Genesis 25:23

American Standard Version (1901)

And Jehovah said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, And two peoples shall be separated from thy bowels: And the one people shall be stronger than the other people; And the elder shall serve the younger.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהוָ֜ה לָ֗הּ שְׁנֵ֤י *גיים **גוֹיִם֙ בְּבִטְנֵ֔ךְ וּשְׁנֵ֣י לְאֻמִּ֔ים מִמֵּעַ֖יִךְ יִפָּרֵ֑דוּ וּלְאֹם֙ מִלְאֹ֣ם יֶֽאֱמָ֔ץ וְרַ֖ב יַעֲבֹ֥ד צָעִֽיר׃

Transliteration

wə-yōʾmer yhwh lāh šənê gôyim bə-ḇiṭnēḵ û-šənê ləʾummîm mi-mēʿayiḵ yippārēḏû û-ləʾōm mi-ləʾōm yeʾĕmāṣ wə-raḇ yaʿăḇōḏ ṣāʿîr

Grammar Details

• *wə-yōʾmer*: waw consecutive + Qal imperfect, 3rd masculine singular - and said
• *yhwh*: divine name - YHWH
• *lāh*: preposition + 3rd feminine singular suffix - to her
• *šənê*: numeral, masculine dual construct - two of
• *gôyim*: noun, masculine plural - nations
• *bə-ḇiṭnēḵ*: preposition + noun, feminine singular + 2nd feminine singular suffix - in your womb
• *û-šənê*: waw conjunction + numeral, masculine dual construct - and two of
• *ləʾummîm*: noun, masculine plural - peoples
• *mi-mēʿayiḵ*: preposition + noun, masculine plural + 2nd feminine singular suffix - from your bowels
• *yippārēḏû*: Niphal imperfect, 3rd masculine plural - will be separated
• *û-ləʾōm*: waw conjunction + noun, masculine singular - and people
• *mi-ləʾōm*: preposition + noun, masculine singular - than people
• *yeʾĕmāṣ*: Qal imperfect, 3rd masculine singular - will be stronger
• *wə-raḇ*: waw conjunction + adjective, masculine singular - and greater
• *yaʿăḇōḏ*: Qal imperfect, 3rd masculine singular - will serve
• *ṣāʿîr*: adjective, masculine singular - younger

Word Meanings

• *gôyim*: nations/peoples/gentiles
• *ləʾummîm*: peoples/nations/tribes
• *yippārēḏû*: will be separated/will be divided/will part
• *yeʾĕmāṣ*: will be stronger/will prevail/will overpower
• *wə-raḇ* *yaʿăḇōḏ* *ṣāʿîr*: and the older will serve the younger/and the greater will serve the lesser

Referenced Verses

• Gen 27:29 : 29 Let peoples serve thee, And nations bow down to thee: Be lord over thy brethren, And let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: Cursed be every one that curseth thee, And blessed be every one that blesseth thee.
• Gen 27:40 : 40 And by thy sword shalt thou live, and thou shalt serve thy brother; And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt break loose, That thou shalt shake his yoke from off thy neck.
• 2 Sam 8:14 : 14 And he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom put he garrisons, and all the Edomites became servants to David. And Jehovah gave victory to David whithersoever he went.
• Gen 17:16 : 16 And I will bless her, and moreover I will give thee a son of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be [a mother of] nations; kings of peoples shall be of her.
• Gen 24:60 : 60 And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Our sister, be thou [the mother] of thousands of ten thousands, and let thy seed possess the gate of those that hate them.
• Num 20:14 : 14 And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us:
• Mal 1:2-5 : 2 I have loved you, saith Jehovah. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith Jehovah: yet I loved Jacob; 3 but Esau I hated, and made his mountains a desolation, and [gave] his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness. 4 Whereas Edom saith, We are beaten down, but we will return and build the waste places; thus saith Jehovah of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and men shall call them The border of wickedness, and The people against whom Jehovah hath indignation for ever. 5 And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, Jehovah be magnified beyond the border of Israel.
• Rom 9:10-13 : 10 And not only so; but Rebecca also having conceived by one, [even] by our father Isaac-- 11 for [the children] being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth, 12 it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. 13 Even as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.
• Gen 17:4 : 4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be the father of a multitude of nations.
• Gen 25:27 : 27 And the boys grew: and Esau was a skilful hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents.
• Gen 32:6 : 6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and moreover he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.
• Gen 33:3 : 3 And he himself passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
• Gen 36:31 : 31 And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.
• 1 Kgs 22:47 : 47 And there was no king in Edom: a deputy was king.
• 1 Chr 18:13 : 13 And he put garrisons in Edom; and all the Edomites became servants to David. And Jehovah gave victory to David whithersoever he went.
• 2 Chr 25:11-12 : 11 And Amaziah took courage, and led forth his people, and went to the Valley of Salt, and smote of the children of Seir ten thousand. 12 And [other] ten thousand did the children of Judah carry away alive, and brought them unto the top of the rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, so that they all were broken in pieces.
• Ps 60:8-9 : 8 Moab is my washpot; Upon Edom will I cast my shoe: Philistia, shout thou because of me. 9 Who will bring me into the strong city? Who hath led me unto Edom?
• Ps 83:5-9 : 5 For they have consulted together with one consent; Against thee do they make a covenant: 6 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab, and the Hagarenes; 7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre: 8 Assyria also is joined with them; They have helped the children of Lot. {{Selah 9 Do thou unto them as unto Midian, As to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the river Kishon; 10 Who perished at Endor, Who became as dung for the earth. 11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb; Yea, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna; 12 Who said, Let us take to ourselves in possession The habitations of God. 13 O my God, make them like the whirling dust; As stubble before the wind. 14 As the fire that burneth the forest, And as the flame that setteth the mountains on fire, 15 So pursue them with thy tempest, And terrify them with thy storm.
• Isa 34:1-9 : 1 Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye peoples: let the earth hear, and the fulness thereof; the world, and all things that come forth from it. 2 For Jehovah hath indignation against all the nations, and wrath against all their host: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. 3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies shall come up; and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. 4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; and all their host shall fade away, as the leaf fadeth from off the vine, and as a fading [leaf] from the fig-tree. 5 For my sword hath drunk its fill in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. 6 The sword of Jehovah is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Jehovah hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. 7 And the wild-oxen shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls: and their land shall be drunken with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. 8 For Jehovah hath a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. 9 And the streams of [Edom] shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. 10 It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever; from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. 11 But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it; and the owl and the raven shall dwell therein: and he will stretch over it the line of confusion, and the plummet of emptiness. 12 They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there; and all its princes shall be nothing. 13 And thorns shall come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in the fortresses thereof; and it shall be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches. 14 And the wild beasts of the desert shall meet with the wolves, and the wild goat shall cry to his fellow; yea, the night-monster shall settle there, and shall find her a place of rest. 15 There shall the dart-snake make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shade; yea, there shall the kites be gathered, every one with her mate. 16 Seek ye out of the book of Jehovah, and read: no one of these shall be missing, none shall want her mate; for my mouth, it hath commanded, and his Spirit, it hath gathered them. 17 And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever; from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.
• Isa 63:1-6 : 1 Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. 2 Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winevat? 3 I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the peoples there was no man with me: yea, I trod them in mine anger, and trampled them in my wrath; and their lifeblood [ is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my raiment. 4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. 5 And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my wrath, it upheld me. 6 And I trod down the peoples in mine anger, and made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.
• Jer 49:7-9 : 7 Of Edom. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished? 8 Flee ye, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I shall visit him. 9 If grape-gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, would they not destroy till they had enough? 10 But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is destroyed, and his brethren, and his neighbors; and he is not. 11 Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me. 12 For thus saith Jehovah: Behold, they to whom it pertained not to drink of the cup shall assuredly drink; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink. 13 For I have sworn by myself, saith Jehovah, that Bozrah shall become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes. 14 I have heard tidings from Jehovah, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, [saying], Gather yourselves together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle. 15 For, behold, I have made thee small among the nations, and despised among men. 16 As for thy terribleness, the pride of thy heart hath deceived thee, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith Jehovah. 17 And Edom shall become an astonishment: every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof. 18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, saith Jehovah, no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein. 19 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoso is chosen, him will I appoint over it: for who is like me? and who will appoint me a time? and who is the shepherd that will stand before me? 20 Therefore hear ye the counsel of Jehovah, that he hath taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely they shall drag them away, [even] the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them. 21 The earth trembleth at the noise of their fall; there is a cry, the noise whereof is heard in the Red Sea. 22 Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread out his wings against Bozrah: and the heart of the mighty men of Edom at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
• Ezek 25:12-14 : 12 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them; 13 therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, I will stretch out my hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; even unto Dedan shall they fall by the sword. 14 And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel; and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my wrath; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord Jehovah.
• Ezek 35:1-9 : 1 Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it, 3 and say unto it, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, O mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against thee, and I will make thee a desolation and an astonishment. 4 I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah. 5 Because thou hast had a perpetual enmity, and hast given over the children of Israel to the power of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time of the iniquity of the end; 6 therefore, as I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: since thou hast not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue thee. 7 Thus will I make mount Seir an astonishment and a desolation; and I will cut off from it him that passeth through and him that returneth. 8 And I will fill its mountains with its slain: in thy hills and in thy valleys and in all thy watercourses shall they fall that are slain with the sword. 9 I will make thee a perpetual desolation, and thy cities shall not be inhabited; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. 10 Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas Jehovah was there: 11 therefore, as I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I will do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast showed out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I shall judge thee. 12 And thou shalt know that I, Jehovah, have heard all thy revilings which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to devour. 13 And ye have magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard it. 14 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate. 15 As thou didst rejoice over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Edom, even all of it; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.
• Amos 1:11-12 : 11 Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Edom, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever: 12 but I will send a fire upon Teman, and it shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.
• Obad 1:1-9 : 1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah concerning Edom: We have heard tidings from Jehovah, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, [saying], Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle. 2 Behold, I have made thee small among the nations: thou art greatly despised. 3 The pride of thy heart hath deceived thee, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? 4 Though thou mount on high as the eagle, and though thy nest be set among the stars, I will bring thee down from thence, saith Jehovah. 5 If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night (how art thou cut off!), would they not steal [only] till they had enough? if grape-gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? 6 How are [the things of] Esau searched! how are his hidden treasures sought out! 7 All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee on thy way, even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; [they that eat] thy bread lay a snare under thee: there is no understanding in him. 8 Shall I not in that day, saith Jehovah, destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau? 9 And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one may be cut off from the mount of Esau by slaughter. 10 For the violence done to thy brother Jacob, shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. 11 In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that strangers carried away his substance, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. 12 But look not thou on the day of thy brother in the day of his disaster, and rejoice not over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither speak proudly in the day of distress. [ 13 Enter not into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, look not thou on their affliction in the day of their calamity, neither lay ye [hands] on their substance in the day of their calamity. 14 And stand thou not in the crossway, to cut off those of his that escape; and deliver not up those of his that remain in the day of distress. 15 For the day of Jehovah is near upon all the nations: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee; thy dealing shall return upon thine own head. 16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the nations drink continually; yea, they shall drink, and swallow down, and shall be as though they had not been.