Genesis 25:26

26 Anon the other went out (And at once the other went out), and held with his hand the heel of his brother; and therefore he called him Jacob . (And) Isaac was sixty years eld, when the little children were born.

Genesis 25:26 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 25:26

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 first; and this was not casual, but was so ordered in Providence, and had a meaning and mystery in it: and his name was called Jacob;
by his parents and others, and that for the above reason, because he took his brother by the heel, which his name has the signification of, and Esau has respect to in ( Genesis 27:36 ) : and Isaac [was] threescore years old when she bare them;
and so it was twenty years after he had been married to her; so long was his faith tried and exercised about the promised seed that was to spring from him.

Genesis 25:26 In-Context

24 Then the time of child-bearing came, and lo! two children were found in her womb.
25 He that went out first was red, and all rough in the manner of a skin; and his name was called Esau.
26 Anon the other went out (And at once the other went out), and held with his hand the heel of his brother; and therefore he called him Jacob . (And) Isaac was sixty years eld, when the little children were born.
27 And when they were waxen, Esau was a man knowing of hunting, and a man (who was) an earth-tiller; forsooth Jacob was a simple man, and dwelled in tabernacles. (And when they were fully grown, Esau was a man knowledgeable about hunting, and who worked the soil, or was a farmer; and Jacob was a simple man, who stayed at home in the tents.)
28 Isaac loved Esau, for he ate of the hunting of Esau; and Rebecca loved Jacob.
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.