Genesis 25:23

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

and the LORD said to her,“Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples will be separated from within you. One people will be stronger than the other, and the older will 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 May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. You will be lord over your brothers, and the sons of your mother will bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed.”
• Gen 27:40 : 40 You will live by your sword but you will serve your brother. When you grow restless, you will tear off his yoke from your neck.”
• 2 Sam 8:14 : 14 He placed garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s subjects. The LORD protected David wherever he campaigned.
• Gen 17:16 : 16 I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. Kings of countries will come from her!”
• Gen 24:60 : 60 They blessed Rebekah with these words:“Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands! May your descendants possess the strongholds of their enemies.”
• Num 20:14 : 14 Rejection by the Edomites Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom:“Thus says your brother Israel:‘You know all the hardships we have experienced,
• Mal 1:2-5 : 2 “I have shown love to you,” says the LORD, but you say,“How have you shown love to us?”“Esau was Jacob’s brother,” the LORD explains,“yet I chose Jacob 3 and rejected Esau. I turned Esau’s mountains into a deserted wasteland and gave his territory to the wild jackals.” 4 Edom says,“Though we are devastated, we will once again build the ruined places.” So the LORD of Heaven’s Armies responds,“They indeed may build, but I will overthrow. They will be known as the land of evil, the people with whom the LORD is permanently displeased. 5 Your eyes will see it, and then you will say,‘May the LORD be magnified even beyond the border of Israel!’”
• Rom 9:10-13 : 10 Not only that, but when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our ancestor Isaac– 11 even before they were born or had done anything good or bad(so that God’s purpose in election would stand, not by works but by his calling)– 12 it was said to her,“The older will serve the younger,” 13 just as it is written:“Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
• Gen 17:4 : 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of a multitude of nations.
• Gen 25:27 : 27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled hunter, a man of the open fields, but Jacob was an even-tempered man, living in tents.
• Gen 32:6 : 6 The messengers returned to Jacob and said,“We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you and has four hundred men with him.”
• Gen 33:3 : 3 But Jacob himself went on ahead of them, and he bowed toward the ground seven times as he approached his brother.
• Gen 36:31 : 31 These were the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king ruled over the Israelites:
• 1 Kgs 22:47 : 47 There was no king in Edom at this time; a governor ruled.
• 1 Chr 18:13 : 13 He placed garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s subjects. The LORD protected David wherever he campaigned.
• 2 Chr 25:11-12 : 11 Amaziah boldly led his army to the Valley of Salt, where he defeated 10,000 Edomites. 12 The men of Judah captured 10,000 men alive. They took them to the top of a cliff and threw them over. All the captives fell to their death.
• Ps 60:8-9 : 8 Moab is my washbasin. I will make Edom serve me. I will shout in triumph over Philistia.” 9 Who will lead me into the fortified city? Who will bring me to Edom?
• Ps 83:5-9 : 5 Yes, they devise a unified strategy; they form an alliance against you. 6 It includes the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites, 7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, Philistia and the inhabitants of Tyre. 8 Even Assyria has allied with them, lending its strength to the descendants of Lot.(Selah) 9 Do to them as you did to Midian– as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River! 10 They were destroyed at En Dor; their corpses were like manure on the ground. 11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, and all their rulers like Zebah and Zalmunna, 12 who said,“Let’s take over the pastures of God!” 13 O my God, make them like dead thistles, like dead weeds blown away by the wind! 14 Like the fire that burns down the forest, or the flames that consume the mountainsides, 15 chase them with your gale winds, and terrify them with your windstorm.
• Isa 34:1-9 : 1 The Lord Will Judge Edom Come near, you nations, and listen! Pay attention, you people! The earth and everything it contains must listen, the world and everything that lives in it. 2 For the LORD is angry at all the nations and furious with all their armies. He will annihilate them and slaughter them. 3 Their slain will be left unburied, their corpses will stink; the hills will soak up their blood. 4 All the stars in the sky will fade away, the sky will roll up like a scroll; all its stars will wither, like a leaf withers and falls from a vine or a fig withers and falls from a tree. 5 He says,“Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers. Look, it now descends on Edom, on the people I will annihilate in judgment.” 6 The LORD’s sword is dripping with blood, it is covered with fat; it drips with the blood of young rams and goats and is covered with the fat of rams’ kidneys. For the LORD is holding a sacrifice in Bozrah, a bloody slaughter in the land of Edom. 7 Wild oxen will be slaughtered along with them, as well as strong bulls. Their land is drenched with blood, their soil is covered with fat. 8 For the LORD has planned a day of revenge, a time when he will repay Edom for her hostility toward Zion. 9 Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch and her soil into brimstone; her land will become burning pitch. 10 Night and day it will burn; its smoke will ascend continually. Generation after generation it will be a wasteland and no one will ever pass through it again. 11 Owls and wild animals will live there, all kinds of wild birds will settle in it. The LORD will stretch out over her the measuring line of ruin and the plumb line of destruction. 12 Her nobles will have nothing left to call a kingdom and all her officials will disappear. 13 Her fortresses will be overgrown with thorns; thickets and weeds will grow in her fortified cities. Jackals will settle there; ostriches will live there. 14 Wild animals and wild dogs will congregate there; wild goats will bleat to one another. Yes, nocturnal animals will rest there and make for themselves a nest. 15 Owls will make nests and lay eggs there; they will hatch them and protect them. Yes, hawks will gather there, each with its mate. 16 Carefully read the scroll of the LORD! Not one of these creatures will be missing, none will lack a mate. For the LORD has issued the decree, and his own spirit gathers them. 17 He assigns them their allotment; he measures out their assigned place. They will live there permanently; they will settle in it through successive generations.
• Isa 63:1-6 : 1 The Victorious Divine Warrior Who is this who comes from Edom, dressed in bright red, coming from Bozrah? Who is this one wearing royal attire, who marches confidently because of his great strength?“It is I, the one who announces vindication, and who is able to deliver!” 2 Why are your clothes red? Why do you look like someone who has stomped on grapes in a vat? 3 “I have stomped grapes in the winepress all by myself; no one from the nations joined me. I stomped on them in my anger; I trampled them down in my rage. Their juice splashed on my garments, and stained all my clothes. 4 For I looked forward to the day of vengeance, and then payback time arrived. 5 I looked, but there was no one to help; I was shocked because there was no one offering support. So my right arm accomplished deliverance; my raging anger drove me on. 6 I trampled nations in my anger, I made them drunk in my rage, I splashed their blood on the ground.”
• Jer 49:7-9 : 7 Judgment Against Edom The LORD of Heaven’s Armies spoke about Edom.“Is wisdom no longer to be found in Teman? Can Edom’s counselors not give her any good advice? Has all of their wisdom turned bad? 8 Turn and flee! Take up refuge in remote places, you people who live in Dedan. For I will bring disaster on the descendants of Esau. I have decided it is time for me to punish them. 9 If grape pickers came to pick your grapes, would they not leave a few grapes behind? If robbers came at night, would they not pillage only what they needed? 10 But I will strip everything away from Esau’s descendants. I will uncover their hiding places so they cannot hide. Their children, relatives, and neighbors will all be destroyed. Not one of them will be left! 11 Leave your orphans behind and I will keep them alive. Your widows too can depend on me.” 12 For the LORD says,“If even those who did not deserve to drink from the cup of my wrath must drink from it, do you think you will go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, but must certainly drink from the cup of my wrath. 13 For I solemnly swear,” says the LORD,“that Bozrah will become a pile of ruins. It will become an object of horror and ridicule, an example to be used in curses. All the towns around it will lie in ruins forever.” 14 I said,“I have heard a message from the LORD. A messenger has been sent among the nations to say,‘Gather your armies and march out against her! Prepare to do battle with her!’” 15 The LORD says to Edom,“I will certainly make you small among nations. I will make you despised by all humankind. 16 The terror you inspire in others and the arrogance of your heart have deceived you. You may make your home in the clefts of the rocks; you may occupy the highest places in the hills. But even if you made your home where the eagles nest, I would bring you down from there,” says the LORD. 17 “Edom will become an object of horror. All who pass by it will be filled with horror; they will hiss out their scorn because of all the disasters that have happened to it. 18 Edom will be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns that were around them. No one will live there. No human being will settle in it,” says the LORD. 19 “A lion coming up from the thick undergrowth along the Jordan scatters the sheep in the pastureland around it. So too I will chase the Edomites off their land. Then I will appoint over it whomever I choose. For there is no one like me, and there is no one who can call me to account. There is no ruler who can stand up against me. 20 So listen to what I, the LORD, have planned against Edom, what I intend to do to the people who live in Teman. Their little ones will be dragged off. I will completely destroy their land because of what they have done. 21 The people of the earth will quake when they hear of their downfall. Their cries of anguish will be heard all the way to the Gulf of Aqaba. 22 Look! Like an eagle with outspread wings, a nation will soar up and swoop down on Bozrah. At that time the soldiers of Edom will be as fearful as a woman in labor.”
• Ezek 25:12-14 : 12 A Prophecy Against Edom“This is what the Sovereign LORD says:‘Edom has taken vengeance against the house of Judah; they have made themselves fully culpable by taking vengeance on them. 13 So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will stretch out my hand against Edom, and I will kill the people and animals within her, and I will make her desolate; from Teman to Dedan they will die by the sword. 14 I will exact my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel. They will carry out in Edom my anger and rage; they will experience my vengeance, declares the Sovereign LORD.’”
• Ezek 35:1-9 : 1 Prophecy Against Mount Seir The LORD’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, turn toward Mount Seir, and prophesy against it. 3 Say to it,‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says:“‘Look, I am against you, Mount Seir; I will stretch out my hand against you and turn you into a desolate ruin. 4 I will lay waste your cities; and you will become desolate. Then you will know that I am the LORD! 5 “‘You have shown unrelenting hostility and poured the people of Israel onto the blades of a sword at the time of their calamity, at the time of their final punishment. 6 Therefore, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I will subject you to bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you. Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you. 7 I will turn Mount Seir into a desolate ruin; I will cut off from it the one who passes through or returns. 8 I will fill its mountains with its dead; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines, those killed by the sword will fall. 9 I will turn you into a perpetual desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the LORD. 10 “‘You said,“These two nations, these two lands will be mine, and we will possess them,”– although the LORD was there– 11 therefore, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I will deal with you according to your anger, and according to your envy, by which you acted spitefully against them. I will reveal myself to them when I judge you. 12 Then you will know that I, the LORD, have heard all the insults you spoke against the mountains of Israel, saying,“They are desolate, they have been given to us for food.” 13 You exalted yourselves against me with your speech and hurled many insults against me– I have heard them all! 14 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: While the whole earth rejoices, I will turn you into a desolation. 15 As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so will I deal with you– you will be desolate, Mount Seir, and all of Edom– all of it! Then they will know that I am the LORD.’”
• Amos 1:11-12 : 11 This is what the LORD says:“Because Edom has committed three crimes– make that four!– I will not revoke my decree of judgment. He chased his brother with a sword; he wiped out his allies. In his anger he tore them apart without stopping to rest; in his fury he relentlessly attacked them. 12 So I will set Teman on fire; fire will consume Bozrah’s fortresses.”
• Obad 1:1-9 : 1 ¶ God’s Judgment on Edom The vision that Obadiah saw. The Sovereign LORD says this concerning Edom: Edom’s Approaching Destruction We have heard a report from the LORD. An envoy was sent among the nations, saying,“Arise! Let us make war against Edom!” 2 The LORD says,“Look! I will make you a weak nation; you will be greatly despised! 3 Your presumptuous heart has deceived you– you who reside in the safety of the rocky cliffs, whose home is high in the mountains. You think to yourself,‘No one can bring me down to the ground!’ 4 Even if you were to soar high like an eagle, even if you were to make your nest among the stars, I can bring you down even from there!” says the LORD. 5 “If thieves came to rob you during the night, they would steal only as much as they wanted! If grape pickers came to harvest your vineyards, they would leave some behind for the poor! But you will be totally destroyed! 6 How the people of Esau will be thoroughly plundered! Their hidden valuables will be ransacked! 7 All your allies will force you from your homeland! Your treaty partners will deceive you and overpower you. Your trusted friends will set an ambush for you that will take you by surprise! 8 At that time,” the LORD says,“I will destroy the wise sages of Edom, the advisers from Esau’s mountain! 9 Your warriors will be shattered, O Teman, so that everyone will be destroyed from Esau’s mountain! 10 Edom’s Treachery Against Judah“Because you violently slaughtered your relatives, the people of Jacob, shame will cover you, and you will be destroyed forever. 11 You stood aloof while strangers took his army captive, and foreigners advanced to his gates. When they cast lots over Jerusalem, you behaved as though you were in league with them. 12 You should not have gloated when your relatives suffered calamity. You should not have rejoiced over the people of Judah when they were destroyed. You should not have boasted when they suffered adversity. 13 You should not have entered the city of my people when they experienced distress. You should not have joined in gloating over their misfortune when they suffered distress. You should not have looted their wealth when they endured distress. 14 You should not have stood at the fork in the road to slaughter those trying to escape. You should not have captured their refugees when they suffered adversity. 15 The Coming Day of the Lord“For the day of the LORD is approaching for all the nations! Just as you have done, so it will be done to you. You will get exactly what your deeds deserve. 16 For just as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so all the nations will drink continually. They will drink, and they will gulp down; they will be as though they had never been.