Abraham’s Family

25 Abraham married again, and his new wife was Keturah [1 Chr. 1:32]. ² She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian [^Cancestor of the Midianites, the tribe into which Moses married; Ex. 3:1], Ishbak, and Shuah [^Cancestor of the tribe of Job’s friend Bildad; Job 2:11]. ³ Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan [Is. 21:13; Jer. 49:8; Ezek. 27:20]. Dedan’s descendants were the people of Assyria, Letush, and Leum. ⁴ The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah. ⁵ Abraham ·left [gave] everything he owned to Isaac. ⁶ But ·before Abraham died [^Lwhile he was still alive], he did give gifts to the sons of his ·other wives [concubines], then sent them to the East to be away from Isaac [^Cto prevent rivalry over Abraham’s inheritance].

⁷ ·Abraham lived to be [^LThese are the days of the years of the life of Abraham] one hundred seventy-five years old. ⁸ He ·breathed his last breath [expired] and died at an old age, ·after a long and satisfying life [^Lan old man and full of years; he was gathered to his people/relatives; ^Cburied in the family plot, though may imply joining his ancestors in the afterlife]. ⁹ His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah in the field of Ephron east of Mamre. (Ephron was the son of Zohar the Hittite.) ¹⁰ So Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah in the same field that he had bought from the Hittites [23:1–20]. ¹¹ After Abraham died, God blessed his son Isaac. Isaac was now living at Beer Lahai Roi [16:14].

¹² ·This is the family history [^LThese are the generations; 2:4] of Ishmael, Abraham’s son. (Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian servant, ·was Ishmael’s mother [^Lbore him to Abraham].) ¹³ These are the names of Ishmael’s sons in the order they were born: Nebaioth, the ·first son [firstborn], then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ¹⁴ Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ¹⁵ Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. ¹⁶ These were Ishmael’s sons, and these are the names of the ·tribal leaders [^Ltwelve princes/chieftains according to their tribes; 17:20] listed according to their ·settlements [villages] and camps. ¹⁷ ·Ishmael lived [^LThese are the years of the life of Ishmael] one hundred thirty-seven years and then ·breathed his last breath [expired] and died [^Land was gathered to his people/relatives; 25:8]. ¹⁸ His descendants lived from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt stretching toward Assyria [^Cthe area from the northern Sinai to the border of western Mesopotamia, the area of Arab tribes]. They often ·attacked [or settled among; ^Lfell on] the descendants of his brothers.

Isaac’s Family

¹⁹ ·This is the family history [^LThese are the generations; 2:4] of Isaac. Abraham ·had a son named [or was the father of] Isaac. ²⁰ When Isaac was forty years old, he ·married [^Ltook as a wife] Rebekah [ch. 24], ·who came from northwestern Mesopotamia [^Lthe Aramean from Paddan-aram]. She was Bethuel’s daughter and the sister of Laban the Aramean. ²¹ Isaac’s wife ·could not have children [was barren], so Isaac ·prayed to [entreated; interceded with] the Lord for her. The Lord heard Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah ·became pregnant [conceived].

²² While she was pregnant, the ·babies [^Lchildren] struggled inside her. She asked, “·Why is this happening to me [^LIf thus, why this, I—; ^Cthe Hebrew is uncertain]?” Then she went to ·get an answer from [^Lseek; inquire of] the Lord.

²³ The Lord said to her,

²⁴ When the time came, ·Rebekah gave birth to twins [^Lthere were twins in her womb]. ²⁵ The first baby ·was born [^Lcame out] red. Since his skin was like a hairy robe, he was named Esau [^Csounds like “hairy” in Hebrew]. ²⁶ When ·the second baby [^Lhis brother] ·was born [^Lcame out], ·he [^Lhis hand] was ·holding on to [gripping; grabbing] Esau’s heel, so that baby was named Jacob [^Csounds like Hebrew for “heel”; grabbing a heel is a Hebrew idiom for tricking someone]. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.

²⁷ When the boys grew up, Esau became a ·skilled [experienced] hunter. He ·loved to be out in the fields [^Lwas a man of the fields]. But Jacob was a ·quiet [or mild; or blameless] man ·and stayed among the [^Lliving in] tents. ²⁸ Isaac loved Esau because ·he hunted the wild animals that Isaac enjoyed eating [^Lgame was in his (Isaac’s) mouth]. But Rebekah loved Jacob.

²⁹ One day Jacob was ·boiling a pot of vegetable soup [or preparing stew]. Esau came in from hunting in the fields, ·weak from hunger [famished; starving]. ³⁰ So Esau said to Jacob, “Let me ·eat [gulp down] some of that red ·soup [or stuff], because I am ·weak with hunger [famished; starving].” (That is why people call him Edom [^Csounds like Hebrew for “red”].)

³¹ But Jacob said, “·First [^LAs the day; ^Can idiom meaning, “First of all…”] ·sell [or exchange with] me your ·rights as the firstborn son [birthright; ^Cthe firstborn had special inheritance rights and became the head of the family in the next generation].”

³² Esau said, “I am ·almost dead from hunger [^Lgoing to die]. ·If I die, all of my father’s wealth will not help me [^LWhat will my birthright be to me?].”

³³ But Jacob said, “First [v. 31], ·promise [swear to] me that you will give it to me.” So Esau ·made a promise to Jacob [^Lswore to him] and ·sold [exchanged] his ·part of their father’s wealth [^Lbirthright] to Jacob. ³⁴ Then Jacob gave Esau bread and ·vegetable soup [stew], and he ate and drank, and then left. So Esau ·showed how little he cared about his rights as the firstborn son [^Ldespised/showed contempt toward his birthright; Heb. 12:16–17].