²¹Because Rebecca had no children, Isaac prayed to the Lord for her. The Lord answered his prayer, and Rebecca became pregnant. ²²She was going to have twins, and before they were born, they struggled against each other in her womb. She said, “Why should something like this happen to me?” So she went to ask the Lord for an answer.

²³^*The Lord said to her,

“Two nations are within you;

You will give birth to two rival peoples.

One will be stronger than the other;

The older will serve the younger.”

²⁴The time came for her to give birth, and she had twin sons. ²⁵The first one was reddish, and his skin was like a hairy robe, so he was named Esau.^f ²⁶The second one was born holding on tightly to the heel of Esau, so he was named Jacob.^g Isaac was 60 years old when they were born.

Esau Sells His Rights as the First-Born Son

²⁷The boys grew up, and Esau became a skilled hunter, a man who loved the outdoor life, but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home. ²⁸Isaac preferred Esau, because he enjoyed eating the animals Esau killed, but Rebecca preferred Jacob.

²⁹One day while Jacob was cooking some bean soup, Esau came in from hunting. He was hungry ³⁰and said to Jacob, “I’m starving; give me some of that red stuff.” (That is why he was called Edom.)^h

Read in Logos

Footnotes

fesau: This name is taken to refer to Seir, the territory later inhabited by Esau’s descendants; Seir sounds like the Hebrew for “hairy”.
gjacob: This name sounds like the Hebrew for “heel”.
hedom: This name sounds like the Hebrew for “red”.

Cross references

*25.23: Ro 9:12