Genesis 25:1-34 • Transition - from Abraham to Jacob
- Steve Schott
- Feb 5
- 8 min read
► We've reached a chapter now that is a major transition in the Old Testament.
► The era of Abraham is over.
► One would think that it's now the era of Isaac, but it is not.
► For all intents and purposes, as far as the OT text is concerned, from this point on until the end of the book of Genesis, the main characters in this play are now Jacob, who at one point will be renamed Israel, and his 12 sons, and of those, Joseph who will be the man in the spotlight until the end.
► In the middle of this chapter is a section, call it an aside or a turnout, that will deal for a moment with Ishmael, the oldest son of Abraham, and I believe it is there primarily to remind us that God always fulfills His promises.
► I'd like to insert here, a little technical info that is easy to miss, but I think will add some appreciation for all that has transpired in Genesis up to this point. From Adam, to the death of Abraham, there has elapsed 2,184 years. NOT 2184BC, but counting up from Adam at 0 (zero), Abraham would have been born in year 2009, and in this passage will die at age 175, in year 2184.
► You might say, "well, Steve how can you know that for sure?" I can because it's in the text in Genesis. All those genealogies that most people skip over, or at best read really fast (who can pronounce all those names anyway?), do actually give us a very clear outline of who was born when.
► Maybe I'll do a separate posting just on the genealogical records and show chapter and verse so it's more obvious.
► Follow this link to a PowerPoint that shows the breakdown of Genesis, with some charts (the one to the right included) that lay out the timeline in Genesis... Genesis Timeline PowerPoint
The death of Abraham
1 Now Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. 2 She bore to him Zimran and Jokshan and Medan and Midian and Ishbak and Shuah. 3 Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim. 4 The sons of Midian were Ephah and Epher and Hanoch and Abida and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah. 5 Now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac; 6 but to the sons of his concubines, Abraham gave gifts while he was still living, and sent them away from his son Isaac eastward, to the land of the east.
→ In a way, it hurts my feelings that Abraham, who was so in love with Sarah, and had endured so much with her through their life together, would take another wife after Sarah's passing.
→ At least two commentators suggested the possibility that this new wife, "Keturah", who is actually referred to as a "concubine" (doesn't have the full rights of a wife) in 1st Chronicles 1:28-34, might have actually been acquired while Sarah was still alive. The reason for this is that Keturah's kids are listed in a group between Ishmael (by Hagar) and his kids, and Isaac (by Sarah) and his kids.
→ When it says in verse 6 "to the sons of his concubines", it either is referencing Hagar and Keturah, or is an indicator that there were even more women who aren't mentioned by name.
→ The key to this section lies in verse 5 where it says "Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac." He gave some "gifts" to the sons of his concubines, but to his only full son he gave his estate and all his wealth.
→ Abraham also "sent them (all his other sons) away... to the land of the east." Part of Isaac's inheritance would be all the land that God had promised to him, so the other kids had to go.
7 These are all the years of Abraham’s life that he lived, one hundred and seventy-five years. 8 Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people. 9 Then his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, facing Mamre, 10 the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth; there Abraham was buried with Sarah his wife. 11 It came about after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac lived by Beer-lahai-roi.
→ So Abram/Abraham lived to be 175 years old. Please keep in mind that this would have been the year (from Adam) 2184. This will become important in a little bit.
→ The text also tells us that "his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried" Abraham. No mention is made about any of Keturah's sons being involved. AND they buried him with Sarah, which might have seemed a little weird for Ishmael. It's not like he wouldn't have understood, but it still might have been awkward for him.
The descendants of Ishmael
12 Now these are the records of the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maid, bore to Abraham; 13 and these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael, and Kedar and Adbeel and Mibsam 14 and Mishma and Dumah and Massa, 15 Hadad and Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. 16 These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages, and by their camps; twelve princes according to their tribes. 17 These are the years of the life of Ishmael, one hundred and thirty-seven years; and he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people. 18 They settled from Havilah to Shur which is east of Egypt as one goes toward Assyria; he settled in defiance of all his relatives.
→ Ishmael's 12 sons are listed. Not sure if there is any significance to the number of sons (same number as Jacob's sons).
→ Ishmael's age at his death is listed as 137 years.
• He was born when Abraham was 87 years old.
• He was 13 when Isaac was born.
• He would have been 88 when Abraham died.
• Isaac would have been 75 when Abraham died.
• Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah.
• Isaac was 60 years old when his twins Esau and Jacob were born.
• This means that Esau and Jacob were 15 years old when Abraham died.
The sons of Isaac
19 Now these are the records of the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham became the father of Isaac; 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife.
→ Again, Isaac was 40 years old when he married, and Abraham would have been 140.
21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived.
→ The twins were born when Isaac was 60, meaning that he and Rebekah waited 20 years to have a child.
→ It's interesting to note that both his father and mother, and he and his wife had extended times waiting on the promise of an heir to be fulfilled.
22 But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why then am I this way?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. 23 The Lord said to her,
→ While Rebekah felt the turmoil going on between her two sons while in her womb, there would also be this turmoil after they were born also.
→ But God did respond to her prayer by letting her know that of each son, a nation would ensue.
→ And He also let her know that the older (and by default, the nation coming from him) would "serve the younger" (again, the nation also).
→ From the younger (Jacob) would come the nation of Israel.
→ From the older (Esau) would come the nation of Edom.
→ These two nations would always be enemies.
24 When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 Now the first came forth red, all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came forth with his hand holding on to Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob; and Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them.
→ The name Esau literally means "hairy".
→ The name Jacob literally means "heel holder" or "supplanter".
27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents.
→ The two boys couldn't be any more dissimilar. Esau was an outdoorsman, while Jacob preferred staying indoors.
→ And here is probably the greatest source of the conflict between the two sons.
→ Isaac favored Esau.
→ Rebekah favored Jacob.
29 When Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished; 30 and Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was called Edom. 31 But Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” 32 Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?” 33 And Jacob said, “First swear to me”; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
→ "Let me have a swallow of that RED stuff there...", "therefore his name was called Edom."
• Edom literally means red.
→ And here is also the first of the 2 steps taken by Jacob to supplant Esau from his rights as the first born.
• And realize this, that Esau is no less to blame for this.
• Esau, coming home hungry, asks Jacob for some of the food he had prepared, and Jacob casually asks for Esau to "sell me your birthright".
• Esau's flippant regard for this position causes him to so callously agreeing to this and swore an oath on it.
• Thus, the family is heading toward chaos.
So What?
► If we get nothing else from this passage, we at least learn that one should be very careful with family relationships.
→ It's bad enough when the kids from a single set of parents have issues with one another, but it's multiplied exponentially when they all have the same father, but different mothers.
→ Whether favoritism amongst your children is based on marital succession, or age, or interests, one needs to be very careful to avoid the appearance of favoritism, if you want to keep peace between your children.
► And since this story involves people in the line of Christ, I think it's important to realize that Jesus didn't come from some super-perfect human lineage, but rather came from a long line of messed up individuals.
► Even in Jesus lifetime, there were some conflicts (not on Jesus' part) between Him and his brothers.
Photo • 2025/03/18 - Sunrise near Claremore, OK
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by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org”
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