Genesis 25:22

And the children struggled together within her,.... When she was quick with child: this was some time before her delivery, and was not a common and ordinary motion felt by women in such

And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the LORD.

The children struggled, in a violent and extraordinary manner, which was likely to cause both pain and fear in her. The sense may be either, 1. If it be thus with me, that there be two children contending and fighting within me, likely to destroy one the other, and both threatening my death, why did I desire and pray for this as a great mercy? Or, why is it thus with me? Why hath God dealt thus with me, to continue my life till it be a burden to me, and to give me conception which is so painful and hazardous? Or rather, 2. If God hath granted me my desire in the conception of a child, what means this disturbance and conflict within me, which threatens me with loss of the mercy before I enjoy it? For she seems not so much to murmur at it, as to wonder and to inquire about it, as it here follows. She went to inquire of the Lord; either immediately, by ardent prayers to God that he would reveal his mind to her herein; or mediately, by her father Abraham, who lived fifteen years after this time, , or by some other godly patriarch yet surviving, by whom God used to manifest his will and counsels to others, when he thought fit.

Genesis 25:22 And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If [it be] so, why [am] I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.Ver. 22. And the children struggled together.] Heb., Jithrotsatsu. They ran at tilt, as it were, and jostled one against another, even to bruising and hurting. Esau, that he might lose no time, began to set against Jacob before he was born. If it be so, why am I thus?] A passionate abrupt speech: q.d., Better no children, than so troubled with them. "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception." This she should have borne more patiently: but she presently bethought her of the best course; for "she went to inquire of the Lord": she got into a corner, and prayed, and was answered. She prayed down her passions, as a man sleeps out his drunkenness, and set to work lustily, and so got the ensuing oracle.

THE TΤLDΤTH ISAAC (Genesis 25:19 to Genesis 35:29). THE BIRTH OF ISAAC’S SONS. Abraham begat Isaac—The Tτldτth in its original form gave probably a complete genealogy of Isaac, tracing up his descent to Shem, and showing thereby that the right of primogeniture belonged to him; but the inspired historian uses only so much of this as is necessary for tracing the development of the Divine plan of human redemption. The Syrian.—Really, the Aramean, or descendant of Aram. (See Genesis 10:22-23.) The name of the district also correctly is “Paddan-Ararn,” and so far from being identical with Aram-Naharaim, in Genesis 24:10, it is strictly the designation of the region immediately in the neighbourhood of Charran. The assertion of Gesenius that it meant “Mesopotamia, with the desert to the west of the Euphrates, in opposition to the mountainous district towards the Mediterranean,” is devoid of proof. (See Chwolsohn, Die Ssabier, 1, p. 304.) In Syriac, the language of Charran, padana means a plough (1 Samuel 13:20), or a yoke of oxen ( 1 Samuel 11:7); and this also suggests that it was the cultivated district close to the town. In Hosea 12:12 it is said that “Jacob fled to the field of Aram;” but this is a very general description of the country in which he found refuge, and affords no basis for the assertion that Padan-aram was the level region. Finally, the assertion that it is an ancient name used by the Jehovist is an assertion only. It is the name of a special district, and the knowledge of it was the result of Jacob’s long-continued stay there. Chwolsohn says that traces of the name still remain in Faddβn and Tel Faddβn, two places close to Charran, mentioned by Yacut, the Arabian geographer, who flourished in the thirteenth century. Isaac intreated the Lord.—This barrenness lasted twenty years (Genesis 25:26), and must have greatly troubled Isaac; but it would also compel him to dwell much in thought upon the purpose for which he had been given to Abraham, and afterwards rescued from death upon the mount Jehovah-Jireh. And when offspring came, in answer to his earnest pleading of the promise, the delay would serve to impress upon both parents the religious significance of their existence as a separate race and family, and the necessity of training their children worthily. The derivation of the verb to intreat, from a noun signifying incense, is uncertain, but rendered probable by the natural connection of the idea of the ascending fragrance, and that of the prayer mounting heavenward (Revelation 5:8; Revelation 8:4). The children struggled together.—Two dissimilar nations sprang from Abraham, but from mothers totally unlike; so, too, from the peaceful Isaac two distinct races of men were to take their origin, but from the same mother, and the contest began while they were yet unborn. And Rebekah, apparently unaware that she was pregnant with twins, but harassed with the pain of strange jostlings and thrusts, grew despondent, and exclaimed— If it be so, why am I thus?—Literally, If so, why am I this?

Verse 22. The children struggled together] יתרצצו yithrotsatsu, they dashed against or bruised each other, there was a violent agitation, so that the mother was apprehensive both of her own and her children's safety; and, supposing this was an uncommon case, she went to inquire of the Lord, as the good women in the present day would go to consult a surgeon or physician; for intercourse with God is not so common now, as it was in those times of great primitive simplicity. There are different opinions concerning the manner in which Rebekah inquired of the Lord. Some think it was by faith and prayer simply; others, that she went to Shem or Melchizedek; but Shem is supposed to have been dead ten years before this time; but as Abraham was yet alive, she might have gone to him, and consulted the Lord through his means. It is most likely that a prophet or priest was applied to on this occasion. It appears she was in considerable perplexity, hence that imperfect speech, If so, why am I thus? the simple meaning of which is probably this; if I must suffer such things, why did I ever wish to have a child? A speech not uncommon to mothers in their first pregnancy.

22. struggled together] LXX ἐσκίρτων. Cf. Luke 1:41. The future hostility between Israel and Edom was thus prefigured before their birth. Rebekah, afraid of some betokening of evil, becomes fearful and despondent. Aquila συνεθλάσθησαν, Symmachus διεπάλαιον. wherefore do I live] R.V. marg. wherefore am I thus? So LXX ἵνατίμοιτοῦτο, Lat. quid necesse fuit concipere? to inquire of the Lord] A technical phrase for seeking an answer from a Divine source. Cf. 1 Samuel 9:9; Amos 5:4-6. We may suppose that Rebekah sought an oracle from Jehovah at some sacred place at which a Divine revelation was granted, e.g. at Beer-sheba, Genesis 21:33, Genesis 26:25.

22. Struggled together within her — Hebrews, dashed against one another. Premonition of the coming differences between the offspring.