Genesis 25:19-28·~1 min

Jacob and Esau

The account turns to Isaac, his marriage to Rebekah, and the barrenness that marks their early years. Isaac prays, and the LORD answers by giving Rebekah conception.

T¹⁹his is the account of Abraham’s son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac, ²⁰and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban the Aramean. ²¹Later, Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.

As the twins struggle in her womb, Rebekah seeks the LORD and receives a word about two nations and an unexpected reversal between elder and younger. The birth itself reflects that tension, as Esau emerges first and Jacob follows grasping his heel.

²²But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So Rebekah went to inquire of the LORD, ²³and He declared to her: ²⁴When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb. ²⁵The first one came out red, covered with hair like a fur coat; so they named him Esau. ²⁶After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. And Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.

The boys grow into sharply different men: Esau belongs to the field, while Jacob stays near home. Isaac favors Esau, but Rebekah favors Jacob.

²⁷When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home. ²⁸Because Isaac had a taste for wild game, he loved Esau; but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Section summaryIsaac’s line comes into focus as Rebekah’s barrenness gives way to pregnancy through Isaac’s prayer. Before the twins are born, the LORD declares their struggle will shape two nations, and the section ends by sketching their different temperaments and their parents’ divided affections.

Role in the chapterThis section opens the next main family story in Genesis. It frames Jacob and Esau not as an ordinary sibling pair but as brothers whose conflict is present before birth and already set within God’s larger purpose.