Genesis 25
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Summary
Abraham marries Keturah, who bares children to him. Abraham gives all that he has to Isaac. Abraham dies and is buried in the cave of Machpelah with Sarah his wife. God blesses Isaac. Ishmael dies in his 137th year. Isaac prays to God that Rebekah might bare his children. She conceives twins, Jacob and Esau. The Lord tells her that the elder will serve the younger. Esau is the firstborn, and Jacob is the younger son. Isaac loves Esau, and Rebekah loves Jacob. Esau, being near death after working in the field, sells his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of pottage.
Commentary
Bible Central Commentary
These free resources were developed for use in the free ScripturePlus app. Many of the contributors are professors of religion and ancient scripture at Brigham Young University.
Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, “Genesis 25–27,” in Genesis, Old Testament Minute Commentary Series, ed. Taylor Halverson (Springville, UT: Book of Mormon Central, 2021).
Avram Shannon, “Pottage,” in Old Testament Cultural Insights, ed. Taylor Halverson (Springville, UT: Book of Mormon Central, 2022).
Historical Commentaries
Many of the commentaries below are in the public domain and were authored over 100 years ago. In many cases, they do not reflect the findings of modern scholarship, but they may be helpful for understanding the history of biblical scholarship.
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Historical Settings
Time
*All Dates Are Approximate, according to the narrative of the Bible. These dates may reflect literary significance as opposed to the precise dates of history.
See Biblical Chronology- 2006 BC*
Further Reading
Matthew L. Bowen, “’I Kneeled Down Before My Maker’: Allusions to Esau in the Book of Enos,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 27 (2017): 29–56.
Andrew C. Smith, “Hagar in LDS Scripture and Thought,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 8 (2014): 87–137.
Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible
Matthew Henry (1706)
Commentary on the Bible
Adam Clarke (1831)
Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable
Thomas Constable
Rashi’s Commentary
Rashi (Shlomo Yitzchaki)
Notes on the Bible
Albert Barnes (1834)
Exposition of the Entire Bible
John Gill (1746–63)
Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch (1857–78)
Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible
John Wesley (1754–65)