Knowing The Word in Genesis 25:19-28, Hold on Brother

19 These are the generations of Isaac [a new section that is really more interested in Jacob rather than Isaac], Abraham's son: Abraham fathered Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. [If this is correct, then Isaac married some 35 years before Abraham’s death. Is Isaac’s age of 40 a symbolic number?] 21 And Isaac prayed to the Lord [in a rare showing of initiative] for his wife, because she was barren. [The initial barrenness of the matriarchs is a recurring theme.] And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 The children struggled together within her [literally “smashed themselves inside her”], and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” [This pregnancy must have been painful to the point of her questioning why she is living. Having more than one child confirmed the effectiveness of Isaac’s prayer.] So she went to inquire of the Lord. 23 And the Lord said to her,

“Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.”

[God gives the picture of the elect and non-elect coming from her.]

24 When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau [“hairy” or “red”?]. 26 Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau's heel [“Hold on bro; I will be first”], so his name was called Jacob [“holder of the heal” or “supplanter’]. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. [We now know they waited 20 years for children. The manner of their birth is a visible omen underlining God’s prophecy.]

27 When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. 28 Isaac [the gourmand] loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob [why?]. [As the boys grew, their differences emerged with their parents preferring a different son one over the other.]