Genesi 25:31 Commento

The sacred historian, in this chapter, I. Takes his leave of Abraham, with an account, I. Of his children by another wife (Gen 25:1-4). 2. Of his last will and testament (Gen 25:5, Gen 25:6). 3. Of his age, death, and burial (Gen 25:7-10). II. He takes his leave of Ishmael, with a short account, 1. Of his children (Gen 25:12-16). 2. Of his age and death (Gen 25:17, Gen 25:18). III. He enters upon the history of Isaac. 1. His prosperity (Gen 25:11). 2. The conception and birth of his two sons, with the oracle of God concerning them (Gen 25:19-26). 3. Their different characters (Gen 25:27, Gen 25:28). 4. Esau's selling his birthright to Jacob (Gen 25:29-34).

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 25 This chapter contains an account of Abraham's marriage with another woman, and of the children he had by her and of their posterity Gen 25:1; of Abraham's disposal of his substance; and his sons, Gen 25:5; of the years of his life, his death and burial, Gen 25:7; of the children of Ishmael, and of the years of his life, and of his death, Gen 25:12; and of the sons of Isaac the fruit of prayer, and of the oracle concerning them before they were born, and of their temper and disposition, conduct and behaviour, Gen 25:19.

And Jacob said, sell me this day thy birthright. Which had many privileges annexed to it, as honour and authority in the family next to parents; a double portion of inheritance; some say the exercise of priesthood, but that is questioned; the parental blessing, and especially in this the promises of the Messiah, and of inheritance of the land of Canaan, and which was typical of the heavenly inheritance: all which Rebekah knew by the divine oracle were designed for Jacob, and which no doubt she had acquainted him with, and advised him to deal with his brother about parting with his birthright as he had opportunity; and very likely they had talked together about it before in a distant manner, and Esau had shown some indifference to his right, and made no great account of it; and now, an opportunity offering to get him in the mind to part with it, he takes it, and moves for a sale of it immediately, at once, without any more delay, and even before he had his pottage; thus taking the advantage of his brother's necessity: or, sell it me "as the day" (x), let the bargain be as clear as the day, as Jarchi interprets it; let it be made in plain and full terms, that there may be no dispute about it hereafter, or any revocation of it: but the former sense seems best, as appears from Gen 25:33, where the same way of speaking is used. (x) "juxta hunc diem", Fagius, Drusius.

This vice of gluttony delivered Adam up to death; by the pleasure of the appetite consummate evil was brought into the world. Through it Noah was mocked, Canaan was cursed, Esau was deprived of his birthright and married into a Canaanite family. Lot became his own son-in-law and father-in-law, by marrying his own daughter.

Reason would then curtail the attractions of gluttony and the other excessive desires and would check the passions and emotions of the body. Therefore temperance comes before correction and is the mistress of learning. Proceeding from it, holy Jacob received from his brother the primacy that he had not possessed; by his agreement to that preference, Esau taught for the future that those who do not govern their own selves are worthless in judgment.

I have already put it to your holinesses yesterday that the reason why the elder son is called Esau is that no one becomes spiritual without first having been "of the flesh" or materialistic. But if they persist in "the mind of the flesh," they will always be Esau. If, however, they become spiritual, they will then be the younger son. But then the junior will be the senior; the other takes precedence in time, this one in virtue. Before it ever came to this blessing, Esau had longed to have the lentils Jacob had cooked. And Jacob said to him, "Give me your birthright, and I will give you the lentils I have cooked." He sold his right as firstborn to his younger brother. He went off with a temporary satisfaction; the other went off with a permanent honor. So those in the church who are slaves to temporary pleasures and satisfactions eat lentils—lentils that Jacob certainly cooked but that Jacob did not eat. Idols, you see, flourished more than anywhere else in Egypt; lentils are the food of Egypt; so lentils represent all the errors of the Gentiles. So because the more obvious and manifest church which was going to come from the Gentiles was signified in the younger son, Jacob is said to have cooked the lentils and Esau to have eaten them.…Now apply this. You have a Christian people. But among this Christian people it is the ones who belong to Jacob that have the birthright or right of the firstborn. Those, however, who are materialistic in life, materialistic in faith, materialistic in hope, materialistic in love, still belong to the old covenant, not yet to the new. They still share the lot of Esau, not yet in the blessing of Jacob.

Abraham marries Keturah, Gen 25:1. Their issue, Gen 25:2-4. Makes Isaac his heir, Gen 25:5; but gives portions to the sons of his concubines, and sends them eastward from Isaac, to find settlements, Gen 25:6. Abraham's age, Gen 25:7, and death, Gen 25:8. Is buried by his sons Isaac and Ishmael in the cave of Machpelah, Gen 25:9, Gen 25:10. God's blessing upon Isaac, Gen 25:11. The generations of Ishmael, Gen 25:12-16. His age, Gen 25:17, and death, Gen 25:18. Of the generations of Isaac, Gen 25:19, who was married in his fortieth year, Gen 25:20. Rebekah his wife being barren, on his prayer to God she conceives, Gen 25:21. She inquires of the Lord concerning her state, Gen 25:22. The Lord's answer, Gen 25:23. She is delivered of twins, Gen 25:24. Peculiarities in the birth of her sons Esau and Jacob, from which they had their names, Gen 25:25, Gen 25:26. Their different manner of life, Gen 25:27, Gen 25:28. Esau, returning from the field faint, begs pottage from his brother, Gen 25:29, Gen 25:30. Jacob refuses to grant him any but on condition of his selling him his birthright, Gen 25:31. Esau, ready to die, parts with his birthright to save his life, Gen 25:32. Jacob causes him to confirm the sale with an oath, Gen 25:33. He receives bread and pottage of lentils, and departs, Gen 25:34.

Sell me this day thy birthright - What the בחרה bechorah or birthright was, has greatly divided both ancient and modern commentators. It is generally supposed that the following rights were attached to the primogeniture: 1. Authority and superiority over the rest of the family. 2. A double portion of the paternal inheritance. 3. The peculiar benediction of the father. 4. The priesthood, previous to its establishment in the family of Aaron. Calmet controverts most of these rights, and with apparent reason, and seems to think that the double portion of the paternal inheritance was the only incontestable right which the first-born possessed; the others were such as were rather conceded to the first-born, than fixed by any law in the family. However this may be, it appears, 1. That the first-born were peculiarly consecrated to God, Exo 22:29. 2. Were next in honor to their parents, Gen 49:3. 3. Had a double portion of their father's goods, Deu 21:17. 4. Succeeded him in the government of the family or kingdom, Ch2 21:3. 5. Had the sole right of conducting the service of God, both at the tabernacle and temple; and hence the tribe of Levi, which was taken in lieu of the first-born, had the sole right of administration in the service of God, Num 8:14-18; and hence we may presume, had originally a right to the priesthood previous to the giving of the law; but however this might have been, afterwards the priesthood is never reckoned among the privileges of the first-born. That the birthright was a matter of very great importance, there can be no room to doubt; and that it was a transferable property, the transaction here sufficiently proves.

SONS OF ABRAHAM. (Gen 25:1-6) Abraham took a wife--rather, "had taken"; for Keturah is called Abraham's concubine, or secondary wife (Ch1 1:32); and as, from her bearing six sons to him, it is improbable that he married after Sarah's death; and also as he sent them all out to seek their own independence, during his lifetime, it is clear that this marriage is related here out of its chronological order, merely to form a proper winding up of the patriarch's history.

Jacob said, Sell me . . . thy birthright--that is, the rights and privileges of the first-born, which were very important, the chief being that they were the family priests (Exo 4:22) and had a double portion of the inheritance (Deu 21:17).

Abraham's Marriage to Keturah is generally supposed to have taken place after Sarah's death, and his power to beget six sons at so advanced an age is attributed to the fact, that the Almighty had endowed him with new vital and reproductive energy for begetting the son of the promise. But there is no firm ground for this assumption; as it is not stated anywhere, that Abraham did not take Keturah as his wife till after Sarah's death. It is merely an inference drawn from the fact, that it is not mentioned till afterwards; and it is taken for granted that the history is written in strictly chronological order. But this supposition is precarious, and is not in harmony with the statement, that Abraham sent away the sons of the concubines with gifts during his own lifetime; for in the case supposed, the youngest of Keturah's sons would not have been more than twenty-five or thirty years old at Abraham's death; and in those days, when marriages were not generally contracted before the fortieth year, this seems too young for them to have been sent away from their father's house. This difficulty, however, is not decisive. Nor does the fact that Keturah is called a concubine in Gen 25:6, and Ch1 1:32, necessarily show that she was contemporary with Sarah, but may be explained on the ground that Abraham did not place her on the same footing as Sarah, his sole wife, the mother of the promised seed. Of the sons and grandsons of Keturah, who are mentioned in Ch1 1:32 as well as here, a few of the names may still be found among the Arabian tribes, but in most instances the attempt to trace them is very questionable. This remark applies to the identification of Zimran with Ζαββάμ (Ptol. vi. 7, 5), the royal city of the Κιναιδοκολπῖται to the west of Mecca, on the Red Sea; of Jokshan with the Κασσανῖται, on the Red Sea (Ptol. vi. 7, 6), or with the Himyaritish tribe of Jakish in Southern Arabia; of Ishbak with the name Shobek, a place in the Edomitish country first mentioned by Abulfeda; of Shuah with the tribe Syayhe to the east of Aila, or with Szyhhan in Northern Edom (Burckhardt, Syr. 692, 693, and 945), although the epithet the Shuhite, applied to Bildad, points to a place in Northern Idumaea. There is more plausibility in the comparison of Medan and Midian with Μοδιάνα on the eastern coast of the Elanitic Gulf, and Μαδιάνα, a tract to the north of this (Ptol. vi. 7, 2, 27; called by Arabian geographers Madyan, a city five days' journey to the south of Aila). The relationship of these two tribes will explain the fact, that the Midianim, Gen 37:28, are called Medanim in Gen 37:36.