Genesis 25:24-28

25:24 When the time came for Rebekah to give birth, ¹  there were ²  twins in her womb. 25:25 The first came out reddish ³  all over, ⁴  like a hairy ⁵  garment, so they named him Esau. ⁶  25:26 When his brother came out with ⁷  his hand clutching Esau’s heel, they named him Jacob. ⁸  Isaac was sixty years old ⁹  when they were born.

25:27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled ¹⁰  hunter, a man of the open fields, but Jacob was an even-tempered man, living in tents. ¹¹  25:28 Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for fresh game, ¹²  but Rebekah loved ¹³  Jacob.

Malachi 1:2-4

1:2 “I have shown love to you,” says the Lord, but you say, “How have you shown love to us?”

“Esau was Jacob’s brother,” the Lord explains, “yet I chose Jacob 1:3 and rejected Esau. ¹⁴  I turned Esau’s ¹⁵  mountains into a deserted wasteland ¹⁶  and gave his territory ¹⁷  to the wild jackals.”

1:4 Edom ¹⁸  says, “Though we are devastated, we will once again build the ruined places.” So the Lord who rules over all ¹⁹  responds, “They indeed may build, but I will overthrow. They will be known as ²⁰  the land of evil, the people with whom the Lord is permanently displeased.

Romans 9:10-13

9:10 Not only that, but when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, ²¹  our ancestor Isaac – 9:11 even before they were born or had done anything good or bad (so that God’s purpose in election ²²  would stand, not by works but by ²³  his calling) ²⁴  – 9:12 ²⁵  it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger,” ²⁶  9:13 just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” ²⁷ 

[25:24]  ¹ tn Heb “And her days were filled to give birth.”

[25:24]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “all of him.”

[25:25]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn The disjunctive clause describes an important circumstance accompanying the birth. Whereas Esau was passive at birth, Jacob was active.

[25:26]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “the son of sixty years.”

[25:27]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “knowing.”

[25:27]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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.

[1:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and I loved Jacob, but Esau I hated.” The context indicates this is technical covenant vocabulary in which “love” and “hate” are synonymous with “choose” and “reject” respectively (see Deut 7:8; Jer 31:3; Hos 3:1; 9:15; 11:1).

[1:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “I set his mountains as a desolation.”

[1:3]  ¹⁷ tn Or “inheritance” (so NIV, NLT).

[1:4]  ¹⁸ sn Edom, a “brother” nation to Israel, became almost paradigmatic of hostility toward Israel and God (see Num 20:14-21; Deut 2:8; Jer 49:7-22; Ezek 25:12-14; Amos 1:11-12; Obad 10-12).

[1:4]  ¹⁹ sn The epithet Lord who rules over all occurs frequently as a divine title throughout Malachi (24 times total). This name (יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת, yÿhvah tsÿva’ot), traditionally translated “Lord of hosts” (so KJV, NAB, NASB; cf. NIV NLT “Lord Almighty”; NCV, CEV “Lord All-Powerful”), emphasizes the majestic sovereignty of the Lord, an especially important concept in the postexilic world of great human empires and rulers. For a thorough study of the divine title, see T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 123-57.

[1:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and they will call them.” The third person plural subject is indefinite; one could translate, “and people will call them.”

[9:10]  ²¹ tn Or possibly “by one act of sexual intercourse.” See D. Moo, Romans (NICNT), 579.

[9:11]  ²² tn Grk “God’s purpose according to election.”

[9:11]  ²³ tn Or “not based on works but based on…”

[9:11]  ²⁴ tn Grk “by the one who calls.”

[9:12]  ²⁵ 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.

[9:12]  ²⁶ sn A quotation from Gen 25:23.

[9:13]  ²⁷ sn A quotation from Mal 1:2-3.