Genesis 25:23

Bishops' Bible (1568)

And the Lorde sayde vnto her: there are two maner of people in thy wombe, and two nations shalbe deuided out of thy bowelles, and the one nation shalbe mightier then the other, and the elder shalbe seruaunt vnto 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 People be thy seruauntes, and nations bowe to thee: be lorde ouer thy brethren, and thy mothers children stowpe with reuerence vnto thee: cursed be he that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.
• Gen 27:40 : 40 And through thy sworde shalt thou liue, and shalt be thy brothers seruaunt: and it shal come to passe, that thou shalt get the maisterie, & thou shalt loose his yoke from of thy necke.
• 2 Sam 8:14 : 14 And he put a garison in Edom, euen throughout all Edom put he souldiers, and all they of Edom became Dauids seruauntes: And the Lorde kept Dauid whatsoeuer he toke in hand.
• Gen 17:16 : 16 And I wyll blesse her, and geue thee a sonne of her: yea, I wyll blesse her, and she shalbe a mother of nations, yea & kynges of people shall sprynge of her.
• Gen 24:60 : 60 And they blessed Rebecca, and sayde vnto her: thou art our sister, growe into thousande thousandes, and thy seede possesse the gate of his enemies.
• Num 20:14 : 14 And Moyses sent messengers from Cades vnto the kyng of Edom, thus sayeth thy brother Israel: Thou knowest all the trauayle that we haue had.
• Mal 1:2-5 : 2 I haue loued you saith the Lord: yet ye say, wherein hast thou loued vs? Was not Esau Iacobs brother, saith the Lorde, yet loued I Iacob? 3 And I hated Esau, & made his mountaynes waste, and his heritage a wildernesse for Dragons. 4 Though Edom say, We are impouerished, but we wil returne and builde the desolate places: yet saith the Lorde of hoastes, They shal builde, but I wil destroy: & they shal cal them, The border of wickednes, & the people with whom the Lorde is angry for euer. 5 And your eyes shall see: and you shal say, The Lorde wylbe magnified vpon the borders of Israel.
• Rom 9:10-13 : 10 Not only this, but also Rebecca was with chylde by one euen by our father Isaac. 11 For yer the chyldren were borne, when they had neither done good neither bad, (that the purpose of God by election might stande: not by the reason of workes, but by the caller) 12 It was sayde vnto her: The elder shall serue the younger. 13 As it is written: Iacob haue I loued, but Esau haue I hated.
• Gen 17:4 : 4 It is I, behold my couenaut is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
• Gen 25:27 : 27 And the boyes grewe, and Esau became a cunnyng hunter, and a wylde man: but Iacob was a perfect man, and dwelled in tentes.
• Gen 32:6 : 6 And the messengers came agayne to Iacob, saying: we came to thy brother Esau, and he commeth to meete thee, and hath foure hundred men with him.
• Gen 33:3 : 3 And he went before them, and bowed him selfe to the grounde seuen tymes, vntill he came to his brother.
• Gen 36:31 : 31 These are the kinges that raigned in the lande of Edom, before there raigned any king vpon the chyldren of Israel.
• 1 Kgs 22:47 : 47 There was then no king in Edom, the deputie was king.
• 1 Chr 18:13 : 13 And put souldiers in Edom, and all the Edomites became Dauid seruauntes: Thus the Lorde kept Dauid in all that he toke in hande.
• 2 Chr 25:11-12 : 11 And Amaziahu toke heart, and caried out his people, and went to the salt valley, and smote of the children of Seir ten thousand. 12 And other ten thousand did the children of Iuda take alyue, & caried them vnto the top of a rocke, and cast them downe from the top of the rocke, that they all to burst.
• Ps 60:8-9 : 8 Moab shalbe my washpot: ouer Edom I wyll cast my shoe, Philistea be thou glad of me. 9 Who wyll leade me into the stong citie? who wyll bring me into Edom?
• Ps 83:5-9 : 5 For they haue conspired all in one minde: & are confederate against thee. 6 The pauilions of Edom and the Ismaelites: of Moab, and Hagerites, 7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalec: the Philistines with the inhabitauntes of Tyre. 8 Assur also is ioyned vnto them: they were a great ayde to the chyldren of Lot. Selah. 9 But do thou vnto them, as vnto Midian: as vnto Sisera, as vnto Iabin at the brooke Kishon. 10 Whiche perished at Ein Dor: and became as the doung of the earth. 11 Make them, their princes, and al their captaynes: lyke Oreb, and lyke Zeeb, and lyke Salmunna. 12 Whiche sayd, let vs take to our selues: the houses of God in possession. 13 O my Lorde, make them lyke vnto a wheele: and as chaffe before the winde. 14 Lyke as a fire that burneth vp the wood: and as the flambe that consumeth the mountaynes. 15 Persecute them euen so with thy tempest: and make them afrayde with thy storme.
• Isa 34:1-9 : 1 Come ye heathen and heare, take heede you people: hearken thou earth and all that is therin, thou rounde compasse and all that dwelleth thervpon. 2 For the Lorde is angry with all people, & his displeasure is kindled agaynst all the multitude of them, he hath destroyed them, and delyuered them to the slaughter. 3 So that their slayne shalbe cast out and their bodyes stincke, that euen the very hylles shalbe wet with the blood of them. 4 All the starres of heauen shall waste, and the heauens shall folde together lyke a roll, and all the starres therof shall fall, lyke as the leaues fall from the vines and figge trees. 5 For my sworde shalbe bathed in heauen, and shall immediatly come downe to iudgement vpon Idumea, and vpon the people which I haue cursed. 6 And the Lordes sworde shalbe full of blood, and be rusty with the fatnesse and blood of lambes and goates, with the fatnesse of the kidneys of weathers: For the Lord shall kyll a great offering in Bozra, and a great slaughter in the lande of Idumea. 7 There shall the vnicornes fall with them, and the bulles with the giauntes, and their lande shalbe throughly soked with blood, and their grounde corrupt with fatnesse. 8 For it is the day of Gods vengeaunce, and the yere of recompence for the reuenge of Sion. 9 And his fluddes shalbe turned to pitch, and his earth to brimstone, and therewith shall the lande be kindled. 10 So that it shall not be quenched day nor nyght, but smoke euermore, and so foorth lye waste: and no man shall go through it for euer. 11 But Pellicanes, Storkes, great Owles, and Rauens shall haue it in possession and dwell therin: for God shall spreade out the line of desolation vpon it, and the stones of emptinesse. 12 Her nobles shall call, and there is no kyngdome: and all her princes shalbe nothyng. 13 Thornes shall growe in their palaces, nettles & thistles in their strong holdes, that the dragons may haue their pleasure therin, and that they may be a court for Estriches. 14 There shall straunge visures & monsterous beastes meete one another, and the wylde kepe company together: there shall the Lamia lye and haue her lodgyng. 15 There shall the Owle make her nest, builde, be there at home, & bryng foorth her young ones: there shall the Kytes come together, eche one to his lyke. 16 Seke through the booke of the Lorde and reade it: there shall none of these thynges be left out, there shall not one nor such lyke fayle: for his mouth commaundeth, and that same doth his spirite gather together, or fulfyll. 17 He hath cast the lot for them, and to those beastes hath his hande deuided it by the line: therfore those shall possesse it for euer, from generation to generation shall they dwell therin.
• Isa 63:1-6 : 1 What is he this that commeth fro Edom, with red coloured clothes from Bosra? He is honourablye arrayed, and commeth in mightyly with his power: I am he that teacheth righteousnesse, and am of power to helpe. 2 Wherefore then is thy clothing red, and thy rayment like his that treadeth in the wine presse? 3 I haue troden the presse my selfe alone, and of all people there is not one with me: Thus wyll I treade them downe in my wrath, and set my feete vpon them in myne indignation, and their blood shal be sprong vpon my clothes, and so wyll I stayne all my rayment. 4 For the day of vengeaunce is assigned in my heart, and the yere when my people shalbe deliuered is come. 5 I loked about me, and there was no man to shewe me any helpe, I marueyled that no man helde me vp: Then I helde me by myne owne arme, and my feruentnesse sustayned me. 6 And thus wyll I treade downe the people in my wrath, and bathe them in my displeasure, and vpon the earth will I lay their strength.
• Jer 49:7-9 : 7 Upon the Edomites hath the Lord of hoastes spoken on this maner: Is there no more wysdome in Theman? Is there no more good counsayle among his people? Is their wysdome then turned cleane to naught? 8 Get you hence, turne your backes, creepe downe into the deepe O ye citizens of Dedan: for I wyll bryng destruction vpon Esau, yea and the day of his visitation. 9 If the grape gatherers come vpon thee, shoulde they not leaue some grapes? If the night robbers come vppon thee, shoulde they not take so much as they thought were inough? 10 But I wyll make Esau bare, and discouer his secretes, so that he shall not be able to byde them: His seede shalbe wasted away, yea his brethren and his neighbours, and he hym selfe shall not be left behynde. 11 Thou shalt leaue thy fatherlesse chyldren behynde thee, and I wyll kepe them, and thy wydowes shal take their comfort in me. 12 For thus hath the Lord spoken: Beholde, they that men thought were vnmeete to drinke of the cuppe, haue drunken with the first, and thinkest thou then to be free? No no, thou shalt neither be quit nor free: but thou must drinke also. 13 For why? I haue sworne by my selfe saith the Lorde, that Bozrah shall become a wyldernesse, an open shame, a laughing stocke, and cursing, and all her cities shalbe a continuall desert. 14 For I am perfectly infourmed of the Lorde, that he hath sent a message alredy vnto the heathen: Gather you together, and go foorth agaynst her, make you redy to battayle. 15 For lo, I wyll make thee but small among the heathen, and litle regarded among men. 16 Thy hye stomacke, and the pryde of thy heart hath deceaued thee, because thou doest dwell in the holes of stonye rockes, and hast the hye mountaynes in possession: Neuerthelesse, though thy nest were as hye as the Egles, yet I wyll cast thee downe saith the Lorde. 17 Moreouer, Idumea shalbe a wyldernesse, whoso goeth by it, shalbe abashed, and wonder at all her miserable plagues. 18 Like as Sodom, Gomor, and the cities that lay there about, were turned vpside downe, saith the Lorde: so shalt no body dwell in Idumea, and no man shall haue his habitation there. 19 Beholde, lyke as the lion, so shall a destroyer come vp from the pleasaunt medowes of Iordane, vnto the strong dwelling place, & when I haue made hym quiet, I wyll make hym to flee from her, and all chosen men wyll I set in aray against her: Who is lyke vnto me? what is he that wyll striue with me? what sheephearde may stande in my handes? 20 Therefore heare the counsell of the Lorde that he hath taken vpon Idumea, and his purpose that he hath deuised vpon the citizens of Theman: The least of the flocke shall trayle them, and looke what fayre habitation they haue, they shall make it waste, and them selues also. 21 At the noyse of their fall the earth shall quake, the crye of their voyce shalbe hearde vnto the red sea. 22 Beholde, the enemie shall come and flee vp hyther lyke as it were an Egle, and spreade his winges vpon Bozrah: then shall the heartes of the worthyes in Edom, be as the heart of a woman trauayling of chylde.
• Ezek 25:12-14 : 12 Thus sayth the Lorde God: For that Edom hath done in auenging reuengement vpon the house of Iuda, & hath done great offence and auenged hym selfe vpon them: 13 Therfore thus sayth the Lord God, I wil reache out myne hand vpon Edom, and destroy man and beast out of it, I will make it desolate from Theman, & Dedanah shall fall by the sworde. 14 And I will execute my reuengement vpon Edom by the hande of my people Israel, they shall do in Edom according to my wrath and indignation, so that they shall knowe my vengeaunce, sayth the Lord God.
• Ezek 35:1-9 : 1 Moreouer, the worde of the Lorde came vnto me, saying: 2 Thou sonne of man, set thy face toward the mount Seir, prophecie against it. 3 And say vnto it, thus saith the Lorde God: Beholde O thou mount Seir, I wyll vpon thee, I wyll reache out my hande ouer thee, yea waste and desolate wyll I make thee, 4 Thy cities wyll I laye waste, & thou shalt lye voyde, that thou mayst knowe howe that I am the Lorde, 5 Forsomuch as thou bearest an olde enmitie, and hast put the children of Israel to flight by the force of the sworde, in the time of their calamitie, when their iniquitie had an ende. 6 Therefore as truely as I lyue, saith the Lorde God, I wyll prepare thee vnto blood, yea blood shall folowe vpon thee, except thou hate blood, euen blood shall persecute thee. 7 Thus wyll I make the mount Seir desolate and waste, and cut out from it him that passeth out, and him that returneth: 8 His mountaines wyll I fill with his slaine men, thy hils, valleys, and al thy riuers, the slaine with the sworde shall fall in them. 9 I wyll make thee a perpetuall wildernes, so that thy cities shal not returne: that ye may knowe that I am the Lorde. 10 And because thou hast saide, both these nations, and both these landes must be myne, and we wyll haue them in possession, whereas the Lorde was there: 11 Therefore as truely as I lyue saith the Lorde God, I wyll euen do according to thy wrath, and according to thyne enuiyng which thou hast vsed in thyne hatred against them: and I wyll make my selfe knowen amongst them when I haue iudged thee. 12 Yea and thou shalt knowe that I the Lorde haue heard all thy blasphemies, whiche thou hast spoken against the mountaines of Israel, saying, They are made waste, & geuen vs to deuour. 13 Thus with your mouthes ye haue made your boastes against me, yea and multiplied your wordes against me, which I haue heard. 14 Thus saith the Lord God: To the ioy of all the worlde wyll I make thee waste. 15 And lyke as thou wast glad because the heritage of the house of Israel was destroyed, euen so wyll I do vnto thee: thou shalt be destroyed O mount Seir, and all Idumea wholly, and they shall knowe that I am the Lorde.
• Amos 1:11-12 : 11 Thus sayth the Lord, For three wickednesses of Edom, and for foure I wil not spare him: because he pursued his brother with the sworde, and did cast of al pitie, and in his anger spoyled him continually, and his indignation he kept alwayes. 12 Therfore will I send a fire into Theman, which shal deuoure the palaces of Bozra.
• Obad 1:1-9 : 1 The vision of Abdi, thus sayth the lord God against Edom: We haue hearde a rumor from the Lorde, & an ambassadour is sent among the heathen: arise, and let vs ryse vp against her to battayle. 2 Behold, I haue made thee smal among the heathen, thou art vtterly despised. 3 The pride of thyne heart hath deceaued thee, thou that dwellest in the cleftes of the rockes, whose habitation is hie, that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me downe to the grounde? 4 Yea though thou exalt thy selfe as the egle, and make they nest among the starres, thence wil I bring thee downe, sayth the Lorde. 5 Came theeues to thee, or robbers by night? how wast thou brought to silence? woulde they not haue stollen till they had inough? If the grape gatherers came to thee, woulde they not leaue some grapes? 6 Howe are the thinges of Esau sought vp, and his treasures searched? 7 All the men of thy confederacie haue driuen thee to the borders, the men that were at peace with thee haue deceaued thee, and preuailed against thee, they that eate thy bread haue layd a wounde vnder thee, there is none vnderstanding in him. 8 Shal not I in that day, saide the lord, euen destroy the wise men out of Edom, and vnderstanding from the mount of Esau? 9 And thy strong men O Theman shalbe afraid: because euery one of the mout of Esau shalbe cut of by slaughter. 10 For thy crueltie against thy brother Iacob shame shall couer thee, and thou shalt be cut of for euer. 11 When thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the straungers caried away his substaunce, and straungers entred into his gates, and cast lottes vpon Hierusalem, euen thou wast as one of them. 12 But thou shouldest not haue beholden the day of thy brother in the day that he was made a straunger, neither shouldest thou haue reioyced ouer the childre of Iuda in the day of their destruction, thou shouldest not haue spoken proudly in the day of affliction: 13 Thou shouldest not haue entred into the gate of my people in the day of their destruction, neither shouldest thou haue once loked on their affliction in the day of their destructio, nor haue layd handes on their substaunce in the day of their destruction: 14 Neither shouldest thou haue stand in the crosse wayes to cut of them that shoulde escape, neither shouldest thou haue shutte vp the remnaunt thereof in the day of affliction. 15 For the day of the Lorde is neare vpon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shalbe done to thee, thy rewarde shall returne vpon thyne head. 16 For as ye haue drunke vpon myne holy mountaine, so shall all the heathen drinke continually: yea, they shal drinke and swalowe vp, and they shalbe as though they had not ben.