Holly Bible - KJV with Concise Commentaries by Z Selam - HTML preview
Download the book in PDF, ePub, Kindle for a complete version.
26 And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau’s
heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.
There was a manifest contest in their births. Esau, the stronger, came forth first; but Jacob's hand took hold of his heel, Ge 25:26. This signified,
(1.) Jacob's pursuit of the birthright and blessing; from the first, he reached forth to catch hold of it, and, if possible, to prevent his brother.
(2.) His prevailing for it at last, that, in process of time, he should undermine his brother, and gain his point. This passage is referred to (Ho 12:8), and hence he had his name, Jacob, a supplanter.
Esau Sells His Birthright
27 And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the
field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.
They were very unlike in the temper of their minds, and the way of living they chose, Ge 25:27. They soon appeared to be of very different dispositions.
(1.) Esau was a man for this world. He was a man addicted to his sports, for he was a hunter; and a man who knew how to live by his wits, for he was a cunning hunter. Recreation was his business; he studied the art of it, and spent all his time in it. He never loved a book, nor cared for being within doors; but he was a man of the field, like Nimrod and Ishmael, all for the game, and never well but when he was upon the stretch in pursuit of it: in short, he set up for a gentleman and a soldier.
(2.) Jacob was a man for the other world. He was not cut out for a statesman, nor did he affect to look great, but he was a plain man, dwelling in tents, an honest man that always meant well, and dealt fairly, that preferred the true delights of solitude and retirement to all the pretended pleasure of busy noisy sports: he dwelt in tents,