Joshua 24:4

4 and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I gave the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down [to] Egypt.

Joshua 24:4 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 24:4

And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau
When Rebekah was barren, so that the children appeared the more to be the gift of God; though Esau perhaps is mentioned, for the sake of what follows:

and I gave unto Esau Mount Seir to possess it;
that Jacob and his posterity alone might inherit Canaan, and Esau and his seed make no pretension to it:

but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt;
where they continued many years, and great part of the time in bondage and misery, which is here taken no notice of; and this was in order to their being brought into the land of Canaan, and that the power and goodness of God might be the more conspicuous in it.

Joshua 24:4 In-Context

2 And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: '{Long ago} your ancestors--Terah the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor--lived beyond the river, and they served other gods.

3 I took your ancestor Abraham from beyond the river and led him through all the land of Canaan, and I increased his offspring; I gave him Isaac,

4 and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I gave the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down [to] Egypt.

5 And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in its midst; and afterward I brought you out.

6 When I brought out your ancestors from Egypt, you came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued after your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to the {Red Sea}.