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Genesis

About this book

Abraham's Other Descendants and Death

Chapter 25

1 Abraham had taken another wife, named Keturah. 2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. The descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, Letushites, and Leummites. 4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah. 5 Everything he owned Abraham left to his son Isaac. 6 But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them off to the east, away from his son Isaac. 7 Abraham lived a total of 175 years. 8 Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man who had lived a full life.⁠ He joined his ancestors. 9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar, the Hittite. 10 This was the field Abraham had purchased from the sons of Heth. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. 11 After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac. Isaac lived near Beer Lahai Roi.

Ishmael's Descendants

12 This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham. 13 These are the names of Ishmael’s sons, by their names according to their records: Nebaioth (Ishmael’s firstborn), Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names by their settlements and their camps—twelve princes according to their clans. 17 Ishmael lived a total of 137 years. He breathed his last and died; then he joined his ancestors. 18 His descendants settled from Havilah to Shur, which runs next to Egypt all the way to Asshur. They settled away from all their relatives.

The Birth of Jacob and Esau

19 This is the account of Isaac, the son of Abraham. Abraham became the father of Isaac. 20 When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. 21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 But the children struggled inside her,⁠ and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she asked the Lord, 23 and the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples will be separated from within you. One people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”⁠ 24 When the time came for Rebekah to give birth, there were twins in her womb.⁠ 25 The first came out reddish all over, like a hairy garment, so they named him Esau.⁠ 26 When his brother came out with his hand clutching Esau’s heel, they named him Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.

Esau Sells His Birthright

27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled hunter, a man of the open fields, but Jacob was an even-tempered man, living in tents.⁠ 28 Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for fresh game, but Rebekah loved Jacob. 29 Now Jacob cooked some stew, and when Esau came in from the open fields, he was famished.⁠ 30 So Esau said to Jacob, “Feed me some of the red stuff—yes, this red stuff—because I’m starving!” (That is why he was also called Edom.) 31 But Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.” 32 “Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die! What use is the birthright to me?” 33 But Jacob said, “Swear an oath to me now.” So Esau swore an oath to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew; Esau ate and drank, then got up and went out. So Esau despised his birthright.

Texts in conversation

Compare Genesis 25:27 and Jubilees 19:14 and Onkelos Genesis 25:27

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions · Targum

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Summary

Genesis 25 describes Jacob living in tents, and the plural led interpreters to think he lived in more than one. Jubilees and the Aramaic translation in Targum Onkelos interpret this to mean Jacob was well educated, with one of the tents used for study.

Passages

Genesis 25:27

Hebrew Bible
25 The first came out reddish all over, like a hairy garment, so they named him Esau. 26 When his brother came out with his hand clutching Esau’s heel, they named him Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born. 27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled hunter, a man of the open fields, but Jacob was an even-tempered man, living in tents. 28 Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for fresh game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

Jubilees 19:14

Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
13 And in the sixth week, in the second year of it [2046], Rebekah bore to Isaac two sons, Jacob and Esau, and Jacob was a smooth and upright man, and Esau was fierce, a man of the field, and hairy, and Jacob lived in tents. 14 And the youths grew, and Jacob learned to write; but Esau did not learn, for he was a man of the field and a hunter, and he learned war, and all his deeds were fierce. 15 And Abraham loved Jacob, but Isaac loved Esau.
170–125 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jubilees

Onkelos Genesis 25:27

Targum
25 And the first came out red, covered all over with hair like a garment; and they named him Esau. 26 And afterwards came out his brother, and his hand grasped the heel of Esau, and they named him Jacob. And Isaac was sixty years old when he fathered them. 27 And the youths grew; and Esau was a skilled hunter, a man going out into the field; and Jacob was a man of peace, one who served in the study house. 28 And Isaac loved Esau, because he ate what he hunted, and Rebekah loved Jacob.
50–500 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Onkelos Genesis

References

"... what did the Bible mean by describing Jacob as 'dwelling in tents'? Interpreters were struck by the plural tents here—does a person need more than one tent to dwell in? If the word appears in the plural, it must have been intended as a subtle hint that, in addition to staying in his own tent, Jacob also regularly spent time, 'dwelt,' in another tent. And what sort of tent might that be, if not that of a schoolteacher who could instruct the boy in reading and writing? Perhaps, indeed, the other tent was a full-blown schoolhouse of Jewish learning. (Such apparent anachronisms were, curiously, not a problem for ancient interpreters.) ..."
James L. Kugel, The Bible as It Was (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998), 201.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Genesis 25:27 and Jubilees 19:14 and Onkelos Genesis 25:27

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