Genesis 17:4-5

17:4 “As for me, ¹  this ²  is my covenant with you: You will be the father of a multitude of nations. 17:5 No longer will your name be ³  Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham ⁴  because I will make you ⁵  the father of a multitude of nations.

Genesis 17:16

17:16 I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. ⁶  Kings of countries ⁷  will come from her!”

Genesis 17:20

17:20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. ⁸  I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. ⁹  He will become the father of twelve princes; ¹⁰  I will make him into a great nation.

Genesis 25:1-34

The Death of Abraham

25:1 Abraham had taken ¹¹  another ¹²  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. ¹³  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 ¹⁴  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 ¹⁵  and sent them off to the east, away from his son Isaac. ¹⁶ 

25:7 Abraham lived a total of ¹⁷  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. ¹⁸  He joined his ancestors. ¹⁹  25:9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah ²⁰  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. ²¹  There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. 25:11 After Abraham’s death, God blessed ²²  his son Isaac. Isaac lived near Beer Lahai Roi. ²³ 

The Sons of Ishmael

25:12 This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, ²⁴  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: ²⁵  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 ²⁶  according to their clans.

25:17 Ishmael lived a total of ²⁷  137 years. He breathed his last and died; then he joined his ancestors. ²⁸  25:18 His descendants ²⁹  settled from Havilah to Shur, which runs next ³⁰  to Egypt all the way ³¹  to Asshur. ³²  They settled ³³  away from all their relatives. ³⁴ 

Jacob and Esau

25:19 This is the account of Isaac, ³⁵  the son of Abraham.

Abraham became the father of Isaac. 25:20 When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, ³⁶  the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. ³⁷ 

25:21 Isaac prayed to ³⁸  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 ³⁹  inside her, and she said, “If it is going to be like this, I’m not so sure I want to be pregnant!” ⁴⁰  So she asked the Lord, ⁴¹  25:23 and the Lord said to her,

“Two nations ⁴²  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, ⁴³  there were ⁴⁴  twins in her womb. 25:25 The first came out reddish ⁴⁵  all over, ⁴⁶  like a hairy ⁴⁷  garment, so they named him Esau. ⁴⁸  25:26 When his brother came out with ⁴⁹  his hand clutching Esau’s heel, they named him Jacob. ⁵⁰  Isaac was sixty years old ⁵¹  when they were born.

25:27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled ⁵²  hunter, a man of the open fields, but Jacob was an even-tempered man, living in tents. ⁵³  25:28 Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for fresh game, ⁵⁴  but Rebekah loved ⁵⁵  Jacob.

25:29 Now Jacob cooked some stew, ⁵⁶  and when Esau came in from the open fields, he was famished. 25:30 So Esau said to Jacob, “Feed ⁵⁷  me some of the red stuff – yes, this red stuff – because I’m starving!” (That is why he was also called ⁵⁸  Edom.) ⁵⁹ 

25:31 But Jacob replied, “First ⁶⁰  sell me your birthright.” 25:32 “Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die! What use is the birthright to me?” ⁶¹  25:33 But Jacob said, “Swear an oath to me now.” ⁶²  So Esau ⁶³  swore an oath to him and sold his birthright ⁶⁴  to Jacob.

25:34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew; Esau ate and drank, then got up and went out. ⁶⁵  So Esau despised his birthright. ⁶⁶ 

Genesis 28:3

28:3 May the sovereign God ⁶⁷  bless you! May he make you fruitful and give you a multitude of descendants! ⁶⁸  Then you will become ⁶⁹  a large nation. ⁷⁰ 

Hebrews 11:12

11:12 So in fact children ⁷¹  were fathered by one man – and this one as good as dead – like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand ⁷²  on the seashore. ⁷³ 

[17:4]  ¹ tn Heb “I.”

[17:4]  ² tn Heb “is” (הִנֵּה, hinneh).

[17:5]  ³ tn Heb “will your name be called.”

[17:5]  ⁴ sn Your name will be Abraham. The renaming of Abram was a sign of confirmation to the patriarch. Every time the name was used it would be a reminder of God’s promise. “Abram” means “exalted father,” probably referring to Abram’s father Terah. The name looks to the past; Abram came from noble lineage. The name “Abraham” is a dialectical variant of the name Abram. But its significance is in the wordplay with אַב־הֲמוֹן (’av-hamon, “the father of a multitude,” which sounds like אַבְרָהָם, ’avraham, “Abraham”). The new name would be a reminder of God’s intention to make Abraham the father of a multitude. For a general discussion of renaming, see O. Eissfeldt, “Renaming in the Old Testament,” Words and Meanings, 70-83.

[17:5]  ⁵ tn The perfect verbal form is used here in a rhetorical manner to emphasize God’s intention.

[17:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “she will become nations.”

[17:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “peoples.”

[17:20]  ⁸ sn The Hebrew verb translated “I have heard you” forms a wordplay with the name Ishmael, which means “God hears.” See the note on the name “Ishmael” in 16:11.

[17:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “And I will multiply him exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.

[17:20]  ¹⁰ tn For a discussion of the Hebrew word translated “princes,” see E. A. Speiser, “Background and Function of the Biblical Nasi’,” CBQ 25 (1963): 111-17.

[25:1]  ¹¹ tn Or “took.”

[25:1]  ¹² tn Heb “And Abraham added and took.”

[25:3]  ¹³ 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.

[25:4]  ¹⁴ tn Or “sons.”

[25:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the sons of the concubines who [belonged] to Abraham.”

[25:6]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “old and full.”

[25:8]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ tn See the note on the phrase “sons of Heth” in Gen 23:3.

[25:11]  ²² 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]  ²³ sn Beer Lahai Roi. See the note on this place name in Gen 24:62.

[25:12]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ tn Or “tribal chieftains.”

[25:17]  ²⁷ tn Heb “And these are the days of the years of Ishmael.”

[25:17]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (Ishmael’s descendants) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:18]  ³⁰ tn Heb “which is by the face of,” or near the border. The territory ran along the border of Egypt.

[25:18]  ³¹ tn Heb “as you go.”

[25:18]  ³² sn The name Asshur refers here to a tribal area in the Sinai.

[25:18]  ³³ tn Heb “he fell.”

[25:18]  ³⁴ 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]  ³⁵ 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]  ³⁶ tn Heb “And Isaac was the son of forty years when he took Rebekah.”

[25:20]  ³⁷ 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]  ³⁸ 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 Lord to remove the plagues. The cognate word in Arabic means “to slaughter for sacrifice,” and the word is used in Zeph 3:10 to describe worshipers who bring offerings. Perhaps some ritual accompanied Isaac’s prayer here.

[25:22]  ³⁹ tn The Hebrew word used here suggests a violent struggle that was out of the ordinary.

[25:22]  ⁴⁰ 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]  ⁴¹ 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.

[25:23]  ⁴² 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]  ⁴³ tn Heb “And her days were filled to give birth.”

[25:24]  ⁴⁴ 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]  ⁴⁵ 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]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “all of him.”

[25:25]  ⁴⁷ 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]  ⁴⁸ 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]  ⁴⁹ tn The disjunctive clause describes an important circumstance accompanying the birth. Whereas Esau was passive at birth, Jacob was active.

[25:26]  ⁵⁰ 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]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “the son of sixty years.”

[25:27]  ⁵² tn Heb “knowing.”

[25:27]  ⁵³ 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]  ⁵⁴ 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]  ⁵⁵ 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]  ⁵⁶ 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]  ⁵⁷ 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]  ⁵⁸ tn The verb has no expressed subject and so is given a passive translation.

[25:30]  ⁵⁹ 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.”

[25:31]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “today.”

[25:32]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “And what is this to me, a birthright?”

[25:33]  ⁶² tn Heb “Swear to me today.”

[25:33]  ⁶³ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:33]  ⁶⁴ 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]  ⁶⁵ 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]  ⁶⁶ 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.

[28:3]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “El Shaddai.” See the extended note on the phrase “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.

[28:3]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “and make you fruitful and multiply you.” See Gen 17:6, 20 for similar terminology.

[28:3]  ⁶⁹ tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here indicates consequence. The collocation הָיָה + preposition לְ (hayah + lÿ) means “become.”

[28:3]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “an assembly of peoples.”

[11:12]  ⁷¹ tn Grk “these”; in the translation the referent (children) has been specified for clarity.

[11:12]  ⁷² tn Grk a collective “the sand.”

[11:12]  ⁷³ sn An allusion to Gen 22:17 (which itself goes back to Gen 15:5).