Genesis 29, Look, Rachel!

Jacob flees his home and his brother Esau.  He is headed for Haran, the home of Laban, looking for a wife.  (The town of Haran/Harran was probably northeast, across the Euphrates River. See this Wikipedia page.)  In his journey, God meets Jacob and renews His covenant. Jacob has declared YHWH to be his God.

Genesis 29:1-6, Jacob visits Laban

Then Jacob continued on his journey and came to the land of the eastern peoples. There he saw a well in the field, with three flocks of sheep lying near it because the flocks were watered from that well. The stone over the mouth of the well was large. When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone away from the well's mouth and water the sheep. Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.

 Jacob asked the shepherds, "My brothers, where are you from?" 

"We're from Haran," they replied.

 He said to them, "Do you know Laban, Nahor's grandson?" 

"Yes, we know him," they answered.

 Then Jacob asked them, "Is he well?" 

"Yes, he is," they said, "and here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep."

Jacob has found the relatives in Haran whom he was seeking. And there is a young woman walking towards him! Laban is Jacob's uncle, the brother of Rebekah.

Genesis 29:7-12, Rachel!
"Look," he said, "the sun is still high; it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. Water the sheep and take them back to pasture."

"We can't," they replied, "until all the flocks are gathered and the stone has been rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then we will water the sheep."

While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess. When Jacob saw Rachel daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, and Laban's sheep, he went over and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle's sheep.

Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep aloud.

He had told Rachel that he was a relative of her father and a son of Rebekah. So she ran and told her father.

Here comes Rachel! As Robert Alter points out, Rachel is introduced with considerable drama.  There is a suggestion that Jacob's reaction is to be "Oh, wow!"

The stone apparently protects the well. This is the second important stone in Jacob's life.

Jacob sees Rachel and, in her presence, rolls the stone away from the mouth of the well.  He displays both kindness and strength in front of this young woman. Several commentators observe that throughout the Torah, meeting at a well is a type, a stage for future bride and groom.

Rachel offers dramatic relief to young Jacob. Why does Jacob weep?  What does Rachel think of this?

Genesis 29:13-20, Seven years for Rachel
As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister's son, he hurried to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his home, and there Jacob told him all these things.

Then Laban said to him, "You are my own flesh and blood." After Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month,  Laban said to him, "Just because you are a relative of mine, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be."

Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel was lovely in form, and beautiful.

Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, "I'll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel."

Laban said, "It's better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me." So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.

We are expected to feel the passion of this love story. Although strange to modern ears, this is natural enough to the Jewish ears (of that day) that there is no attempt to explain it to the reader.

Laban's endorsement of Jacob seems typical of a father-in-law.  "Ah, well, I guess better you than some one worse."

Genesis 29:21-24, "I want to lie with her"
Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to lie with her."

So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and Jacob lay with her. And Laban gave his servant girl Zilpah to his daughter as her maidservant.

Jacob has served his time and deserves to start his marriage. He insists on having Rachel (indeed, he says he wants to "lie with her") and so Laban holds a wedding feast. But instead of giving Jacob Rachel, he gives him Leah. (And Leah receives a gift of a servant girl, Zilpah.)

In this paragraph and the next, the narrator names the wife's maidservant.  The maidservant will play an important role.

Genesis 29:25-27, Married to ... Leah?!
When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn't I? Why have you deceived me?"

Laban replied, "It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. Finish this daughter's bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work."

The deceiver has been deceived!  Laban is equal to Jacob in sneakiness -- deception and counter-deception will be a theme throughout Jacob's time with Laban! 

Can one hear Laban's criticism in his reply to Jacob?  "We don't put the younger above the older!" Has Laban heard of Jacob's theft of the birthright?

Genesis 29:28-30, Seven years for Rachel
And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. Laban gave his servant girl Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maidservant.

Jacob lay with Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.

Some commentators point out that this does not mean that Jacob had to wait seven years to marry Rachel.  It is likely that Rachel was then added as a wife one week after Jacob's marriage to Leah, with the agreement that Jacob now would work for another seven years.

Genesis 29:31-34, The first three of Jacob's children
When the LORD saw that Leah was not loved, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, "It is because the LORD has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now."

She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "Because the LORD heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too." So she named him Simeon. 

Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons." So he was named Levi. 

That Rachel is barren while Leah conceives would imply they are both the wives of Jacob, at the same time. But we also have a number of years passing rapidly here, through three pregnancies.

According to the NIV footnotes, each name has a meaning: "Reuben sounds like the Hebrew for 'he has seen my misery'; the name means 'see, a son'." Simeon probably means "one who hears". Levi sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for "attached". 

Listen to Leah's pleas. It is poignant in its despair. She hopes that by providing her husband with sons, that he will genuinely have affection for her. Each of the first three sons is named after that hope.

Genesis 29:35, One more 
She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "This time I will praise the LORD." So she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.

The name Judah is a variant on the Hebrew word meaning "to give thanks", "to praise." This time the name simply represent praise and thanks for one more son. Has Leah decided to no longer seek her husband's affection?

After seven years with Leah and Rachel, Jacob has four sons, all through Leah.

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is yadah 

יָדָה

a verb meaning "to give thanks", "to praise." Apparently a noun form of this verb would keep the main three consonants but insert hu (הוּ) with slight changes of accent to obtain Yehuddah (יְהוּדָה), that is, Judah.

Some Random Thoughts

There is a lot we don't know about a culture that allows Jacob to spend an intimate night with his wife without realizing who he is with. Of course the night was pitch black but still... presumably Jacob knew very little about the woman he was with? Wouldn't he recognize her voice? Or laugh? Just as Isaac could not tell the differences between Esau and Jacob (even with voices and smells), Jacob is fooled by Leah. (Did she disguise her voice? Say little?) There is certainly a bit of "Gotcha!" or "karma" to this story.

First published Feb 3, 2023; updated Feb 3, 2026

Genesis 28, Stairway to Heaven

Jacob has been sent away by Rebekah, so that he might find a wife.

Genesis 28:1-5, Jacob leaves Isaac
So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him and commanded him: "Do not marry a Canaanite woman. Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother's father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother.

"May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien, the land God gave to Abraham."

Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Despite Isaac's anger at Jacob's deceit, he follows up the (stolen) blessing with instructions and blessings for Jacob. And sends him to Laban, where he, Isaac himself, found a beautiful woman. Maybe Jacob will have the same success? The trip to Paddam Aram is probbly over 500, miles, quite a journey. A map and summary is here.

"God Almighty" is a translation of the Hebrew name, "El-Shaddai". The blessing Isaac gives Jacob is so natural to that culture: "May El-Shaddai ... increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples." And this blessing does indeed come true!

Genesis 28:6-9, Esau's response

Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, "Do not marry a Canaanite woman," and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram.

Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.

Esau picks up a wife who is not Canaanite. He marries a cousin, Mahalath. Does he hope to regain his father's blessing? Although the cultural setting is strange to us, the desire of a son to please his father (or mother) is very modern. 

Genesis 28:10-15, Stairway to heaven

Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

There above it stood the LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

This trip, which includes fleeing from his brother, is surely stressful for Jacob. As he flees, YHWH meets Jacob and renews the promise made previously to his grandfather and father. For Jacob, the covenant promise occurs in a dream.

Robert Alter, in his commentaries on the Torah, suggests that the stone was not a pillow -- that would be uncomfortable! -- but was a protective barrier that Jacob would have pressed up against. (I envision Jacob lying on his side, with his head and back against this large rock.)

Alter also argues that the word translated "stairway" is most likely a ramp leading up to an altar, as was common in ziggurats.  (See the image here.) In this case YHWH Himself stands at the top of the ramp.

Genesis 28:16-22, Jacob at Bethel

When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it." He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven."

Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz.

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father's house, then the LORD will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth."

The Hebrew word bayith (בּיִת) means "house" and when El ("god") is added to it, becomes (in verse 19) Beth-el, "house of God". The author believes his (original) readers we may have heard of Luz, but that location, which will appear throughout the Old Testament, will hereafter be called Bethel.

Jacob appears to still have a somewhat conditional relationship with YHWH. "If God is with him... then He will be Jacob's God...." Several decades later, with two wives (one pregnant), two concubines, eleven sons, at least one daughter, and a large flock of animals, a much more mature Jacob returns to Bethel in Genesis 35:1-15 and renews his vows and the covenant.

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is Shadday, or Shaddai, 

שַׁדַּי

meaning The Almighty. It appears only 48 times in the Old Testament, often inked with El  (אֵל), a generic name for God, as in verse 3 above. The rarity of the use of the name El-Shaddai, (God Almighty), raises interesting questions and Hebrew scholars attempt to understand its rare occurrence. (Contrast the rarity of El-Shaddai with the appearance the name YHWH, which shows up over 6000 times!)

Some Random Thoughts

In college I met a beautiful woman through a particular campus ministry. And I married her. Later, when my eldest son headed off to college, I told him my story and said, "There are some cute girls in Crusade!" And I was right! He too found the love of his life through the same ministry! (Like his father, Jacob also will find love at Laban's home.)

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First published Feb 2, 2023; updated Feb 2, 2026

Imago Dei

A recent small group conversation discussed legalism in Christianity and other religions.  A friend (Coralee) asked, "What is it about us that makes us want to make Rules?"  My wife, Jan, later generalized this question to me as, "Is human rule-making due to our being made in the image of God? What human characteristics are due to us being in God's image?"

Genesis 1:27 says that God made mankind, male and female, in His image. If we are in the image of God, how does that manifest itself in our life and culture? And, recognizing the fall, what aspects of our life and culture are due to the fall,  not to being in God's image?

As Jan and I discussed this, it is clear that some things do follow from God's image, as they are characteristics of both God and humans.  Our desire for community is inherited from God; God desires our communion with Him and in Genesis 2 recognizes that Adam cannot be alone. Indeed, loneliness is torture to many of us; we all want to be part of a small commune!

Our creative desires come from God, the Creator.  Our love of Beauty follows from the One who looked on His creation and said, "It is good."  Indeed, most forms of art can be traced to our desire to Create Beauty.

In Genesis 1, God creates Structure out of Chaos; He organize the earth and nature, separating light from darkness, sky from sea.  In my experiences in math and science, it is a natural human desire to classify and organize the world around us. It is from this structure that we put objects in boxes and create rules.

In Genesis 2:19-20, God brings the animals to Adam and he names them.  The Old Testament concept of "naming" implied some type of understanding or prediction about the object -- notice how Eve and other mothers name their sons! -- and so we see there the first step in cataloguing the world around us. Some might even argue that the biological process of taxonomy flows out of our image of God. (For example, see the pdf Taxonomic Theology: An Interdisciplinary Approach to a Biblical and Biological Theology of Naming by professors Stovell and Morris.)

Mankind's desire for justice come from God's Righteousness and from our recognition that people made in the image of God are invested with value and significance. 

This video at the Bible Project argues that the prohibitions against idolatry (pervasive in the Old Testament) come from the fact that we are God's image!  God has already made special images of Himself and it is us!

Wikipedia has an article in the Image of God.  There it suggests three slightly different views of this concept: the Substantive, Relational and Functional.  These are described there as: 

"The Substantive view locates the image of God in shared characteristics between God and humanity such as rationality or morality. A Relational understanding argues that the image is found in human relationships with God and each other. A Functional view interprets the image of God as a role or function whereby humans act on God’s behalf and serve to represent God in the created order."

I argue that all three views are correct -- we receive rationality and morality (and creativity) from God and our desire for justice and community comes out of human relationships and our desire to represent God in these relationships.

In mathematics we describe functions as mapping one set into another; the elements in the second set, the range of the function, are the images of the first set. God has created a mapping into the brains (the intellect, soul, heart) of these little human beings so that we react in various ways that display that image.  This mapping is not one-to-one; much is lost in that mapping, but in many ways our thoughts, our joys and creativity, our desire for justice, are all shadows of the mind of God!  

A day will come when we leave these Shadowlands... but it is not yet.

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First published Jan 29, 2023; updated Feb 1, 2026

Genesis 27, The Birthright

The book of Genesis takes a dozen chapters to describe the life of Abraham and then a couple more to tell us of Isaac. Isaac's son Esau was born seconds before his twin, Jacob. In the ANE culture this means that Esau's inheritance is twice Jacob's and Esau is expected to be the true representative of Isaac's line. But that does not happen.... Indeed, the rest of the book of Genesis will be spent on the true hero of Genesis, the wily and deceptive Jacob (later named Israel.) Even sneaky Jacob will have a covenant with God! But he cannot then be sneaky forever....

Genesis 27:1-4, Isaac to give a blessing

When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, "My son." 

"Here I am," he answered.

Isaac said, "I am now an old man and don't know the day of my death. Now then, get your weapons--your quiver and bow--and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die."

Despite the frustrations brought by Esau (at the end of chapter 25) Esau is still the oldest and by tradition deserves his father's blessing. Isaac plans a small blessing ceremony, involving a meal, taking advantage of Esau's special talent for hunting.

Genesis 27:5-10, Rebekah's plot

Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, "Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, `Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the LORD before I die.' Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies."

Rebekah encourages the younger son to deceive her husband. (Think on the cultural and family dynamics that make this the best way to say, "Isaac really deserves more!" Both Rebekah and Jacob, the son she loves the most, practice deception.)

Genesis 27:11-17, Jacob's trickery
Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, "But my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I'm a man with smooth skin. What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing." 

His mother said to him, "My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me."

So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.

Rebekah goes to quite a lot of work here, covering fine details in order to make the trick succeed! There is considerable risk here.

Genesis 27:18-23, Hairy Jacob
He went to his father and said, "My father." 

"Yes, my son," he answered. "Who is it?"

Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing." 

Isaac asked his son, "How did you find it so quickly, my son?" 

"The LORD your God gave me success," he replied.

Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not."

Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau."  He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him.

Defeating Esau requires that this be done before Esau returns. But this quick meal causes Isaacs to be suspicious... and so Jacob brings God into the lie! Still, despite the statement of God's intervention, Isaac is suspicious. He draws Jacob close. Jacob and Rebekah expected this and their second layer of deception works!

This is a household where the husband does not trust his wife or his sons.

Genesis 27:24-29 Jacob steals Isaac's blessing
"Are you really my son Esau?" he asked. 

"I am," he replied.

Then he said, "My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing." 

Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank.

Then his father Isaac said to him, "Come here, my son, and kiss me."

So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, "Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed. May God give you of heaven's dew and of earth's richness-- an abundance of grain and new wine. May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed."

To pull this off, Jacob tells a sequence of lies. Isaac smells the clothes of Esau and enjoys the scenes it invokes, a field blessed by God (with harvest or rain.) The traditional blessing was believed to bestow power and primality. The blessed son is the one whom the other children are to obey.

Genesis 27:30-38, Esau's weeping
After Isaac finished blessing him and Jacob had scarcely left his father's presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, "My father, sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing."

His father Isaac asked him, "Who are you?" 

"I am your son," he answered, "your firstborn, Esau."

Isaac trembled violently and said, "Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him--and indeed he will be blessed!"

When Esau heard his father's words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, "Bless me--me too, my father!"

But he said, "Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing."

Esau said, "Isn't he rightly named Jacob? He has deceived me these two times: He took my birthright, and now he's taken my blessing!" Then he asked, "Haven't you reserved any blessing for me?"

Isaac answered Esau, "I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?"

Esau said to his father, "Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!" Then Esau wept aloud.

The elaborate scam is completed just in time, for Esau shows up shortly after Jacob leaves. Esau quickly learns of the deceitful play by Jacob and his mother. Esau responds to Jacob's name: "he who grasps the heel", a phrase that Esau interpreted figurately, that is, Jacob trips up people; he deceives them.

As best as I can see, Jacob did not "trick" Esau into giving up the birthright but did take advantage of Esau's hunger.

Genesis 27:39-46, Esau's grudge
His father Isaac answered him, "Your dwelling will be away from the earth's richness, away from the dew of heaven above. You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother.  But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck."

Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob."

When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, "Your brother Esau is consoling himself with the thought of killing you. Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran. Stay with him for a while until your brother's fury subsides. When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I'll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?"

Then Rebekah said to Isaac, "I'm disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living."

Of course Esau will be angry!

If Jacob stays at home there will be violence. Rebekah's frustrations with the Hittite women, and with Esau's wives, is used as an excuse to send Jacob away.

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is aqeb, 

עָקֵב

a masculine noun meaning "heel" or "hoof." By adding a prefix vav (יַ), we have a name, Yaaqob (יַעֲקֹב, Jacob.) The associated verb is aqab (עָקַב), meaning "to grab the heel". This can be a euphemism for trickery or deceit; one imagines a foot race in which a runner reaches forward and grabs the heel of the runner in front of him, bringing that runner down, then racing past him.

Some Random Thoughts

In this conflict over the birthright, our narrator provides interesting details and dialogue. At no point is there a suggestion of judgment, but it is assumed that the birthright carries power, as do verbal blessings. The ancient readers of this document probably believed this also and saw, in the birthright and in the blessing, divine confirmation of Israel's future domination.

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First published Feb 1, 2023; updated Jan 31, 2026

Genesis 26, Isaac

We have moved from the story of Abraham to the story of Isaac (and his young family, Rebekah, Esau and Jacob.)  The book of Genesis covers the life of Abram/Abraham in 14 chapters, chapters 12 to 25.  In chapter 25 we transition over to the life of Isaac and the main character of this chapter is Isaac. But by the end of chapter 27 we have moved on to the story of Isaac's son, Jacob.  Of the three patriarchal heroes of the Israelites, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, we really learn very little about Isaac!

Genesis 26:1-6, Famine and promise
Now there was a famine in the land--besides the earlier famine of Abraham's time--and Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar. 

The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws."

So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

God's covenant with Abraham is renewed with Isaac. There continues to be an emphasis on staying in the land (and staying out of Egypt.)

Genesis 26:7-11, Just like his father
When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, "She is my sister," because he was afraid to say, "She is my wife." He thought, "The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful."

When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, "She is really your wife! Why did you say, `She is my sister'?" 

Isaac answered him, "Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her."

Then Abimelech said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us." So Abimelech gave orders to all the people: "Anyone who molests this man or his wife shall surely be put to death."

Isaac, like his father Abraham, pretends his wife is his sister! But Abimelech catches Isaac "caressing" Rebekah, obviously in a sexual manner. Of the three she-is-my-sister episodes (Genesis 12:10-20, 20:1-18 and here), this one progresses the least; Rebekah is not (yet) part of the king's harem.

Genesis 26:12-17, Isaac leaves Abimelech

Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him. The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. So all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth. 

Then Abimelech said to Isaac, "Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us." So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there.

Isaac is forced to leave, due to his prosperity! In that arid land, sources of water were critical and so the Philistines drive Isaac away by filling up the wells that Abraham had created.

Genesis 26:18-22, Dispute with the herdsmen of Gerar
Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them. Isaac's servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there.

But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen and said, "The water is ours!" So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him. Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, "Now the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land."

The people are quarreling over wells. This is a land where rain is always a blessing, so any spring or seep, where water has pooled, is a source of wealth. The name Eseq (עֵשֶׂק) has the same three consonants as asaq (עָשַׂק), meaning "to quarrel." The word sitnah (שִׂטְנָה) means "accusation." We have already seen the name Rehoboth as the possible name of a city in Genesis 10:11 where the word may mean "square" or "broad places." 

Genesis 26:23-25, God's covenant with Isaac

From there he went up to Beersheba. That night the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham." Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.

God repeats His covenant with Isaac and Isaac responds by building an altar, where he will worship, and digging a well, which lays claim to the land.

Genesis 26:26-33, Agreement with Abimelech

Meanwhile, Abimelech had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. Isaac asked them, "Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?"

They answered, "We saw clearly that the LORD was with you; so we said, `There ought to be a sworn agreement between us'--between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you that you will do us no harm, just as we did not molest you but always treated you well and sent you away in peace. And now you are blessed by the LORD."

Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.

That day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, "We've found water!" He called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba.

Abimelech decides he wants to be on Isaac's side!

Genesis 26:34-35, Esau

When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

The last verse in this passage hints at a family conflict that will reach its climax in the next chapter.

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is rechob, 

רְחֹב

a feminine noun meaning "a broad place" or a "square." It shows up in Genesis 19:2, when Lot's visitors offer to spend the night in the city square. That word then changes slightly, above, where a version of the word in verse 22 is a name representing space or room.

Some Random Thoughts

As a new Christian, in my teens, and just beginning to date, my girlfriend and I occasionally read the King James Version of the Bible together. In verse 8 above, Abimelech looks out a window and sees Isaac with Rebekah. According to the KJV, Isaac is "sporting with" his wife. I loved that rather delicate and vague phrase -- and my active (male) imagination could fill in details, details which included the NIV's "caressing." Although it is easy to ridicule the KJV's ancient English, it turns out that "sporting with" is probably a pretty good translation. The Hebrew word is a version of tsachaq (צְחַק), a word we met before as "laughter" in God's conversations with Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 17-19. Indeed, it is the name of Isaac! But in Genesis 21:9-10, the word is translated "mocking". The Hebrew word apparently includes "teasing" or "play" within its meanings. Isaac is teasing or playing with his wife, in a manner that apparently makes it clear that they have a sexual relationship.

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First published Jan 31, 2023; updated Jan 30, 2026

Genesis 25, Descendants of Abraham

Young Isaac has a wife.  Now we transition from the story of Abraham to the story of Isaac.

Genesis 25:1-4, Abraham's other wife

Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan; the descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, the Letushites and the Leummites.  The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah.

We now are told that Abraham had another wife (the word translated "took" in verse 1 could also be translated "had taken".)  We are quickly caught up on this other lineage. From the point of view of the Genesis author, these other lines are not important; the story concentrates on Isaac and Jacob.

Genesis 25:5-11, Death of Abraham
Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east. Altogether, Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years. Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people.

His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah.

After Abraham's death, God blessed his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.

In addition to Keturah, there may have been other women, described as concubines. The Keturah/concubine line(s) were not nearly as important as that of Isaac. The author gives a quick summary of those lines, including assurances that Abraham passed on appropriate gifts to these children. Abraham, after living to age 175 (?!!), dies and is "gathered to his people" and is buried in the same place as Sarah.

Genesis 25:12-18, Ishmael
This is the account of Abraham's son Ishmael, whom Sarah's maidservant, Hagar the Egyptian, bore to Abraham. These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. These were the sons of Ishmael, and these are the names of the twelve tribal rulers according to their settlements and camps.

Altogether, Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died, and 

he was gathered to his people. His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the border of Egypt, as you go toward Asshur. And they lived in hostility toward all their brothers.

Another lineage from Abraham is that of Ishmael. The passage, and the next, alert us to important genealogies with the Hebrew word toledoth (תּוֹלְדָה). Sometimes translated "generations" and by the NIV translated "account", the word alerts us to a significant genealogical line. In this paragraph, as a brief tangent, the Israelite readers are told of the tribes that descend from Ishmael. In the next paragraph the readers are led back along the important line of Isaac.

According to the NIV footnotes, the translation "lived in hostility toward" could be "lived to the east of".

Genesis 25:19-26, Birth of the twins, Jacob and Esau

This is the account of Abraham's son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac, and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.

Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, "Why is this happening to me?" So she went to inquire of the LORD.

The LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger."

When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau's heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.

Paddan Aram is upper Mesopotamia, about 550 miles north-northeast of Jerusalem.

The Hebrew word sear (שֵׂעָר) means "hairy"; this is close to the name Esav (עֵשָׂו), which adds a prefix. Esau will also be called Edom (אֱדֹם), a variant of adom (אֱדֹם), which means "red". The descendants of Esau are thus called Edomites We will meet them throughout our Old Testament study.

The writer of Genesis moves us quickly from Abraham to his important grandson Jacob. Jacob means "he grasps the heel" which has the connotation of tripping people up, of deceiving them. From birth Jacob will be marked by his willingness to be sneaky and deceptive, and by the fact that he is not the first born. The first such episode follows immediately....

Genesis 25:27-34, Esau sells his birthright

The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, "Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I'm famished!" (That is why he was also called Edom.)

Jacob replied, "First sell me your birthright."

"Look, I am about to die," Esau said. "What good is the birthright to me?"

But Jacob said, "Swear to me first." 

So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.

Jacob takes advantage of Esau's hunger and impetuousness. (No, Esau is not about to die!) Esau does not understand what he has done. Both Jacob's scheming and his concerns about his birthright are front and center in this story.

Alter uses this passage as an example of the vividness of the Hebrew text. He translates Esau's statement as 

"Let me gulp down some of this red red stuff". 

The Hebrew word Alter translates as "gulp" is an unusual one for eating, a word that in the Talmud is usually reserved for stuffing food in the mouth of an animal (Alter, p. xxxi.)  The phrase translated "red red" carries the same hurried image. The sudden colloquialism conveys (says Alter) that Esau is crude and impatient. 

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is ishshah, 

אִשָּׁה

a feminine noun meaning woman or wife.

Some Random Thoughts

We are told that Abraham is "gathered to his people". This fits the ANE image of the dead being gathered into Sheol, the shadowy land of the dead. In Genesis 37:35, upon being (falsely) told that his son Joseph, is dead, Jacob states that he will grieve his son until he joins his son in Sheol. In 2 Samuel 12:22-23, upon hearing of the death of his infant son, King David says that he will some day join his son. None of this is a robust statement about an afterlife but, most likely, reflects the ANE belief in the commonality of the grave.

First published Jan 30, 2023; updated Jan 29, 2026

Genesis 24, A Wife for Isaac

Now that Sarah has died and Abraham is very old, it is time for Isaac to find a wife.

Genesis 24:1-4, Find a wife for Isaac
Abraham was now old and well advanced in years, and the LORD had blessed him in every way. He said to the chief servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, "Put your hand under my thigh. I want you to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac."

Abraham forces his (unnamed) servant to make a strong promise ("cross your heart".) Apparently the intimacy of "put your hand under my thigh," added solemnity to the promise.

Genesis 24:5-9, Some questions
The servant asked him, "What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?"

"Make sure that you do not take my son back there," Abraham said. "The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father's household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, `To your offspring I will give this land'--he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there.

"If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there."

So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.

Abraham will not retreat from this new land, but does not want his son to marry a pagan Canaanite.

Genesis 24:10-14, The servant visits Nahor
Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and left, taking with him all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim and made his way to the town of Nahor. He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water.

Then he prayed, "O LORD, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a girl, `Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,' and she says, `Drink, and I'll water your camels too'--let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master."

Aram Naharaim is northwest Mesopotamia.

The servant makes a very specific prayer. Many call this "laying down a fleece", after the story of Gideon's fleece, from the book of Judges. The request not only asks for God's intervention, but also asks for a certain notable energy and generosity in the woman's character. As Walton points out, a woman offering the man a drink from the well is expected. But offering to water all his thirsty camels is another thing altogether!

Genesis 24:15-16a, Beautiful Rebekah
Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor. The girl was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever lain with her. 

Here comes an eligible young woman.... She is the daughter of Abraham's nephew, Bethuel. And she is beautiful.

Genesis 24:16b-20, "I will water your camels also"

She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.

he servant hurried to meet her and said, "Please give me a little water from your jar."

"Drink, my lord," she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink. After she had given him a drink, she said, "I'll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking." So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels.

Rebekah offers to also water the camels, an act of significant generosity which meets the servant's prayer. This energetic and kind young woman quickly impresses the servant.

Robert Alter argues that the Hebrew of this passage loses much in translation, for it contains a sequence of rapid actions briefly separated by the Hebrew conjunction vav (וַ, "and".) He translates this passage as follows. Note the poetic impression of energy and speed.

And she came down to the spring 

and filled her jug

and came back up 

and the servant ran toward her 

and said, "Pray, let me sip a bit of water from your jug."

And she said, "Drink, my lord"

and she let him drink his fill 

and said, "Fill your camels, too. I shall draw water until they drink their fill."

And she hurried

and emptied her jug into the trough

and she ran again to the well to draw water 

and drew water for all his camels.

The reader knows this will be a good mate for Isaac!

Genesis 24:21-25, The servant is invited to stay the night

Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the LORD had made his journey successful. When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels. Then he asked, "Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father's house for us to spend the night?"

She answered him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milcah bore to Nahor." And she added, "We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night."

Rebekah is the grandson of Nahor, Abraham's cousin.  Her father, Bethuel, is then a cousin of Isaac. The culture of the ANE expects an offer of a place to spend the night (unlike the actions of the people of Sodom earlier, in chapter 19.)

The gold ring and two gold bracelets are quite valuable. The servant is making it clear that he comes from wealth and the gifts may hint at a future bride price. A beka (beqa, בֶּקַע, literally "half") was half a shekel. Ten shekels of gold, says Walton, would be more than a typical worker could earn in a year.

Genesis 24:26-28, The servant worships

Then the man bowed down and worshiped the LORD, saying, "Praise be to the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on the journey to the house of my master's relatives."

The girl ran and told her mother's household about these things.

Abraham's servant praises God for leading him to the right place.  Meanwhile the girl runs to talk to her mother. We are to understand that this is a big moment in the young woman's life. 

Genesis 24:29-33, Welcomed
Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he hurried out to the man at the spring. As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister's arms, and had heard Rebekah tell what the man said to her, he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring. "Come, you who are blessed by the LORD," he said. "Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels."

So the man went to the house, and the camels were unloaded. Straw and fodder were brought for the camels, and water for him and his men to wash their feet. Then food was set before him, but he said, "I will not eat until I have told you what I have to say." 

"Then tell us," [Laban] said.

Laban welcomes the servant and asks for the details of the visit and proposal. Laban apparently has a significant say in his sister's future. (Presumably Bethuel, Rebekah's father, is no longer living.)

Genesis 24:34-49, Proposal

So he said, "I am Abraham's servant. The LORD has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, menservants and maidservants, and camels and donkeys.

My master's wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns. And my master made me swear an oath, and said, `You must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, but go to my father's family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.'

"Then I asked my master, `What if the woman will not come back with me?'

"He replied, `The LORD, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you can get a wife for my son from my own clan and from my father's family. Then, when you go to my clan, you will be released from my oath even if they refuse to give her to you--you will be released from my oath.'

"When I came to the spring today, I said, `O LORD, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come. See, I am standing beside this spring; if a maiden comes out to draw water and I say to her, "Please let me drink a little water from your jar," and if she says to me, "Drink, and I'll draw water for your camels too," let her be the one the LORD has chosen for my master's son.'

"Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, `Please give me a drink.' She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, `Drink, and I'll water your camels too.' So I drank, and she watered the camels also.

"I asked her, `Whose daughter are you?' "She said, `The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him.' "Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms, and I bowed down and worshiped the LORD. I praised the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master's brother for his son.

"Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn."

The servant tells his story. Our author repeats all the details! The servant's prayer, made right before meeting Rebekah, is reported as being "in my heart", that is, it was not said out loud.

Genesis 24:50-54 Proposal accepted
Laban and Bethuel answered, "This is from the LORD; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master's son, as the LORD has directed."

When Abraham's servant heard what they said, he bowed down to the ground before the LORD. Then the servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and articles of clothing and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave costly gifts to her brother and to her mother. Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night there. When they got up the next morning, he said, "Send me on my way to my master."

The family agree to the marriage proposal and they acknowledge the proposal as a response to divine action.

Genesis 24:55-61, Rebekah will leave her mother now
But her brother and her mother replied, "Let the girl remain with us ten days or so; then you may go."

But he said to them, "Do not detain me, now that the LORD has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master."

Then they said, "Let's call the girl and ask her about it."

So they called Rebekah and asked her, "Will you go with this man?" 

"I will go," she said.

So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham's servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, "Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess the gates of their enemies." Then Rebekah and her maids got ready and mounted their camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.

Rebekah is asked if she (and her nurse and maids) are ready to go with the servant. She agrees. (This must all be scary for Rebekah! As was common in the ANE, she is now pledged to marry a man she has not met!) The family gives her a blessing that echoes YHWH's promise to Abraham.

Genesis 24:62-67, Isaac meets Rebekah

Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. He went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel and asked the servant, "Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?" 

"He is my master," the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself. Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. 

Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.

Isaac goes out to meditate one evening and sees the servant's caravan approaching. Rebekah, seeing a strange man walking towards her, asks who he is and when learning that it is her future husband, she puts on her veil so as to "cover herself."

In verse 63, the Hebrew wrord suach (שׂוּחַ) is translated "to meditate" by the NIV. This is the only occurrence of that word in all of the Old Testament. Strong's concordance identifies the word as a "primitive root; to muse pensively." Is Isaac praying as the caravan approaches?

Rebekah is brought into the tent of Isaac's mother, indicating her role as lead woman of the household and also suggesting her future role as a mother. (The mother's bedroom offered intimacy and fertility; see Song of Songs 3:4, for example.) Rebekah will be the woman Isaac needs. She will be a valuable new mother amongst the children of Abraham, but she is also loved by Isaac and brings him comfort as he grieves for his mother.

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is naarah, girl, young woman

נַעֲרָה

The word occurs six times in this chapter, the first five times referring to Rebekah; the final time (verse 61) it refers to Rebekah's maids.

Some Random Thoughts

We see more of the culture of the ancient Near East (ANE.) Abram's servant hunts for a wife and finds Rebekah and then discusses the marriage arrangement with her brother. (Presumably Rebekah's father has died?) Then Rebekah, escorted by her nurse (a chaperon) and maids, travels with the servant back to the Negev. When Rebekah understands that the man walking towards her is her future husband, she quickly and modestly puts on a veil. Then, living the dream of every young woman of the ANE, she is given a tent that reflects her status as the wife of a wealthy man -- and a mother-to-be.

First published Jan 28, 2023; updated Jan 28, 2026