Genesis Chapter Twenty-Five
Read Genesis 25:1-4 – Abraham Marries Keturah
v. 1-2 “Then again Abraham
took a wife, and her name was Keturah. 2And she bare him
Zimran, and Jokshan, and
At age 137 or so Abraham remarries
and sires six more sons of which we are given a record. This scripture calls Keturah his wife, I Chronicles
Of these sons we know nothing about
v. 3 “And Jokshan begat
Jokshan
is the father of a number of Arabic peoples, the most notable of whom is probably
v.4 “And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and
Hanoch, and Abidah, and Eldaah. All these were the children of
Keturah.”
We find Midian
and the Midianite people in several places in the Old Testament. They were a nomadic people of northwestern
Judges 6:1-2 “1And the children of
Joseph was sold into slavery to
Midianite merchants by his brothers and in this reference they are also called Ishmeelites or people of Ishmael:
Genesis 37:28 “Then there passed
by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit,
and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into
We find them also in
the Sinai wilderness and it is in that place that a Midianite priest becomes
the father-in-law of Moses:
Exodus 3:1 “Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father
in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the
desert, and came to the
Read Genesis 25:5-11 – Abraham’s Death
v. 5-6 “And Abraham gave
all that he had unto Isaac. 6But unto the sons of the concubines,
which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son,
while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country.”
As the son of promise, Isaac has a
special place in the heart of Abraham.
Consequently when the time comes for Isaac to take his place as the
patriarch of his family Abraham divides his goods and sends all of his other
offspring away, just as he did Ishmael and Hagar earlier.
Genesis
His other sons
moved to the east, or into the east country, back toward the original homeland
of Abram, or perhaps even further. God
just does not tell us how far or where and neither does the history of man that
has been recorded.
v.7-8 “And these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived, an hundred
threescore and fifteen years. 8Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and
died in a good old age, an old man, and full of
years; and was gathered to his people.”
Abraham lived to be 175 years old,
38 years beyond the death of Sarah; fulfilling the promise that God had made:
Genesis
v.9-10 “And his sons Isaac
and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son
of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre; 10The field which Abraham purchased of the
sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife.”
As this verse indicates there was
communication between Ishmael and Isaac even though Ishmael and Hagar had been
sent away. Consequently when Abraham
dies Ishmael participates in his burial.
As we studied in Genesis chapter 23, Abraham was buried in the cave, in
the field at Mamre that he purchased from Ephron the Hittite for that purpose
and where Sarah was buried.
v.11 “And it came to pass after the death of Abraham,
that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi.”
Time marches relentlessly
onward. God blessed Isaac, the son of
Abraham just as he did Abraham himself.
Isaac chose to dwell by a well called Lahairoi. As we noted in an earlier study; this well is
the same well named in Genesis
Read Genesis 25:12-18 – The Generations of
Ishmael
v.12 “Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian,
Sarah’s handmaid, bare unto Abraham:”
Even though he is not the son of
promise Ishmael and his generations are not neglected by God’s Holy
Record. We mentioned them in our study
of Genesis chapter 17 but did not review them in any detail. We will do that here to the extent that
information will allow.
v.13-15 “And these are the names of the sons of
Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of
Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, 14And Mishma,
and Dumah, and Massa, 15Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah:”
Ishmael himself lived in the
wilderness of Paran, a region between Sinai and
Ne-ba-joth,
the eldest was the father of an Arabian tribe that was noted for the sheep that
they developed and raised. The rams of Nebajoth
are referenced in Isaiah 60:7 as
those that would be used to consecrate the altar of God. We find in Genesis 28:9 that Esau married Mahalath,
a daughter of Ishmael and a sister of these 12 princes.
Kedar was
the second son and we find the Arabian tribe of Kedar
trading with
Virtually nothing was found or is
apparently known about Adbeel, the third son of
Ishmael beyond what is found in Genesis and I Chronicles.
The tribes of Mibsam
and Mishma just disappear from the scene of world
history and some think were absorbed by marrying into the Israelite tribe of
Simeon.
Dumah, the
son of Ishmael, is mentioned in the Jewish Encyclopedia as “Suk
Dumah” or Dumah Market
found in Dumat-al-Jandal in
Hadar is
not found in the scripture beyond the listing of the sons of Ishmael but
another Hadar of a later generation is found as a
descendant of Esau and perhaps indicates another tie between the children of
Ishmael and those of Esau.
The troops of Tema
are mentioned Job
Jetur is
mentioned again in I Chronicles
Secular history places the
descendants of Naphish in northern Trans-Jordan, the
current country of
The only other time we find the name
of Kedemah in scripture is the listing of the sons of
Ishmael in I Chronicles 1:31
v.16 “6These are the sons of
Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes
according to their nations.”
Frequently, when we study our Bible
translations we need to remember the time and situation in which these
translations were made. During the time
of the King James translation I suppose that princes all lived in castles, not
what we would think of when we consider the abode of Arabic nomad princes. In the other translations reviewed the word
translated castles in the King James Version is rendered villages, encampments
or settlements.
v.17-18 “And these are the years of the life of
Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and
died; and was gathered unto his people. 18And they dwelt from
Havilah unto Shur, that is before
Ishmael lived to be 137 years of
age. This scripture tells us that his
descendants were scattered from Havilah, the region
west of
Read Genesis 25:19-23 – The Generations of
Isaac
v.19-20 “And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham begat Isaac: 20And
Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel
the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.”
These two verses tell us a number of
things about Isaac and Rebekah. Isaac
was 40 years of age when he got married.
Rebekah was the daughter of Bethuel of Haran or as it is called here
Padanaram. The name means literally the
plain of Aram, the general location of the city of
v.21 “And Isaac entreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was
entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.”
For the second time in the linage of
Jesus his physical ancestors are brought into this world by a miracle performed
by God. Sarah was barren so God
intervened and Isaac was born to her at the age of 90. Rebekah is also now found to be barren so
Isaac entreats God for her. What does
this word entreat mean? The simplest
explanation would be to pray, the Merriam-Webster definition is “to plead with,
especially in order to persuade”, so Isaac pleaded
with God in order to persuade him to provide Rebekah the ability to bear
children.
v.22 “And the children struggled together within her;
and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the LORD.”
This verse gives us a picture of the
faith of Rebekah. Rebekah not only has
conceived a child but twins. They are
not behaving as normal pre-born children should behave and she is concerned
about it. So in a display of her faith
she inquires of God concerning these children.
v.23 “And the LORD
said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy
bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the
other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.”
God gives Rebekah an explanation for
this unusual situation. Her twins
represent two nations, two different peoples, who will not get along well together. One of them will be stronger than the other,
the elder, the first one of the two born will serve the younger or second
born. We find this prophecy fulfilled in
the writing of Samuel.
“And he put
garrisons in
Read Genesis 25:24-28 – The Birth of Jacob
and Esau
v.24-25 “And when her days
to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there
were twins in her womb. 25And the first
came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.”
God had told Rebekah that there were
two nations in her womb and now she delivers her twins. The firstborn, or oldest, was covered with
red hair, “ALL OVER LIKE AN HAIRY GARMENT”.
He was named Esau and became the father of the Edomite
people.
v.26 “And after that came his brother out, and his
hand took hold on Esau’s heel; and his name was called
Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.”
We’re told that Jacob was born
hanging on to Esau’s heel. This
occurrence is mentioned by one of the prophets as an indication of the
strength, strength of character found in Jacob.
Hosea 12:3 “He took his brother by the heel in the womb,
and by his strength he had power with God:”
Isaac is 60 years
old and he and Rebekah had been married for 20 years when these boys are born.
v.27 “And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning
hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man,
dwelling in tents.”
The personalities of Jacob and Esau
are as different as two brothers could be.
Esau is described as a cunning hunter, a man of the field, a man
apparently given to the passions of living.
Jacob, otherwise, is described in the KJV as a plain man. We might ask what that means but need only to
go to other translations to see the words mild and quiet used in this verse
instead of plain. He would be a man slow
to wrath, slow to speak, a man of peace as described by the Psalmist:
“MARK THE PERFECT man,
AND BEHOLD THE UPRIGHT: FOR THE END OF that MAN is PEACE.” Psalms 37:37
v.28 “And Isaac loved
Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved
Jacob.”
As is not uncommon among parents;
one loves one son more than the other and vice versa. We’re told that Isaac loved Esau because of
his ability to provide him with his favorite dish; venison fixed a special way
while Rebekah loved Jacob. Perhaps it is
because Rebekah who recognizes the quiet strength in Jacob that does not exist
in Esau, we’re not told.
Read Genesis 25:29-34 – Esau Sells His
Birthright
v. 29 “And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the
field, and he was faint:”
Pottage is a 13th century
English word used to describe a “thick soup of vegetables and often meat”. It is quite probably like some of those heavy
souls and gumbos some of us love. Jacob
has probably fixed it for his dinner.
Esau has come in and he’s hungry, hungry to the point of being faint.
v.30 “And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee,
with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.”
Esau not only wanted Jacob to give
him the food that he had prepared, he wanted Jacob to feed him as a servant
might. This verse would also indicate
that the pottage had an even stronger appeal to Esau because it was red. Thus as a result from that time forward he and
his descendants are called
v.31 “And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.”
Jacob’s brother is famished,
starving to the point of feeling faint so when he asks Jacob to provide his
pottage for him to eat Jacob, says “SELL ME THIS DAY THY BIRTHRIGHT.” Matthew Henry in his commentary on Genesis
thinks that this is not the first time this subject has arisen between the two
men. He surmises that Jacob has heard
Esau speak about his birthright as something that was of no value to him.
Why was the birthright
important? It was important because it
established special rights of inheritance, usually to the firstborn son. The father’s rank, position in the tribe, or
family and a double share of his estate passed to the son that held the
birthright.
v.32 “And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?”
Esau is focused on what he perceives
as his immediate problem without any thought or concern for the consequences of
his action.
v.33 “And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he
sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.”
Conversely Jacob knows exactly what
he is doing. He not only wants Esau to
sell him the birthright as Isaac’s eldest son but he wants an oath that will
guarantee that Esau will not renege on the covenant. God took a very jaundiced view of Esau’s
attitude and uses him as an example of one who was defiled himself:
Hebrews
v.34 “Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of
lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau
despised his birthright.”
So Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil
soup, the same kind of lentils that we can find available today. He ate and drank and then went on his way
without a thought or concern that he had permanently altered his entire life
and his future. He had the attitude of those described by
Isaiah:
Isaiah
Isaiah describes an attitude and life style that man’s history would
have us believe originated with the Greeks.
But scripture tells us that these sins and attitudes were common to man,
that they were in the world long before being recorded in the secular history
of man. It also plainly states that Esau
despised his birthright; he looked down upon the privilege of being the eldest
son of Isaac, the Patriarch, the man of God, with contempt, he regarded it as
being of negligible value, worthless even; as it meant nothing to him.