It was said unto her
To Rebecca, ( Genesis
25:23 ) ,
the elder shall serve the younger,
or "the greater shall serve the lesser", an Hebrew way of
speaking; so Japheth is called (lwdgh) , "the great", or, as we render it, "the
elder", ( Genesis
10:21 ) ; and the evil imagination is said F9 to be
(lwdg) , "greater", that
is, elder than the good, thirteen years; (See Gill on Luke
22:26); The sense is, Esau shall be a servant to Jacob;
which is to be understood, not of temporal servitude; for in this
sense he never was a servant to him; so far from it, that as soon
as Jacob had got the birthright and blessing, he was obliged to
flee from the face and fury of Esau; and upon his return after
many years, he sent messengers to Esau in a very submissive
manner, charging them after this manner, "thus shall ye shall say
to my lord Esau, thy servant Jacob saith thus" ( Genesis 32:4
) , and when he found that his brother was coming to meet him,
which threw him into a panic fear, lest he should "smite [him],
and the mother with the children", ( Genesis
32:11 ) , he prepares presents for him; and when he came to
him, bowed himself seven times, and his wives and children bowed
likewise; and the language in which he addressed his brother
Esau, all the while they were together, was that of "my lord":
now if this oracle was to be understood of outward temporal
servitude, it is strange it should have no appearance, nor any
shadow of an accomplishment in the persons of Jacob and Esau,
supposing it was to have one in their posterity; and indeed the
completion of it, in this sense, is not very evident in their
offspring. It is certain, there was a long train of dukes and
kings in Esau's family, before there was any king in Israel; the
posterity of Esau were in lordly grandeur and splendour, when the
children of Israel were grievously oppressed with hard bondage in
Egypt. The single instance usually referred to, when the Edomites
became tributaries to David, was near a thousand years after the
giving out of this oracle; and this show of servitude did not
last long, for in Joram's time they revolted, and so continued;
and it is evident, that at the time of the Babylonish captivity,
the children of Edom were prosperous and triumphant, and said
concerning Jerusalem, "Raze it, raze it, even to the foundation
thereof", ( Psalms 137:7
) : this servitude therefore is to be understood in a spiritual
sense, of Esau's exclusion from the favour of God, and blessings
of grace, signified by his being rejected from inheriting the
blessing, which was given to Jacob; and it appeared that he was
not a son, but a servant, by his departure, and pitching his
dwelling elsewhere; which showed he had no interest in spiritual
adoption, no right to the covenant of grace, nor was he an heir
of heaven, all which were peculiar to Jacob: Esau was a servant
of sin, under the dominion of it, and in bondage to it; whilst
Jacob was the Lord's freeman, and, as a prince, had power with
God and with men, and prevailed: Esau was serviceable to Jacob,
both in things temporal and spiritual; as reprobates are to the
elect, for all things are for their sakes, and work together for
their good; Jacob's being obliged to flee from his brother, was
for his good; by this means he got him a suitable wife, and large
substance: his brother's meeting him on his return, which gave
him so much pain and uneasiness, issued in his spiritual good;
this sent him to the throne of grace, to humble himself before
God, acknowledge his mercies, and his dependence on him, to
implore his help, and plead his promises; and thus the oracle was
verified in the persons of Jacob and Esau.