Genesis 25:28 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

NIV: Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

NASB: Now Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for game; but Rebekah loved Jacob.

CSB: Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for wild game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

NLT: Isaac loved Esau because he enjoyed eating the wild game Esau brought home, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

KJV: And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.

NKJV: And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Now fully-grown men, the personalities and preferences of Esau and Jacob have been established. Esau is a hunter, an outdoorsman, apparently a man of action. Jacob prefers to stay in the tents. He's a quiet person.

They bond with their parents accordingly. Isaac loves the manly son who brings home the game to eat. He's likely proud of the firstborn boy known as the great hunter. Rebekah, however, loves her quiet, stay-at-home second-born son. Those attachments will play an important role in what comes next. Upcoming passages will show that this "love" is hardly equally distributed; each parent clearly prefers one child over the other, and seemingly makes no secret of that fact. Parental favoritism leads to problems, a lesson Jacob seems to forget when he has children of his own (Genesis 37:1–4).

The twins' divergent personalities also come with drawbacks. Esau will prove to be somewhat reckless, even careless (Genesis 25:32). And Jacob is both manipulative and dishonest (Genesis 25:33). While Esau will certainly feel the consequences of his actions (Genesis 25:34), Jacob will later experience, first-hand, what it's like to be caught in a scam (Genesis 29).

Genesis 25:19–28 describes the birth of Isaac and Rebekah's twin boys. After marrying when Isaac is 40, Rebekah does not become pregnant for 20 years, and only in response to Isaac's prayer to the Lord. Her pregnancy is so difficult that she approaches the Lord to ask why. His response is a prophecy about the divided nations that will come from her. That makes more sense when two children are born, one red and hairy, the other grabbing his brother's heel. The first is named Esau, who becomes a hunter loved by his father. The second is Jacob, a quiet, stay-at-home man favored by his mother.

Genesis 25 is packed with information. Abraham marries another wife, most likely before Sarah died, and has six sons with her. Abraham dies at the age of 175 and is buried by both Isaac and Ishmael at the family-owned cave where Sarah was buried. Ishmael's 12 sons are listed, along with the region their tribes settled in, to the east of what would later become Israel. And, finally, God grants Isaac's prayer for Rebekah to become pregnant by giving the couple twins: the feuding Jacob and Esau.

The previous chapter tells the story of how Abraham's servant found a wife for Isaac from among Abraham's people. This chapter rushes to fill in the details of the end of Abraham's life before beginning the story of Isaac's years as patriarch. Abraham marries another woman and has six sons with her, eventually sending them all away from Isaac. Abraham dies and is buried with Sarah. Ishmael's 12 sons are listed, and then his death is recorded, as well. Finally, Isaac's twin boys are born in response to his prayer to the Lord.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.