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The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

Genesis 25:26

GENESIS—NOTE ON Genesis 25:26 holding Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob. The name “Jacob” resembles the Hebrew term for “heel” and has the connotation of “deceiver.” To grasp someone by the heel was apparently a figure of speech meaning “to deceive.” The idea of deception will be a repeated theme in the life of Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old. The twins are born 15 years before the death of Abraham, which is recorded in vv. Genesis 25:7. Occasionally in Genesis 1:1, events are narrated out of chronological order, as here.

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See also Genesis 25:26 in other biblical comments:

  • Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

    Verse Genesis 25:26. _HIS NAME WAS CALLED JACOB_] יעקב _Yaccob_, from עקב _akab_, to _defraud, deceive_, to _supplant_, i.e., to overthrow a person by _tripping up his heels_. Hence this name was give...

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    - LIII. Birth of Esau and Jacob 20. פדן _padān_, Paddan, “plowed field;” related: “cut, plow.” 25. עשׂי _‛__êśâv_, ‘Esaw, “hairy, or made.” 26. יעקב _ya‛ăqôb_, Ja’aqob, “he shall take the hee...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    IX. THE GENERATIONS OF ISAAC CHAPTER 25:19-34 Esau and Jacob _ 1. Rebekah barren and the answered prayer (Genesis 25:19)_ 2. The birth of Esau and Jacob (Genesis 25:23) 3. The growth of the boys ...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    THE BIRTH OF JACOB AND ESAU. JACOB TAKES ADVANTAGE OF ESAU TO SECURE HIS BIRTHRIGHT. At this point we pass to the story of Jacob. In the present section Genesis 25:19 f., Genesis 25:26_ b_ belong to P...

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    HEEL. Hebrew. _yakob,_ whence the name Jacob (_yakob_) heel-catcher: hence, contender....

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    _had hold … heel_ As if, from the first, desirous to pull his brother, back, and get in front of him. See the reference to this passage in Hosea 12:3. The character of the man was thus prefigured at b...

  • Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

    ISAAC WAS THREESCORE YEARS OLD, &C.— It has been asked, why God permitted Sarah and Rebekah to continue so long barren? To which it is answered, not only to prove and exercise the faith of these patri...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    PART THIRTY-SEVEN THE STORY OF ISAAC; THE TWINS AND THE BIRTHRIGHT (Genesis 25:19-34) _1. Introduction_ Having concluded the account of all that needed to be known about Ishmael and his progeny, th...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    _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._ His brother ... was called Jacob -...

  • Darby's translation notes (1890)

    25:26 Jacob. (c-21) Heel-holder, or supplanter....

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    JACOB] i.e. following at the heel. See Esau's allusion to the name (Genesis 27:36), giving it a sinister sense, as suited to Jacob's plotting nature. The words Jacob and Joseph, compounded with _-el_...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    THE SONS OF ABRAHAM BY KETURAH. DEATH AND BURIAL OF ABRAHAM. DESCENDANTS OF ISHMAEL. BIRTH AND YOUTH OF ESAU AND JACOB 1. It is not known at what period of his life Abraham took Keturah as his seconda...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    The back of the foot is called the ‘heel’. Jacob seized Esau’s heel. Jacob means ‘someone who follows another person’s heels’. That can mean ‘someone who takes the place of another person’. So it can...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    GOD’S ANCIENT PEOPLE GENESIS _ALUN OWEN_ CHAPTER 25 ABRAHAM DIES V1 Abraham married another wife, who was called Keturah. V2 She became the mother of Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and S...

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    HIS HAND TOOK HOLD ON ESAU’S HEEL. — Usually there is a considerable interval — an hour or more — between the birth of twins; but here Jacob appeared without delay, following immediately upon his brot...

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    THE TÔLDÔTH ISAAC (Genesis 25:19 to Genesis 35:29). THE BIRTH OF ISAAC’S SONS. Abraham begat Isaac — The _Tôldôth_ in its original form gave probably a complete genealogy of Isaac, tracing up his des...

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    וְ אַֽחֲרֵי ־כֵ֞ן יָצָ֣א אָחִ֗יו וְ יָדֹ֤ו

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    ESAU AND JACOB Genesis 25:1 "He goeth as an ox goeth to the slaughter, till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life."- Proverbs 7:22...

  • Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

    JACOB AND ESAU, TWIN BROTHERS Genesis 25:19 In the thought of that age, the birthright carried with it the spiritual leadership of the tribe. To be the priest of the family, to stand between the Most...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    The record of the death of Abraham is full of beauty. His life had been spent in the realm of the supernatural, the region of vision, the power of the spiritual. The whole of it is summed up in the wo...

  • Gary Hampton Commentaries

    THE BIRTH OF JACOB AND ESAU After nineteen years of marriage, Isaac and Rebekah still had no children. Isaac prayed God would allow Rebekah to conceive. As John T. Willis observed, we may assume havin...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: an...

  • Introductory Lectures - Commentary by William Kelly

    Having already shown the position of Isaac, I resume briefly with the remark that he stands before us clearly as the representative of the Son, and this too as dead, risen, and in heaven. All will und...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    We have next the election of God which now sets apart the earthly people, Jacob. It is remarkable how little we have of Isaac, nothing but his remaining in heavenly places, I mean of course in the fig...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    AND AFTER THAT CAME HIS BROTHER OUT,.... Out of his mother's womb, either by his own strength, or by the help of the midwife: AND HIS HAND TOOK HOLD ON ESAU'S HEEL; to pluck him back and get out firs...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    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. Ver. 26. _And after that came his b...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _His hand took hold on Esau's heel_ This signified, 1st, Jacob's pursuit of the birthright and blessing; from the first he reached forth to have caught hold of it, and if possible to have prevented hi...

  • KJV Original Language Details

    1 The sonnes of Abraham by Keturah. 5 The diuision of his goods. 7 His age and death. 9 His buriall. 12 The generations of Ishmael. 17 His age, and death. 19 Isaac prayeth for Rebekah being barr...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    and the sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid: Gad and Asher; these are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Padanaram. Cf Genesis 29:30. Benjamin is enumerated with the other sons of Jacob for the...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    THE TWO SONS, ESAU AND JACOB...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    Jacob at Edar and Hebron...

  • Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures

    SECOND SECTION _Jacob and Esau_ GENESIS 25:19-34 19And these _are_ the generations [genealogies] of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham begat Isaac: 20And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to...

  • Leslie M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible

    OTHER GENERATIONS OF ABRAHAM We are not told what time Abraham took Keturah as a wife. Of course, God could enable him to be a father of children even after Sarah had died, but in this case he would b...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    19-26 Isaac seems not to have been much tried, but to have spent his days in quietness. Jacob and Esau were prayed for; their parents, after being long childless, obtained them by prayer. The fulfilm...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    _ 1837_ JACOB, i.e. _supplanter, _ or one that taketh hold of or trippeth up his brother's heels. See GENESIS 27:36. ISAAC WAS THREESCORE YEARS OLD. Thus God exercised his faith and patience twenty ye...

  • Notes on the Pentateuch by Charles Henry Mackintosh

    In the opening of this chapter, Abraham's second marriage is set before us, an event not without its interest to the spiritual mind, when viewed in connection with what we have been considering in the...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Genesis 25:26 Afterward H310 brother H251 out H3318 (H8804) hand H3027 hold H270 (H8802) Esaus H6215 heel...

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    Genesis 25:19 A “This is the family history of Isaac, Abraham” s son.' On the death of Ishmael Isaac becomes the eldest son of Abraham and accordingly takes responsibility for the family records and...

  • Sermon Bible Commentary

    Genesis 25 _(with Hebrews 12:16)_ The chief use, apparently, of some men's lives is that they may serve as beacons, warning off those who come after them from quicksand or whirlpool. They flame amids...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: Abraham weds Keturah. Isaac becomes Abraham's heir. Death of Abraham. Generations of Ishmael and Isaac. Birth of Esau and Jacob and the sale of the birthright. CHARACTERS: Abraham, Keturah,...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    Genesis 25:1. _Keturah_ is here called a wife; but a learned writer in his _Bibliotheca Biblia,_ printed at Oxford 1720, brings forward a supposition of the Jews, that Hagar returned to Abraham after...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _Twins_ BIRTH OF ESAU AND JACOB I. THEIR MARKED INDIVIDUALITY. II. HOW HEREBY IS POINTED OUT THEIR FUTURE DESTINY. III. HOW THEIR CHARACTERS, SO EARLY DEVELOPED, AFFECTED THE PREFERENCES OF THEIR...

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    CRITICAL NOTES.— Genesis 25:25. Esau.] Signifies _hairy._ Some understand the word to be derived from a verb meaning done, or finished, and therefore describing one who was prematurely developed.— GE...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    § 9. THE GENERATIONS OF ISAAC (Genesis 25:19-1). EXPOSITION GENESIS 25:19 AND THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS OF ISAAC, ABRAHAM'S SON. The usual formula for the opening of a new section (cf....

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    Then in chapter twenty-five we find that Abraham [after Sarah's death] took another wife, her name was Keturah. [The name means, "mother of us all".] And she bare him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian,...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    And after. Genesis 38:28 took. Hosea 12:3 Jacob. Genesis 27:36 Isaac was. Genesis 25:20...

  • Wesley's Explanatory Notes

    His hand took hold on Esau's heel — This signified, Jacob's pursuit of the birth — right and blessing; from the first he reached forth to have catched hold of it, and if possible to have prevented his...

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