenty years, because Rebekah was barren as well (see v. 21).
[25:11] 13 sn Beer Lahai Roi. See the note on this place name in Gen 24:62.
[25:12] 14 sn This is the account of Ishmael. The Book of Genesis tends to tidy up the family records at every turning point. Here, before proceeding with the story of Isaac’s family, the narrative traces Ishmael’s family line. Later, before discussing Jacob’s family, the narrative traces Esau’s family line (see Gen 36).
[25:13] 15 tn The meaning of this line is not easily understood. The sons of Ishmael are listed here “by their names” and “according to their descendants.”
[25:16] 16 tn Or “tribal chieftains.”
[25:17] 17 tn Heb “And these are the days of the years of Ishmael.”
[25:17] 18 tn Heb “And he was gathered to his people.” In the ancient Israelite view he joined his deceased ancestors in Sheol, the land of the dead.
[25:18] 19 tn Heb “they”; the referent (Ishmael’s descendants) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[25:18] 20 tn Heb “which is by the face of,” or near the border. The territory ran along the border of Egypt.
[25:18] 21 tn Heb “as you go.”
[25:18] 22 sn The name Asshur refers here to a tribal area in the Sinai.
[25:18] 24 tn Heb “upon the face of all his brothers.” This last expression, obviously alluding to the earlier oracle about Ishmael (Gen 16:12), could mean that the descendants of Ishmael lived in hostility to others or that they lived in a territory that was opposite the lands of their relatives. While there is some ambiguity about the meaning, the line probably does give a hint of the Ishmaelite-Israelite conflicts to come.
[25:19] 25 sn This is the account of Isaac. What follows for several chapters is not the account of Isaac, except briefly, but the account of Jacob and Esau. The next chapters tell what became of Isaac and his family.
[25:20] 26 tn Heb “And Isaac was the son of forty years when he took Rebekah.”
[25:20] 27 sn Some valuable information is provided here. We learn here that Isaac married thirty-five years before Abraham died, that Rebekah was barren for twenty years, and that Abraham would have lived to see Jacob and Esau begin to grow up. The death of Abraham was recorded in the first part of the chapter as a “tidying up” of one generation before beginning the account of the next.
[25:21] 28 tn The Hebrew verb עָתַר (’atar), translated “prayed [to]” here, appears in the story of God’s judgment on Egypt in which Moses asked the
[25:22] 29 tn The Hebrew word used here suggests a violent struggle that was out of the ordinary.
[25:22] 30 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.
[25:22] 31 sn Asked the
[25:23] 32 sn By metonymy the two children in her womb are described as two nations of which the two children, Jacob and Esau, would become the fathers. The language suggests there would be a struggle between these nations, with one being stronger than the other. The oracle reveals that all of Jacob’s scheming was unnecessary in the final analysis. He would have become the dominant nation without using deception to steal his brother’s blessing.
[25:24] 33 tn Heb “And her days were filled to give birth.”
[25:24] 34 tn Heb “look!” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the audience to view the scene as if they were actually present at the birth.
[25:25] 35 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.
[25:25] 36 tn Heb “all of him.”
[25:25] 37 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.
[25:25] 38 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.
[25:26] 39 tn The disjunctive clause describes an important circumstance accompanying the birth. Whereas Esau was passive at birth, Jacob was active.
[25:26] 40 tn Heb “And he called his name Jacob.” Some ancient witnesses read “they called his name Jacob” (see v. 25). In either case the subject is indefinite.
[25:26] 41 tn Heb “the son of sixty years.”
[25:27] 43 tn The disjunctive clause juxtaposes Jacob with Esau and draws attention to the striking contrasts. In contrast to Esau, a man of the field, Jacob was civilized, as the phrase “living in tents” signifies. Whereas Esau was a skillful hunter, Jacob was calm and even-tempered (תָּם, tam), which normally has the idea of “blameless.”
[25:28] 44 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.
[25:28] 45 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.
[25:29] 46 sn Jacob cooked some stew. There are some significant words and wordplays in this story that help clarify the points of the story. The verb “cook” is זִיד (zid), which sounds like the word for “hunter” (צַיִד, tsayid). This is deliberate, for the hunter becomes the hunted in this story. The word זִיד means “to cook, to boil,” but by the sound play with צַיִד it comes to mean “set a trap by cooking.” The usage of the word shows that it can also have the connotation of acting presumptuously (as in boiling over). This too may be a comment on the scene. For further discussion of the rhetorical devices in the Jacob narratives, see J. P. Fokkelman, Narrative Art in Genesis (SSN).
[25:30] 47 tn The rare term לָעַט (la’at), translated “feed,” is used in later Hebrew for feeding animals (see Jastrow, 714). If this nuance was attached to the word in the biblical period, then it may depict Esau in a negative light, comparing him to a hungry animal. Famished Esau comes in from the hunt, only to enter the trap. He can only point at the red stew and ask Jacob to feed him.
[25:30] 48 tn The verb has no expressed subject and so is given a passive translation.
[25:30] 49 sn Esau’s descendants would eventually be called Edom. Edom was the place where they lived, so-named probably because of the reddish nature of the hills. The writer can use the word “red” to describe the stew that Esau gasped for to convey the nature of Esau and his descendants. They were a lusty, passionate, and profane people who lived for the moment. Again, the wordplay is meant to capture the “omen in the nomen.”
[25:32] 51 tn Heb “And what is this to me, a birthright?”
[25:33] 52 tn Heb “Swear to me today.”
[25:33] 53 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[25:33] 54 sn And sold his birthright. There is evidence from Hurrian culture that rights of inheritance were occasionally sold or transferred. Here Esau is portrayed as a profane person who would at the moment rather have a meal than the right to inherit. He will soon forget this trade and seek his father’s blessing in spite of it.
[25:34] 55 sn The style here is typical of Hebrew narrative; after the tension is resolved with the dialogue, the working out of it is recorded in a rapid sequence of verbs (“gave”; “ate”; “drank”; “got up”; “went out”). See also Gen 3:1-7 for another example.
[25:34] 56 sn So Esau despised his birthright. This clause, which concludes the episode, is a summary statement which reveals the underlying significance of Esau’s actions. “To despise” means to treat something as worthless or with contempt. Esau’s willingness to sell his birthright was evidence that he considered it to be unimportant.
[11:1] 57 sn The whole earth. Here “earth” is a metonymy of subject, referring to the people who lived in the earth. Genesis 11 begins with everyone speaking a common language, but chap. 10 has the nations arranged by languages. It is part of the narrative art of Genesis to give the explanation of the event after the narration of the event. On this passage see A. P. Ross, “The Dispersion of the Nations in Genesis 11:1-9,” BSac 138 (1981): 119-38.
[11:1] 58 tn Heb “one lip and one [set of] words.” The term “lip” is a metonymy of cause, putting the instrument for the intended effect. They had one language. The term “words” refers to the content of their speech. They had the same vocabulary.
[11:1] 59 sn The whole earth. Here “earth” is a metonymy of subject, referring to the people who lived in the earth. Genesis 11 begins with everyone speaking a common language, but chap. 10 has the nations arranged by languages. It is part of the narrative art of Genesis to give the explanation of the event after the narration of the event. On this passage see A. P. Ross, “The Dispersion of the Nations in Genesis 11:1-9,” BSac 138 (1981): 119-38.
[11:1] 60 tn Heb “one lip and one [set of] words.” The term “lip” is a metonymy of cause, putting the instrument for the intended effect. They had one language. The term “words” refers to the content of their speech. They had the same vocabulary.
[2:3] 61 tn The verb is usually translated “and sanctified it.” The Piel verb קִדֵּשׁ (qiddesh) means “to make something holy; to set something apart; to distinguish it.” On the literal level the phrase means essentially that God made this day different. But within the context of the Law, it means that the day belonged to God; it was for rest from ordinary labor, worship, and spiritual service. The day belonged to God.
[2:3] 62 tn Heb “God.” The pronoun (“he”) has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[2:3] 63 tn Heb “for on it he ceased from all his work which God created to make.” The last infinitive construct and the verb before it form a verbal hendiadys, the infinitive becoming the modifier – “which God creatively made,” or “which God made in his creating.”
[12:3] 64 tn The verb form is a jussive, indicating that the statement is imprecatory (“May the
[12:3] 65 tn Heb “a tongue speaking great [things].”
[12:2] 66 tn Heb “falsehood they speak, a man with his neighbor.” The imperfect verb forms in v. 2 describe what is typical in the psalmist’s experience.
[12:2] 67 tn Heb “[with] a lip of smoothness, with a heart and a heart they speak.” Speaking a “smooth” word refers to deceptive flattery (cf. Ps 5:9; 55:21; Prov 2:16; 5:3; 7:5, 21; 26:28; 28:23; Isa 30:10). “Heart” here refers to their mind, from which their motives and intentions originate. The repetition of the noun indicates diversity (see GKC 396 §123.f, IBHS 116 §7.2.3c, and Deut 25:13, where the phrase “weight and a weight” refers to two different measuring weights). These people have two different types of “hearts.” Their flattering words seem to express kind motives and intentions, but this outward display does not really reflect their true motives. Their real “heart” is filled with evil thoughts and destructive intentions. The “heart” that is seemingly displayed through their words is far different from the real “heart” they keep disguised. (For the idea see Ps 28:3.) In 1 Chr 12:33 the phrase “without a heart and a heart” means “undivided loyalty.”
[2:4] 68 tn Heb “sitting.” The Hebrew verb יָשַׁב (yashav) is here used metonymically of “sitting enthroned” (see Pss 9:7; 29:10; 55:19; 102:12; 123:1).
[2:4] 69 tn As the next line indicates, this refers to derisive laughter. The Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in vv. 4-5 describe the action from the perspective of an eyewitness who is watching the divine response as it unfolds before his eyes.
[2:4] 70 tn Or “scoffs at”; “derides”; “mocks.”
[2:2] 71 sn The expression kings of the earth refers somewhat hyperbolically to the kings who had been conquered by and were subject to the Davidic king.
[2:2] 72 tn Or “take their stand.” The Hebrew imperfect verbal form describes their action as underway.
[2:2] 73 tn Or “conspire together.” The verbal form is a Niphal from יָסַד (yasad). BDB 413-14 s.v. יָסַד defines the verb as “establish, found,” but HALOT 417 s.v. II יסד proposes a homonym meaning “get together, conspire” (an alternate form of סוּד, sud).
[2:2] 74 tn Heb “and against his anointed one.” The Davidic king is the referent (see vv. 6-7).
[3:2] 75 tn Heb “there is no deliverance for him in God.”
[3:2] 76 sn The function of the Hebrew term סֶלָה (selah), transliterated here “Selah,” is uncertain. It may be a musical direction of some kind.
[3:2] 77 tn Heb “there is no deliverance for him in God.”
[3:2] 78 sn The function of the Hebrew term סֶלָה (selah), transliterated here “Selah,” is uncertain. It may be a musical direction of some kind.
[2:1] 79 sn Psalm 2. In this royal psalm the author asserts the special status of the divinely chosen Davidic king and warns the nations and their rulers to submit to the authority of God and his chosen vice-regent.
[2:1] 80 tn The question is rhetorical. Rather than seeking information, the psalmist expresses his outrage that the nations would have the audacity to rebel against God and his chosen king.
[2:1] 81 tn The Hebrew verb רָגַשׁ (ragash) occurs only here. In Dan 6:6, 11, 15 the Aramaic cognate verb describes several officials acting as a group. A Hebrew nominal derivative is used in Ps 55:14 of a crowd of people in the temple.
[2:1] 82 tn The interrogative לָמָּה (lamah, “why?”) is understood by ellipsis in the second line.
[2:1] 83 tn Or “peoples” (so many English versions).
[2:1] 84 tn The Hebrew imperfect form describes the rebellion as underway. The verb הָגָה (hagah), which means “to recite quietly, meditate,” here has the metonymic nuance “devise, plan, plot” (see Ps 38:12; Prov 24:2).
[2:1] 85 tn Heb “devising emptiness.” The noun רִיק (riq, “emptiness”) may characterize their behavior as “worthless, morally bankrupt” but more likely refers to the outcome of their plots (i.e., failure). As the rest of the psalm emphasizes, their rebellion will fail.
[1:16] 86 tn “And” is not in Greek, but is supplied for the sake of English style.
[1:16] 87 tn Or “going.” Though the participle is anarthrous, so also is the subject. Thus, the participle could be either adverbial or adjectival.
[1:16] 88 tn Grk “(who go/going) according to their own lusts.”
[1:16] 89 tn Grk “and their mouth speaks bombastic things.”
[1:16] 90 sn Enchanting folks (Grk “awing faces”) refers to the fact that the speeches of these false teachers are powerful and seductive.
[1:16] 91 tn Or “to their own advantage.”
[13:1] 92 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
[13:1] 93 tn Grk “having” (a continuation of the previous sentence). All of the pronouns referring to this beast (along with the second beast appearing in 13:11) could be translated as “it” because the word for beast (θηρίον, qhrion) is neuter gender in Greek and all the pronouns related to it are parsed as neuter in the Gramcord/Accordance database. Nevertheless, most interpreters would agree that the beast ultimately represents a human ruler, so beginning at the end of v. 4 the masculine pronouns (“he,” “him,” etc.) are used to refer to the first beast as well as the second beast appearing in 13:11.
[13:1] 94 tn For the translation of διάδημα (diadhma) as “diadem crown” see L&N 6.196.
[13:1] 95 tc ‡ Several
[13:5] 96 tn Grk “and there was given to him.” Here the passive construction has been simplified, the referent (the beast) has been specified for clarity, and καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
[13:5] 97 tn For the translation “proud words” (Grk “great things” or “important things”) see BDAG 624 s.v. μέγας 4.b.
[13:5] 98 tn Grk “to it was granted.”
[13:5] 99 tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.
[13:6] 100 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the permission granted to the beast.
[13:6] 101 tn Grk “he” (or “it”); the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[13:6] 102 tc The reading “and his dwelling place” does not occur in codex C, but its omission is probably due to scribal oversight since the phrase has the same ending as the phrase before it, i.e., they both end in “his” (αὐτοῦ, autou). This is similar to the mistake this scribe made in 12:14 with the omission of the reading “and half a time” (καὶ ἥμισυ καιροῦ, kai {hmisu kairou).
