Genesis 25:23

Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

And Jehovah saith to her, `Two nations `are' in thy womb, and two peoples from thy bowels are parted; and the `one' people than the `other' people is stronger; and the elder doth 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 peoples serve thee, and nations bow themselves to thee, be thou mighty over thy brethren, and the sons of thy mother bow themselves to thee; those who curse thee `are' cursed, and those who bless thee `are' blessed.'
• Gen 27:40 : 40 and by thy sword dost thou live, and thy brother dost thou serve; and it hath come to pass when thou rulest, that thou hast broken his yoke from off thy neck.'
• 2 Sam 8:14 : 14 and he putteth in Edom garrisons -- in all Edom he hath put garrisons, and all Edom are servants to David; and Jehovah saveth David whithersoever he hath gone.
• Gen 17:16 : 16 and I have blessed her, and have also given to thee a son from her; and I have blessed her, and she hath become nations -- kings of peoples are from her.'
• Gen 24:60 : 60 and they bless Rebekah, and say to her, `Thou `art' our sister; become thou thousands of myriads, and thy seed doth possess the gate of those hating it.'
• Num 20:14 : 14 And Moses sendeth messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, `Thus said thy brother Israel, Thou -- thou hast known all the travail which hath found us;
• Mal 1:2-5 : 2 I have loved you, said Jehovah, And ye have said, `In what hast Thou loved us?' 3 Is not Esau Jacob's brother? -- an affirmation of Jehovah, And I love Jacob, and Esau I have hated, And I make his mountains a desolation, And his inheritance for dragons of a wilderness. 4 Because Edom saith, `We have been made poor, And we turn back and we build the wastes,' Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: They do build, and I do destroy, And `men' have called to them, `O region of wickedness,' `O people whom Jehovah defied to the age.' 5 And your eyes do see, and ye say, `Magnified is Jehovah beyond the border of Israel,
• Rom 9:10-13 : 10 And not only `so', but also Rebecca, having conceived by one -- Isaac our father -- 11 (for they being not yet born, neither having done anything good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to choice, might remain; not of works, but of Him who is calling,) it was said to her -- 12 `The greater shall serve the less;' 13 according as it hath been written, `Jacob I did love, and Esau I did hate.'
• Gen 17:4 : 4 `I -- lo, My covenant `is' with thee, and thou hast become father of a multitude of nations;
• Gen 25:27 : 27 And the youths grew, and Esau is a man acquainted `with' hunting, a man of the field; and Jacob `is' a plain man, inhabiting tents;
• Gen 32:6 : 6 And the messengers turn back unto Jacob, saying, `We came in unto thy brother, unto Esau, and he also is coming to meet thee, and four hundred men with him;'
• Gen 33:3 : 3 And he himself passed over before them, and boweth himself to the earth seven times, until his drawing nigh unto his brother,
• Gen 36:31 : 31 And these `are' the kings who have reigned in the land of Edom before the reigning of a king over the sons of Israel.
• 1 Kgs 22:47 : 47 and there is no king in Edom; he set up a king.
• 1 Chr 18:13 : 13 and he putteth in Edom garrisons, and all the Edomites are servants to David; and Jehovah saveth David whithersoever he hath gone.
• 2 Chr 25:11-12 : 11 And Amaziah hath strengthened himself, and leadeth his people, and goeth to the Valley of Salt, and smiteth the sons of Seir -- ten thousand. 12 And ten thousand alive have the sons of Judah taken captive, and they bring them to the top of the rock, and cast them from the top of the rock, and all of them have been broken.
• Ps 60:8-9 : 8 Moab `is' my pot for washing, over Edom I cast my shoe, Shout, concerning me, O Philistia. 9 Who doth bring me `to' a city of bulwarks? Who hath led me unto Edom?
• Ps 83:5-9 : 5 For they consulted in heart together, Against Thee a covenant they make, 6 Tents of Edom, and Ishmaelites, Moab, and the Hagarenes, 7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek, Philistia with inhabitants of Tyre, 8 Asshur also is joined with them, They have been an arm to sons of Lot. Selah. 9 Do to them as `to' Midian, As `to' Sisera, as `to' Jabin, at the stream Kishon. 10 They were destroyed at Endor, They were dung for the ground! 11 Make their nobles as Oreb and as Zeeb, And as Zebah and Zalmunna all their princes, 12 Who have said, `Let us occupy for ourselves The comely places of God.' 13 O my God, make them as a rolling thing, As stubble before wind. 14 As a fire doth burn a forest, And as a flame setteth hills on fire, 15 So dost Thou pursue them with Thy whirlwind, And with Thy hurricane troublest them.
• Isa 34:1-9 : 1 Come near, ye nations, to hear, And ye peoples, give attention, Hear doth the earth and its fulness, The world, and all its productions. 2 For wrath `is' to Jehovah against all the nations, And fury against all their host, He hath devoted them to destruction, He hath given them to slaughter. 3 And their wounded are cast out, And their carcases cause their stench to ascend, And melted have been mountains from their blood. 4 And consumed have been all the host of the heavens, And rolled together as a book have been the heavens, And all their hosts do fade, As the fading of a leaf of a vine, And as the fading one of a fig-tree. 5 For soaked in the heavens was My sword, Lo, on Edom it cometh down, On the people of My curse for judgment. 6 A sword `is' to Jehovah -- it hath been full of blood, It hath been made fat with fatness, With blood of lambs and he-goats. With fat of kidneys of rams, For a sacrifice `is' to Jehovah in Bozrah, And a great slaughter in the land of Edom. 7 And come down have reems with them, And bullocks with bulls, And soaked hath been their land from blood, And their dust from fatness is made fat. 8 (For a day of vengeance `is' to Jehovah, A year of recompences for Zion's strife,) 9 And turned have been her streams to pitch, And her dust to brimstone, And her land hath become burning pitch. 10 By night and by day she is not quenched, To the age go up doth her smoke, From generation to generation she is waste, For ever and ever, none is passing into her. 11 And possess her do pelican and hedge-hog, And owl and raven dwell in her, And He hath stretched out over her A line of vacancy, and stones of emptiness. 12 `To' the kingdom her freemen they call, But there are none there, And all her princes are at an end. 13 And gone up her palaces have thorns, Nettle and bramble `are' in her fortresses, And it hath been a habitation of dragons, A court for daughters of an ostrich. 14 And met have Ziim with Aiim, And the goat for its companion calleth, Only there rested hath the night-owl, And hath found for herself a place of rest. 15 There made her nest hath the bittern, Yea, she layeth, and hath hatched, And hath gathered under her shadow, Only there gathered have been vultures, Each with its companion. 16 Seek out of the book of Jehovah, and read, One of these hath not been lacking, None hath missed its companion, For My mouth -- it hath commanded, And His spirit -- He hath gathered them. 17 And He hath cast for them a lot, And His hand hath apportioned `it' to them by line, Unto the age they possess it, To all generations they dwell in it!
• Isa 63:1-6 : 1 `Who `is' this coming from Edom? With dyed garments from Bozrah? This that is honourable in his clothing, Travelling in the abundance of his power?' -- `I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.' 2 `Wherefore `is' thy clothing red? And thy garments as treading in a wine fat?' 3 -- `A wine-press I have trodden by myself, And of the peoples there is no one with me, And I tread them in mine anger, And I trample them in my fury, Sprinkled is their strength on my garments, And all my clothing I have polluted. 4 For the day of vengeance `is' in my heart, And the year of my redeemed hath come. 5 And I look attentively, and there is none helping, And I am astonished that there is none supporting, And give salvation to me doth mine own arm. And my wrath -- it hath supported me. 6 And I tread down peoples in mine anger, And I make them drunk in my fury, And I bring down to earth their strength.
• Jer 49:7-9 : 7 Concerning Edom: `Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Is wisdom no more in Teman? Perished hath counsel from the intelligent? Vanished hath their wisdom? 8 Flee, turn, go deep to dwell, ye inhabitants of Dedan, For the calamity of Esau I brought in upon him, The time I inspected him. 9 If gatherers have come in to thee, They do not leave gleanings, If thieves in the night, They have destroyed their sufficiency! 10 For I -- I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, And to be hidden he is not able, Spoiled `is' his seed, and his brethren, And his neighbours, and he is not. 11 Leave thine orphans -- I do keep alive, And thy widows -- on Me trust ye, 12 For thus said Jehovah: They whose judgment is not to drink of the cup, Do certainly drink, And thou `art' he that is entirely acquitted! Thou art not acquitted, for thou certainly drinkest. 13 For, by Myself, I have sworn, An affirmation of Jehovah, That for a desolation, for a reproach, For a waste, and for a reviling -- is Bozrah, And all her cities are for wastes age-during. 14 A report I have heard from Jehovah, And an ambassador among nations is sent, Gather yourselves and come in against her, And rise ye for battle. 15 For, lo, little I have made thee among nations, Despised among men. 16 Thy terribleness hath lifted thee up, The pride of thy heart, O dweller in clefts of the rock, Holding the high place of the height, For thou makest high as an eagle thy nest, From thence I bring thee down, An affirmation of Jehovah. 17 And Edom hath been for a desolation, Every passer by her is astonished, And doth hiss because of all her plagues. 18 As the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, And its neighbours, said Jehovah, No one doth dwell there, Nor sojourn in her doth a son of man. 19 Lo, as a lion he cometh up, Because of the rising of the Jordan, Unto the enduring habitation, But I cause to rest, I cause him to run from off her, And who is chosen? concerning her I lay a charge, For who is like Me? and who conveneth Me? And who `is' this shepherd who standeth before Me? 20 Therefore, hear ye the counsel of Jehovah, That He hath counselled concerning Edom, And His devices that He hath devised Concerning the inhabitants of Teman: Drag them out do not little ones of the flock, Make desolate over them doth he not their habitation? 21 From the noise of their fall hath the earth shaken, The cry -- at the sea of Suph is its voice heard. 22 Lo, as an eagle he cometh up, and flieth, And he spreadeth his wings over Bozrah, And the heart of the mighty of Edom hath been in that day, As the heart of a distressed woman!'
• Ezek 25:12-14 : 12 Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because of the doings of Edom, In taking vengeance on the house of Judah, Yea, they are very guilty, And they have taken vengeance on them. 13 Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: I have stretched out My hand against Edom, And I have cut off from it man and beast, And given it up -- a waste, from Teman even to Dedan, By sword they do fall. 14 And I have given My vengeance on Edom, By the hand of My people Israel, And they have done in Edom, According to My anger, and according to My fury, And they have known My vengeance, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.
• Ezek 35:1-9 : 1 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying: 2 `Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it, 3 and thou hast said to it: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I `am' against thee, O mount Seir, And have stretched out My hand against thee, And made thee a desolation and an astonishment. 4 Thy cities a waste I make, and thou art a desolation, And thou hast known that I `am' Jehovah. 5 Because of thy having an enmity age-during, And thou dost saw the sons of Israel, By the hands of the sword, In the time of their calamity, In the time of the iniquity of the end: 6 Therefore, I live -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Surely for blood I do appoint thee, And blood doth pursue thee, If blood thou hast not hated, Blood also doth pursue thee. 7 And I have given mount Seir for a desolation and an astonishment, And have cut off from it him who is passing over and him who is returning, 8 And filled his mountains with his wounded, Thy hills, and thy valleys, and all thy streams, The pierced of the sword fall into them. 9 Desolations age-during I make thee, And thy cities do not return, And ye have known that I `am' Jehovah. 10 Because of thy saying: The two nations and the two lands are mine, and we have possessed it, And Jehovah hath been there; 11 Therefore, I live -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, And I have done according to thine anger, And according to thine envy, With which thou hast wrought, Because of thy hatred against them, And I have been known among them when I judge thee. 12 And thou hast known that I -- Jehovah, I have heard all thy despisings that thou hast spoken Against mountains of Israel, saying: A desolation, to us they were given for food. 13 And ye magnify yourselves against Me with your mouth, And have made abundant against Me your words, I -- I have heard. 14 Thus said the Lord Jehovah: According to the rejoicing of the whole land, A desolation I make of thee. 15 According to thy joy at the inheritance of the house of Israel because of desolation, So I do to thee -- a desolation thou art, O mount Seir, and all Edom -- all of it, And they have known that I `am' Jehovah!
• Amos 1:11-12 : 11 Thus said Jehovah: For three transgressions of Edom, And for four, I do not reverse it, Because of his pursuing with a sword his brother, And he hath destroyed his mercies, And tear perpetually doth his anger, And his wrath -- he hath kept it for ever, 12 And I have sent a fire against Teman, And it hath consumed palaces of Bozrah.
• Obad 1:1-9 : 1 Thus said the Lord Jehovah to Edom, A report we have heard from Jehovah, And an ambassador among nations was sent, `Rise, yea, let us rise against her for battle.' 2 Lo, little I have made thee among nations, Despised `art' thou exceedingly. 3 The pride of thy heart hath lifted thee up, O dweller in clifts of a rock, (A high place `is' his habitation, He is saying in his heart, `Who doth bring me down `to' earth?') 4 If thou dost go up high as an eagle, And if between stars thou dost set thy nest, From thence I bring thee down, An affirmation of Jehovah. 5 If thieves have come in to thee, If spoilers of the night, How hast thou been cut off! Do they not steal their sufficiency? If gatherers have come in to thee, Do they not leave gleanings? 6 How hath Esau been searched out! Flowed out have his hidden things, 7 Unto the border sent thee have all thine allies, Forgotten thee, prevailed over thee, have thy friends, Thy bread they make a snare under thee, There is no understanding in him! 8 Is it not in that day -- an affirmation of Jehovah, That I have destroyed the wise out of Edom, And understanding out of the mount of Esau? 9 And broken down have been thy mighty ones, O Teman, So that every one of the mount of Esau is cut off. 10 For slaughter, for violence `to' thy brother Jacob, Cover thee doth shame, And thou hast been cut off -- to the age. 11 In the day of thy standing over-against, In the day of strangers taking captive his force, And foreigners have entered his gates, And for Jerusalem have cast a lot, Even thou `art' as one of them! 12 And -- thou dost not look on the day of thy brother, On the day of his alienation, Nor dost thou rejoice over sons of Judah, In the day of their destruction, Nor make great thy mouth in a day of distress. 13 Nor come into a gate of My people in a day of their calamity, Nor look, even thou, on its misfortune in a day of its calamity, Nor send forth against its force in a day of its calamity, 14 Nor stand by the breach to cut off its escaped, Nor deliver up its remnant in a day of distress. 15 For near `is' the day of Jehovah, on all the nations, As thou hast done, it is done to thee, Thy deed doth turn back on thine own head. 16 For -- as ye have drunk on My holy mount, Drink do all the nations continually, And they have drunk and have swallowed, And they have been as they have not been.