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Genesis 25:28

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of [his] venison,.... Better than Jacob, not only because he was his firstborn, but because he brought him of the flesh of creatures, which he took in hunting, and being dressed, were savoury food to him: it is in the original, "because venison (or what he hunted) [was] in his mouth" (h), into which he put...

Genesis 25:29

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

And Jacob sod pottage,.... Or boiled broth; this he did at a certain time, for this was not his usual employment; the Targum of Jonathan says, it was on the day in which Abraham died; and whereas this pottage was made of lentiles, as appears from Genesis 25:34; this the Jewish writers (i) say was the food of mourners; and so this circumstance...

Genesis 25:30

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

And Esau said to Jacob, feed me, I pray thee, with that same red [pottage],.... Or, "with that same red (l), red"; not knowing what it was, or what it was made of, and therefore only calls it by its colour; and the word being doubled, may denote that it was very red; or he, being in haste and greedy of it through hunger, repeats it in a quick and...

Genesis 25:31

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

And Jacob said, sell me this day thy birthright. Which had many privileges annexed to it, as honour and authority in the family next to parents; a double portion of inheritance; some say the exercise of priesthood, but that is questioned; the parental blessing, and especially in this the promises of the Messiah, and of inheritance of the land of...

Genesis 25:32

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

And Esau said, behold, I [am] at the point to die,.... Or, "going to die" (y), going the way of all flesh; which he might say on account of the common frailty and mortality of man, and the brevity of life at most, or by reason of the danger of life he was always exposed to in hunting of wild beasts, as Aben Ezra suggests; or rather, because of his...

Genesis 25:33

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

And Jacob said, swear unto me this day,.... For the more sure and certain confirmation of the bargain; and by this oath oblige himself to let him peaceably enjoy the birthright, nor seek to revoke it, or dispute it with him, or disturb him in the possession of it: and he sware unto him; that he would abide by the bargain, and never give him any...

Genesis 25:34

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles,.... This shows what the pottage was made of, of which see Genesis 25:30; and that Jacob gave to Esau more than he asked and bargained for, bread as well as pottage; but neither of them until the bargain was made and swore to, and be had got the birthright secured unto him; as cunning as Esau, and...

Genesis 26

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

INTRODUCTION TO Genesis 26 This chapter treats of Isaac's removal to Gerar, occasioned by a famine, Genesis 26:1; of the Lord's appearance to him there, advising him to sojourn in that place, and not go down to Egypt; renewing the covenant he had made with Abraham, concerning giving that country to him and his seed, Genesis 26:2; of what happened...

Genesis 26:1

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

And there was a famine in the land,.... In the land of Canaan, as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it; besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham; of which see Genesis 12:10; which was an hundred years before this; and Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines, unto Gerar; where his father Abraham had sojourned before he was...

Genesis 26

Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry

In this chapter we have, I. Isaac in adversity, by reason of a famine in the land, which, 1. Obliges him to change his quarters, ver. 1. But, 2. God visits him with direction and comfort, ver. 2-5. 3. He foolishly denies his wife, being in distress and is reproved for it by Abimelech, ver. 6-11. II. Isaac in prosperity, by the blessing of God upon...

Genesis 26:2

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

And the Lord appeared unto him,.... In a vision or dream, when he was at Gerar: and said, go not down into Egypt; as his father had done in the like case, and where Isaac thought to have gone, and the rather, as that was a fruitful country; and so the Targum of Jonathan, "and it was in the heart of Isaac to go down into Egypt, and the Lord...

Genesis 26:3

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Sojourn in this land,.... The land of Canaan, where he now was; either in Gerar, which though in the land of the Philistines was a part of Canaan, the place of his present residence; or in any other part of it he should be directed to: however, by this it appears it was the pleasure of God that he should not go out of that land, and which Abraham...

Genesis 26:4

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven,.... Meaning in the line of Jacob especially, if not only; from whom sprung twelve patriarchs, the heads of so many tribes, which in process of time became very numerous, even as the stars of heaven: and I will give unto thy seed all these countries; which is repeated from Genesis 26:3...

Genesis 26:5

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Because that Abraham obeyed my voice,.... In all things, and particularly in offering up his son at his command: and kept my charge; whatever was given him in charge to observe; this, as Aben Ezra thinks, is the general, of which the particulars follow: my commandments, my statutes, and my laws; whether moral, ceremonial, or civil and judicial;...

Genesis 26:7

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

And the men of the place asked [him] of his wife,.... The inhabitants of Gerar inquired of Isaac who she was, whether she was his wife or not, or in what relation she stood in to him; this was not a mere civil inquiry, but what arose from the prevalence of lust in them towards her; and yet it was under some restraint, they being not so abandoned...

Genesis 26:8

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time,.... Perhaps some years: for though it is in the original, "when days were prolonged to him there" (b); yet days are sometimes put for years: that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window; in his own palace, near to which, in all likelihood, were the apartments that Isaac and...

Genesis 26:9

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

And Abimelech called Isaac,.... Sent a messenger to desire him to come to him: and said, behold, of a surety she [is] thy wife: and then perhaps told him of what he had observed that passed between them; which was a clear proof that they must be man and wife, or he would never have took such liberties with her: and how saidst thou, she [is] my...

Genesis 26:10

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

And Abimelech said, what is this thou hast done unto us?.... By entertaining suspicions and jealousies of us as bad men, and by exposing us to the temptation of committing iniquity; why hast thou dealt thus with us, and what have we done, or is in our character, that thou shouldest act after this manner? one of the people might lightly have lien...

Genesis 26:11

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

And Abimelech charged all [his] people,.... All his subjects throughout his kingdom, and particularly the inhabitants of Gerar, and more especially his courtiers and servants about him: saying, he that toucheth this man or his wife; that does any injury to one either by words or deeds, or behaves immodestly to the other, or attempts to ravish her;...