part of the process by which He elects or rejects the race. In either case the choice has been made independently of merits either of work or of ancestry. Both were of exactly the same descent, and the choice was made before either was born. ὁ μείζων … τῷ ἐλάσσονι: ‘the elder,’ ‘the younger.’ This use of the words seems to be a Hebraism; see Gen. 10:21 καὶ τῷ Σὴμ ἐγενήθη … ἀδελφῷ Ἰάφεθ τοῦ μείζονος: ib. 29:16 ὄνομα τῇ μείζονι Λεία, καὶ ὄνομα τῇ νεωτέρᾳ Ῥαχήλ. But