Genesis 25

09 Jan 2026 - Theology

Genesis 25 - Jacob and Esau

Abraham and Ishamel’s Death

Abraham again took a wife Katurah, and had more sons.

Genesis 25:5-6 - “And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. But unto the sons of the concubines [Hagar and Katurah], which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country.”

Abraham later dies at 175 years old (7), and was buried by Isaac and Ishmael in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, where he had buried his wife Sarah.

Genesis 25:11 - “And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-roi.”

Ishmael lived 137 years (17), and then died in the presence of all his brethren. Ishmael had 12 sons - Nebajoth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadar (or Hadad), Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. “And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria” … (18)

Genesis 25:16 - “These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations.”

princes = “exalted ones, i.e public officials” nations = “peoples or tribes”

Notice that this perfectly echoes God’s plan for Ishamel and his offspring in Genesis 17, made during the covenant of circumcision with Abraham.

Genesis 17:20 - “And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.”

Jacob and Esau

Genesis 25:23 - “And the Lord said unto her, ‘Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.”

Why does God seem to favor the younger son?

• Cain and Abel
• Abram, Nahor, and Haran
• Isaac and Ishamel
• Jacob and Esau

In Bible times - even today, in many places - the oldest son would receive most of the family wealth after his father’s death. The oldest son’s share is called the bechorah or ‘birthright’, since it is based on the order of birth.

Parallels

In Genesis 21, Sarah arranged for Isaac to receive the birthright of the older son by commanding Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away, so that the birthright would go to Isaac and not Ishmael. It was Sarah who decided that the younger son would become the next leader or “patriarch” of the Hebrews.

In this portion of Scripture, Rebekah takes the place of Sarah. It is Rebekah who loves the next patriarch of the Hebrews.

Genesis 25:28 - “And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.”

The Scripture does not say that Esau is a good person or a great leader. It does say that Esau cared more for a meal than for his birthright. In this way, Esau is the kind of person who cares more for what is important in the moment than for what is important in the long run. He sells his birthright to Jacob because his is hungry now.

References

1. The Hebrew - Greek Key Study Bible (KJV Version)
2. The Torah Portion-by-Portion by Rabbi Seymour Rossel (2007)