Abraham Names Isaac to be His Heir
25 Abraham had taken another wife whose name was Keturah. 2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s sons were the Asshurites, Letushites, and Leummites. 4 Midian’s sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All of these were Keturah’s descendants.
5 Abraham gave everything he owned to Isaac. 6 While he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to his concubines[a] and sent them to the east country in order to keep them away from his son Isaac.
7 Abraham lived for 175 years,[b] 8 then passed away, dying at a ripe old age, having lived a full life, and joined his ancestors.[c] 9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field that used to belong to Zohar the Hittite’s son Ephron. 10 This was the same field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites, where Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried. 11 After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who continued to live near Beer-lahai-roi.
A Summary of Ishmael’s Life
12 Now this is what happened to Ishmael, whom Sarah’s Egyptian servant Hagar bore for Abraham. 13 Here’s a list of the names of Ishmael’s sons, recorded by their names and descendants: Nebaioth was the firstborn, followed by[d] Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16 These were Ishmael’s children, listed by their names according to their villages and their camps. There were a total of twelve tribal chiefs, according to their clans. 17 Ishmael lived[e] for 137 years, then he took his last breath, died, and joined his ancestors.[f] 18 His descendants[g] settled from Havilah to Shur (that’s near Egypt), all the way to Assyria, in defiance[h] of all of his relatives.
The Births of Esau and Jacob
19 This is the account of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham fathered Isaac. 20 Isaac was forty years old when he married[i] Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the Aramean[j] from Paddan-aram[k] and sister of Laban the Aramean.[l] 21 Later, Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, since she was unable to conceive children, and the Lord responded to him—his wife Rebekah became pregnant.
22 But when the infants[m] kept on wrestling each other inside her womb,[n] she asked herself, “Why is this happening?”[o] So she asked the Lord for an explanation.[p]
23 “Two nations[q] are in your womb,” the Lord responded, “and two separate people will emerge. One people will be the stronger, and the older one will serve the younger.”
24 Sure enough, when her due date arrived, she delivered twin sons.[r] 25 The first son came out reddish—his entire body was covered with hair—so they named him Esau.[s] 26 After that, his brother came out with his hand clutching Esau’s heel, so they named him Jacob.[t] Isaac was 60 years old when they were born.
27 As the boys were growing up, Esau became skilled at hunting and was a man of the outdoors, but Jacob was the quiet type who tended to stay indoors. 28 Isaac loved Esau, because he loved to hunt, while Rebekah loved Jacob. 29 One day, while Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau happened to come in from being outdoors, and he was feeling famished.
30 Esau told Jacob, “Let me gobble down some of this red stuff, since I’m starving.” (That’s how Esau got his nickname “Edom”.)[u]
31 But Jacob responded, “Sell me your birthright. Do it now.”[v]
32 “Look! I’m about to die,” Esau replied. “What good is this birthright to me?”
33 But Jacob insisted, “Swear it by an oath right now.” So he swore an oath to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau some of his food, along with some boiled stew. So Esau ate, drank, got up, and left, after having belittled his own birthright.
Footnotes
- Genesis 25:6 Lit. concubines whom Abraham had.
- Genesis 25:7 Lit. These are the days of Abraham’s years: 175 years
- Genesis 25:8 Lit. and he was gathered to his people
- Genesis 25:13 The Heb. lacks followed by
- Genesis 25:17 Lit. These are the years of Ishmael’s life
- Genesis 25:17 Lit. and he was gathered to his people
- Genesis 25:18 Lit. They
- Genesis 25:18 Lit. in the face of
- Genesis 25:20 Lit. took
- Genesis 25:20 In later centuries this region would be called Syria
- Genesis 25:20 Paddan-aram was located in northwest Mesopotamia
- Genesis 25:20 In later centuries this region would be called Syria
- Genesis 25:22 Lit. sons
- Genesis 25:22 Or within her
- Genesis 25:22 Lit. If so . . . why this I?
- Genesis 25:22 The Heb. lacks for an explanation
- Genesis 25:23 Or two infants
- Genesis 25:24 Lit. twins from her womb
- Genesis 25:25 The Heb. name Esau means hairy
- Genesis 25:26 The Heb. name Jacob means heel grabber
- Genesis 25:30 The Heb. name Edom means red
- Genesis 25:31 Lit. today