Albert Barnes Commentary Genesis 25

1. קטוּרה qeṭûrâh — “Qeturah, incense.”
2. זמרן zı̂mrān — “Zimran, celebrated in song.” יקשׁן yāqshān — “Joqshan, fowler.” מדן medān — “Medan, judge.” מדין mı̂dyān — “Midian, one who measures.” לאבק yı̂shbāq — “Jishbaq, he leaves.” שׁוּח shûach — “Shuach, pit.”
3. לטוּשׁם leṭûshı̂ym — “Letushim, hammered, sharpened.” לאמים le'umı̂ym — “Leummim, peoples.”
4. עיפה ‛ êypâh , “‘Ephah, darkness.” עפר ‛ êper , “‘Epher, dust.” אבידע 'ǎbı̂ydā‛ — “Abida‘, father of knowledge.” אלדעה 'eldā‛âh — “Elda‘ah, knowing?”

Another family is born to Abraham by Keturah and portioned off, after which he dies and is buried (Genesis 25:1–6).

Added and took a wife. - According to the laws of Hebrew composition, this event may have taken place before the one recorded at the end of the previous chapter. We have several examples of this law in this very chapter. There is nothing contrary to the customs of that period in adding wife to wife.

We cannot say that Abraham was prevented from taking Keturah during Sarah's lifetime by any moral feeling that would not also have prevented him from taking Hagar. It has also been noticed that Keturah is called a concubine, which is thought to imply that the proper wife was still living, and that Abraham was a very old man when Sarah died.

But, on the other hand, it is to be remembered that these sons were in any case born after Isaac's birth, and therefore after Abraham was renewed in vital powers. If this renewal of vigor remained after Isaac's birth, it may have continued for some time after Sarah's death, whom he survived by thirty-eight years. His abstinence from taking any concubine until Sarah gave him Hagar argues against his taking any other during Sarah’s lifetime. His loneliness after Sarah's death may have prompted him to seek a companion for his old age.

If this step was delayed until Isaac was married and therefore separated from him, an additional motive would have impelled him in the same direction. He was not bound to raise this wife to the full rights of a proper wife, even if Sarah were dead. Six sons could have been born to him twenty-five years before his death. If Hagar and Ishmael were dismissed when Ishmael was about fifteen years old, Keturah might have been dismissed when her youngest son was twenty or twenty-five. We are not justified, then, still less compelled, to place Abraham’s second marriage before Sarah's death, or even before Isaac's marriage. It seems to appear in the narrative in chronological order (Genesis 25:2).

Attempts to identify the tribes that descended from these six sons of Keturah have not been very successful. Zimran has been compared with Ζαβράμ Zabram (Ptolemy vi. 7, 5), situated west of Mecca on the Red Sea. Jokshan has been compared with the Κασσανῖται Kassanitai (Ptolemy vi. 7, 6), and with the tribe Jakish among the Himyarites in South Arabia. Medan has been compared with Μοδιάνα Modiana on the east coast of the Aelanitic Gulf.

Midian is found in two localities: west of the Aelanitic Gulf and east of the Salt Sea. Moses later found refuge in the former region. The latter Midianites were probably east of Abraham’s residence. Ishbak is compared with Shobek, a place in Idumaea. Shuah probably belongs to the same region. He may be the ancestor of Bildad the Shuhite (Job 2:11).

Of these, Midian alone appears to be identified with certainty. The others may have been absorbed into that congeries of tribes, the Arabs (Genesis 25:3–4).

Sheba, Dedan, and Asshurim are recurring names (Genesis 10:7, Genesis 10:22, Genesis 10:28), describing other Arab tribes that are equally unknown. The three sons of Dedan may be traced in the Asir tribe of southern Hejaz, the Beni Leits of Hejaz, and the Beni Lam of the Mesopotamian borders. Of the sons of Midian, Ephah is mentioned in Isaiah 60:6 along with Midian. Epher is compared with Beni Ghifar in Hejaz, Henok with Hanakye north of Medinah, Abida with the Abide, and Eldaah with the Wadaa.

These conjectures by Burckhardt are chiefly useful in showing that similar names still exist in the country. There are sixteen descendants by Keturah mentioned here: six sons of Abraham, seven grandsons, and three great-grandsons. If there were any daughters, they are not mentioned. It is not customary to mention females unless they are connected with leading historical figures.

These descendants of Abraham and Keturah are the third contribution of Palgites to the Joktanites, who constituted the original element of the Arabs; the descendants of Lot and Ishmael preceded them. All these branches of the Arab nation are descended from Heber (Genesis 25:5–6).

Abraham makes Isaac his heir (Genesis 24:36). He gives portions to the sons of the concubines during his lifetime and sends them away to the East. Ishmael had been portioned off long before (Genesis 21:14). The "East" is a general name for Arabia, which stretched to the southeast and east from where Abraham lived in southern Palestine.

The northern part of Arabia, which lay due east of Palestine, was formerly more fertile and populous than it is now. The sons of Keturah were probably dismissed before they had any children. Their notable descendants, according to custom, are added here before they are dismissed from the main line of the narrative.

The death of Abraham (Genesis 25:7–11). His years were one hundred and seventy-five. He survived Sarah by thirty-eight years and Isaac’s marriage by thirty-five years. His grandfather lived one hundred and forty-eight years, his father two hundred and five, his son Isaac one hundred and eighty, and his grandson Jacob one hundred and forty-seven; so his age was the full average for that period.

He “expired”—breathed his last. He died “in a happy old age,” in external and internal blessedness (Genesis 15:15). He was “old and full”—having attained the standard length of life in his time and being satisfied with this life, so that he was ready and willing to depart. He was “gathered to his peoples” (Genesis 15:15).

To be gathered is not to cease to exist but to continue existing in another sphere. His peoples, the departed families from whom he descended, are still in being in another, no less real, world.

This, and the similar expression in the passage quoted, provide the first fact in the history of the soul after death, just as burial is the first step in that of the body.

Isaac and Ishmael, - in brotherly cooperation (Genesis 25:9–10). Ishmael was the oldest son, dwelt in the presence of all his brethren, and had a special blessing. The sons of Keturah were far away in the East, very young, and had no particular blessing. Ishmael is therefore properly associated with Isaac in paying the last offices to their deceased father.

The burying-place had been prepared beforehand. Its purchase is recounted here with great precision as a testimony to the fact. This burial ground is an earnest of the promised possession.

This verse (Genesis 25:11) is an appendix to the history of Abraham, stating that the blessing of God, which he had enjoyed until his death, now descended upon his son Isaac, who dwelt at Beer-lahai-roi. The general name “God” is used here because the blessing of God denotes the material and temporal prosperity that Abraham had experienced, in comparison with other men of his day.

We will hear in due time about the spiritual and eternal blessings connected with Yahweh, the proper name of the Author of being and blessing.

The section now completed contains the seventh of the documents beginning with the formula, “these are the generations.” It begins in the eleventh chapter and ends in the twenty-fifth, and therefore contains a greater number of chapters and more material than the whole of the preceding narrative. This is as it should be in a record of God's ways with man.

In the former sections, things prior and external to man come into the foreground; they lie at the basis of his being, and his mental and moral birth. In the present section, things internal to man and flowing from him are brought into view. These coincide with the growth of his spiritual nature. The latter are no less momentous than the former for the true and full development of his faculties and capacities.

In the former sections, the absolute being of God is assumed, and the beginning of the heavens and the earth is asserted. The reconstruction of skies and land and the creation of a new series of plants and animals are recorded. This new creation is completed by the creation of man in the image of God and after His likeness.

The placing of man in a garden of fruit trees prepared for his sustenance and gratification; the primeval command, with its first lessons in language, physics, ethics, and theology; the second lesson in speaking when the animals were named; and the separation of man into male and female, are followed by the institutions of wedlock and the Sabbath. These are the fountainheads of social interaction with man and God, the foreshadows of the second and first tables of the law.

The fall of man in the second lesson of ethics; the sentence of the Judge, containing at its very heart the intimation of mercy; the act of fratricide, followed by the general corruption of the whole race; the notices of Sheth; of calling on the name of Yahweh, which began at the birth of Enosh; of Henok, who walked with God; and of Noah, who found grace in His sight—all these are significant events.

The flood, sweeping away the corruption of man while saving righteous Noah, and the confusion of tongues, defeating man's ambition while preparing for the replenishing of the earth and the liberties of men—these complete the chain of prominent facts that stand in the background of man’s history. These are all critical moments, potent elements in man's memory, and foundation-stones of his history and philosophy.

They cannot be overcome or ignored without absurdity or criminality.

In the section now completed, the sacred writer descends from the general to the special, from the distant to the near, from the class to the individual. He dissects the soul of a man and discloses to our view the whole process of spiritual life, from the newborn babe to the perfect man.

Out of the womb of that restless, selfish race, from whom, as it was said, nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do, Abram comes forth, with all the lineaments of their moral image upon him. The Lord calls him to Himself, to His mercy, His blessing, and His service. He obeys the call. That is the moment of his new birth.

The acceptance of the divine call is the tangible fact that demonstrates a new nature. From then on, he is a disciple in the school of heaven, having yet much to learn before he becomes a master.

From this time forward, the spiritual predominates in Abram; very little of the carnal appears.

Two sides of his mental character present themselves in alternate passages, which may be called the physical and the metaphysical, or the things of the body and the things of the soul. In the former, only the carnal or old corrupt nature sometimes appears; in the latter, the new nature advances from stage to stage of spiritual growth toward perfection. His entrance into the land of promise is followed by his descent into Egypt, his generous forbearance in parting with Lot, his valorous conduct in rescuing him, and his dignified demeanor toward Melchizedek and the king of Sodom.

The second stage of his spiritual development now presents itself to our view. On receiving the promise, “Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, thy exceeding great reward,” he believes in the Lord, who counts it to him for righteousness, and enters into covenant with Him. This is the first fruit of the new birth, and it is followed by the birth of Ishmael.

On hearing the authoritative announcement, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be perfect,” he performs the first act of that obedience which is the keystone of repentance: receiving the sign of the covenant. He then proceeds to the high functions of holding communion and making intercession with God.

These spiritual acts are followed by the destruction of the cities of the Jordan valley, with the preservation of Lot, the sojourning in Gerar, the birth of Isaac, and the league with Abimelech. The last great act of Abraham's spiritual life is the surrender of his only son to God's will, and this, in turn, is followed by the death and burial of Sarah, the marriage of Isaac, and Abraham's second marriage.

It is evident that every movement in the physical and ethical history of Abraham is fraught with instruction of the deepest interest for the heirs of immortality. The leading points in spiritual experience are presented to us here. The susceptibilities and activities of a soul born of the Spirit are revealed to us. These are lessons for eternity.

Every descendant of Abraham, every collateral branch of his family, every contemporary eyewitness or ear-witness, could have profited in the things of eternity from all this precious treasury of spiritual knowledge. Many of the Gentiles still had, and all could have had, a knowledge of the covenant with Noah and a share in its promised blessings. This would not have prevented, but only promoted, Abraham's mission to be the father of the seed in whom all the families of man should effectually be blessed.

In the meantime, it would have caused the new revelation of spiritual experience, displayed in Abraham's life for the perfecting of the saints, to be circulated to the ends of the earth.

Verse 13: נבית n^ebāyot — Nebajoth, “heights”; קדר qēdār — Qedar, “black”; אדבאל 'adb^e'ēl — Adbeel, “miracle of God?”; מבשׂם mı̂bśām — Mibsam, “sweet odor.”

Verse 14: משׁמע mı̂shma‛ — Mishma‘, “hearing”; דוּמה dûmâh — Dumah, “silence”; משׂא maśā' — Massa, “burden.”

Verse 15: חדר chădar — Chadar, “chamber,” or חדד chădad — Chadad, “sharpness”; תימא tēymā' — Tema; יטוּר y^eṭûr — Jetur, “enclosure,” akin to טוּר ṭûr, “a wall,” and טירה ṭı̂yrâh, “a wall”; נפישׁ nāpı̂ysh — Naphish, “breathing”; קדמה qēd^emâh — Qedemah, “before, eastward.”

Verse 16 refers to חצר chātsēr — “court, village, town.”

According to custom, before the history of the principal line is taken up, that of the collateral branch is briefly given. Thus, Cain’s history is closed before Sheth’s is commenced; Japheth and Ham are before Shem; Haran and Nahor before Abram. And so the sons of Keturah are first dismissed from the pages of history, and then Ishmael.

(Genesis 25:12)

The present passage begins with the formula, “and these are the generations,” and forms the eighth document so commencing. The appearance of a document consisting of seven verses is clearly against the supposition that each of these documents is due to a different author. The phrase points to a change of subject, not of author.

(Genesis 25:13–16)

Nebaioth (Isaiah 60:7) is preserved in the Nabataei inhabiting Arabia Petraea and extending far toward the East. “Kedar” (Isaiah 21:17) appears in the Cedrei of Pliny (Natural History 5.12) who dwell east of Petraea. “Adbeel,” “Mibsam,” and “Mishma” are otherwise unknown. The last is connected with the Μαισαιμενεῖς (Maisaimeneis) of Ptolemy (5.7.21).

“Dumah” (Isaiah 21:11) is probably Δούμεθα (Doumetha) of Ptolemy (6.19.7) and Domata of Pliny (Natural History 6.32), and Dumat el-Jendel in Nejd and the Syrian desert. “Massa” may be preserved in the Μασανοὶ (Masanoi) of Ptolemy (5.19.2), northeast of Duma. “Hadar” is given as Hadad in 1 Chronicles 1:30, a reading also found in the Samaritan Pentateuch, Onkelos, perhaps the Septuagint, and many codices.

This Hadar is supposed to be Χαττηνία (Chatteenia) of Polybius, Attene, and to lie between Oman and Bahrein. “Tema” (Job 6:19; Isaiah 21:14; Jeremiah 25:23) lay on the borders of Nejd and the Syrian desert. “Jetur” remains in Ituraea, Jedur, northeast of the Sea of Galilee. Some suppose the Druses descended from him. “Naphish” (1 Chronicles 6:19; 1 Chronicles 6:22) lay in the same area. “Kedemah” is otherwise unknown.

The phrases “In their towns and in their castles” (Genesis 25:16) refer to the former as unwalled collections of houses or perhaps tents, and the latter as fortified keeps or encampments. They were “twelve princes” (Genesis 25:16), one for each tribe, descended from his twelve sons.

(Genesis 25:17–18)

Ishmael dies at the age of a hundred and thirty-seven. His descendants dwelt “From Havilah,” on the borders of Arabia Petraea and Felix, “unto Shur,” on the borders of Arabia and Egypt. This was the original seat of the Ishmaelites, from which they wandered far into Arabia. “He had fallen” into the lot of his inheritance “in the presence of all his brethren”—the descendants of Abraham by Sarah and Keturah, those of Lot, and the Egyptians who were his brethren or near kindred by his mother and wife. Thus was fulfilled the prediction uttered before his birth (Genesis 16:12).

פדן padān — Paddan, “plowed field;” related: “cut, plow.”

עשׂי ‛êśâv, Esau, “hairy, or made.”

יעקב ya‛ăqôb — Ja’aqob, “he shall take the heel.”

תם tām — “perfect, peaceful, plain.” The epithet refers to disposition, and contrasts the comparatively civilized character of Jacob with the rude temper of Esau.

אדים 'ědôm — Edom, “red.”

The ninth document here begins with the usual phrase and continues to the end of the thirty-fifth chapter. It contains the history of the second of the three patriarchs, or rather, as the opening phrase intimates, of the generations of Isaac—that is, of his son Jacob. Isaac himself is not a prominent figure in the sacred history.

Born when his mother was ninety and his father a hundred years of age, he had a sedate, contemplative, and yielding disposition. Consenting to be laid on the altar as a sacrifice to God, he had the stamp of submission early and deeply impressed on his soul. His life corresponds with these antecedents. Hence, in the spiritual aspect of his character, he was the man of patience, of acquiescence, of susceptibility, of obedience. His qualities were those of the son, as Abraham’s were those of the father. He carried out but did not initiate; he followed but did not lead; he continued but did not commence.

Accordingly, the docile and patient side of the saintly character is now to be presented to our view.

The birth of Esau and Jacob (Genesis 25:19–26). Isaac was “the son of forty years.” Hence, we learn that Isaac was married the third year after his mother’s death, when Abraham was in his hundred and fortieth year. Rebekah is described as the daughter of “Bethuel the Aramaean.” As Bethuel was a descendant of Arphaxad, not of Aram, he is here designated not by his descent but by his adopted country, Aram. By descent, he was a Kasdi or Chaldean. Sarah was barren for at least thirty years; Rebekah for nineteen years. This prompted the prayer of Isaac for his wife. The heir of promise was to be a child of prayer, and accordingly, when the prayer ascended, the fruit of the womb was given. Rebekah had unusual sensations connected with her pregnancy. She said to herself, if I have conceived seed, “If it be so, why am I thus?”—why this strange struggle within me?

In the artlessness of her faith, she goes to the Lord for an explanation. We are not informed in what way she consulted God or how He replied. The expression, “she went to inquire of the Lord,” implies that there was some place of worship and communion with God by prayer. We are not to suppose that she went to Abraham or any other prophet, if such were then at hand, as we have no intimation of this in the text. Her communication with the Lord seems to have been direct. This passage suggests to us that there was now a fixed mode and perhaps place of inquiring of the Lord.

The Lord answers the mother of the promised seed. Two children are in her womb, the parents of two nations, differing in their dispositions and destinies. The one is to be stronger than the other. The order of nature is to be reversed in them, for the older will serve the younger. Their struggles in the womb are a prelude to their future history.

The twins are born in due time (Genesis 25:24–26). The difference is manifest in their outward appearance. The first is red and hairy. These qualities indicate a passionate and precocious nature. He is called “Esau the hairy,” or “the made up,” the prematurely developed. His brother is like other children. An act takes place in the very birth foreshadowing their future history. The second has a hold of his brother’s heel, as if he would trip him up from his very birth. Hence, he is called “Jacob the wrestler,” who takes hold by the heel.

The brothers prove to be different in disposition and habit (Genesis 25:27–34). The rough, fiery Esau takes to the field and becomes skilled in all modes of catching game. Jacob is of a homely, peaceful, orderly turn, dwelling in tents and gathering around him the means and comforts of a quiet social life. The children please their parents as they supply what is lacking in themselves. Isaac, himself so sedate, loves the wild, wandering hunter, because he supplies him with pleasures which his own quiet habits do not reach. Rebekah becomes attached to the gentle, industrious shepherd, who satisfies those social and spiritual tendencies in which she is more dependent than Isaac. Esau is destructive of game; Jacob is constructive of cattle.

A characteristic incident in their early life is attended with very important consequences (Genesis 25:29–34). “Jacob sod pottage.” He has become a sage in the practical comforts of life. Esau leaves the field for the tent, exhausted with fatigue. The sight and smell of Jacob’s savory dish of lentil soup are very tempting to a hungry man. “Let me feed now on that red, red broth.” He does not know how to name it. The lentil is common in the country and forms a cheap and palatable dish of a reddish-brown color, with which bread seems to have been eaten. The two brothers were not congenial.

They would therefore act independently of each other and each provide for himself. Esau was no doubt occasionally rude and hasty. Hence, a selfish habit would grow up and gather strength. He was probably accustomed to supply himself with such food as suited his palate and might have done so on this occasion without any delay. But the rich flavor and high color of the stew, which Jacob was preparing for himself, takes his fancy, and nothing will do but the “red, red.” Jacob obviously regarded this as a rude and selfish intrusion on his privacy and property, in keeping with similar encounters that may have taken place between the brothers.

It is here added, “therefore was his name called Edom,” that is, “Red.” The origin of surnames, or second names for the same person or place, is a matter of some importance in the fair interpretation of an ancient document. It is sometimes hastily assumed that the same name can only owe its application to one occasion; and hence a record of a second occasion on which it was applied is regarded as a discrepancy. But the error lies in the interpreter, not in the author.

The propriety of a particular name may be marked by two or more totally different circumstances, and its application renewed on each of these occasions. Even an imaginary cause may be assigned for a name and may serve to originate or renew its application. The two brothers now before us provide very striking illustrations of the general principle. It is pretty certain that Esau would receive the secondary name of Edom, which ultimately became primary in point of use, from the red complexion of his skin, even from his birth. But the exclamation “that red red,” uttered on the occasion of a very important crisis in his history, renewed the name and perhaps tended to make it take the place of Esau in the history of his race.

Jacob, too, the holder of the heel, received this name from a circumstance occurring at his birth. But the buying of the birthright and the gaining of the blessing were two occasions in his subsequent life on which he merited the title of the supplanter or the holder by the heel (Genesis 27:36). These instances prepare us to expect other examples of the same name being applied to the same object for different reasons on different occasions.

“Sell me this day thy birthright.” This brings to light a new cause of disagreement between the brothers. Jacob was no doubt aware of the prediction communicated to his mother, that the older should serve the younger. A quiet man like him would not otherwise have thought of reversing the order of nature and custom. In after times, the right of primogeniture consisted in a double portion of the father’s goods (Deuteronomy 21:17) and a certain rank as the patriarch and priest of the house on the death of the father. But in the case of Isaac, there was the far higher dignity of chief of the chosen family and heir of the promised blessing, with all the immediate and ultimate temporal and eternal benefits therein included. Knowing all this, Jacob is willing to purchase the birthright as the most peaceful way of bringing about the supremacy that was destined for him. He is therefore cautious and prudent, even conciliating in his proposal.

He availed himself of a weak moment to accomplish by consent what was to come. Yet he lays no necessity on Esau but leaves him to his own free choice. We must therefore beware of blaming him for endeavoring to win his brother’s concurrence in a thing that was already settled in the purpose of God. His chief error lay in attempting to anticipate the arrangements of Providence. Esau is strangely ready to dispose of his birthright for a trivial present gratification. He might have obtained other equally suitable sustenance, but he will sacrifice anything for the desire of the moment. Any higher importance of the right he was prepared to sell so cheaply seems to have escaped his view, if it had ever occurred to his mind. Jacob, however, is deeply in earnest.

He will bring this matter within the range of heavenly influence. He will have God solemnly invoked as a witness of the transfer. Even this does not startle Esau. There is not a word about the price. It is plain that Esau’s thoughts were altogether on “the morsel of meat.” He swears to Jacob. He then ate and drank, and rose up and went his way, as the sacred writer graphically describes his reckless course. Most truly did he despise his birthright. His mind did not rise to higher or further things. Such was the boyhood of these wondrous twins.