Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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Genesis
Book: Genesis
Chapter: 25
Overview:
Abraham's family
By Keturah, His
Death and
Burial.
(1-10) God
blesses
Isaac The descendants of
Ishmael.
(11-18) The
Birth of
Esau and
Jacob.
(19-26) The different characters of
Esau and
Jacob.
(27,28) Esau despises and sells his
Birth-right.
(29-34)
1-10 All the days, even of the best and greatest saints, are
not remarkable days; some slide
On silently; such were these
last days of
Abraham. Here is an account of
Abraham's children
By Keturah, and the disposition which he made of his estate.
After the
Birth of these sons, he set his
House in order, with
prudence and
Justice. He did this while he yet lived. It is
Wisdom for men to do what they find to do while they live, as
far as they can.
Abraham lived 175 years; just one hundred years
after he came to
Canaan;
So long he was a sojourner in a strange
country. Whether our stay in this
Life be long or short, it
matters but little, provided we leave behind us a
Testimony to
the faithfulness and
Goodness of the
Lord, and a good
Example to
our families. We are told that his sons
Isaac and
Ishmael buried
him. It seems that
Abraham had himself brought them together
while he lived. Let us not close the history of the
Life of
Abraham without blessing
God for such a
Testimony of the triumph
of
Faith.
11-18 Ishmael had twelve sons, whose families became distinct
tribes. They peopled a very large country that lay between
Egypt
and
Assyria, called
Arabia. The number and strength of this
family were the
Fruit of the promise, made to
Hagar and to
Abraham, concerning
Ishmael.
19-26 Isaac seems not to have been much tried, but to have
spent his days in quietness.
Jacob and
Esau were prayed for;
their parents, after being long childless, obtained them
By
Prayer. The fulfilment of
God's promise is always sure, yet it
is often slow. The
Faith of believers is tried, their patience
exercised, and mercies long waited for are more welcome when
they come.
Isaac and
Rebekah kept in view the promise of all
nations being blessed in their posterity, therefore were not
only desirous of children, but anxious concerning every thing
which seemed to
Mark their future character. In all our doubts
we should inquire of the
Lord By Prayer. In many of our
conflicts with
Sin and
Temptation, we may adopt
Rebekah's words,
"If it be
So, why am I thus?" If a
Child of
God, why
So careless
or
Carnal? If not a
Child of
God, why
So afraid of, or
So
burdened with
Sin?
27,28 Esau hunted the beasts of the
Field with dexterity and
success, till he became a conqueror, ruling over his neighbours.
Jacob was a
Plain Man, one that liked the true delights of
retirement, better than all pretended pleasures. He was a
Stranger and a pilgrim in his
Spirit, and a
Shepherd all his
days.
Isaac and
Rebekah had but these two children, one was the
Father's
Darling, and the other the mother's. And though godly
parents must feel their affections most drawn over towards a
godly
Child, yet they will not show partiality. Let their
affections lead them to do what is just and equal to every
Child, or evils will arise.
29-34 We have here the bargain made between
Jacob and
Esau
about the right, which was
Esau's
By Birth, but
Jacob's
By
promise. It was for a spiritual privilege; and we see
Jacob's
desire of the
Birth-right, but he sought to obtain it
By crooked
Courses, not like his character as a
Plain Man. He was right,
that he coveted earnestly the best
Gifts; he was wrong, that he
took advantage of his
Brother's need. The inheritance of their
Father's worldly goods did not descend to
Jacob, and was not
meant in this proposal. But it includes the future possession
of the land of
Canaan By his children's children, and the
Covenant made with
Abraham as to
Christ the promised Seed.
Believing
Jacob valued these above all things; unbelieving
Esau
despised them. Yet although we must be of
Jacob's
Judgment in
seeking the
Birth-right, we ought carefully to avoid all guile,
in seeking to obtain even the greatest advantages.
Jacob's
Pottage pleased
Esau's
Eye. "Give me some of that red;" for this
he was called
Edom, or Red. Gratifying the sensual appetite
ruins
Thousands of precious souls. When men's hearts walk after
their own eyes,
Job 31:7, and when they serve their own
bellies, they are sure to be punished. If we use ourselves to
deny ourselves, we break the force of most temptations. It
cannot be supposed that
Esau was dying of hunger in
Isaac's
House. The words signify, I am going towards
Death; he seems to
mean, I shall never live to inherit
Canaan, or any of those
future supposed blessings; and what signifies it who has them
when I am dead and gone. This would be the language of
profaneness, with which the
Apostle brands him, Heb 12:16; and
this contempt of the
Birth-right is blamed, ver. 34. It is the
greatest folly to part with our interest in
God, and
Christ, and
Heaven, for the riches, honours, and pleasures of this world; it
is as bad a bargain as his who sold a
Birth-right for a
Dish of
Pottage.
Esau ate and drank, pleased his palate, satisfied his
appetite, and then carelessly
Rose up and went his way, without
any serious thought, or any regret, about the bad bargain he had
made. Thus
Esau despised his
Birth-right.
By his neglect and
contempt afterwards, and
By justifying himself in what he had
done, he
Put the bargain past recall. People are ruined, not
So
much
By doing what is amiss, as
By doing it and not repenting of
it.