Bible Verses and Early Church Commentary | Historical Christian Faith

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Genesis 25:1

The holy apostle always offers us opportunities for spiritual understanding and shows the zealous signs by which one may recognize in all things that “the law is spiritual.” Though few, these signs are nevertheless necessary.Paul says, discussing Abraham and Sarah in a certain passage, “not weakened in faith.” Scripture says, “He considered his own body dead, since he was almost a hundred years old, and Sarah’s womb dead.” This man, therefore, whom Paul says to have been dead in his body at the age of 100 and to have begotten Isaac more by the power of his faith than by the fertility of his body, Scripture now relates has taken a wife named Keturah and has begotten more sons from her when he seems to have been about 137 years old. For Sarah his wife is recorded to have been ten years younger than he. Since Sarah died in her 127th year, it shows that Abraham was more than 137 years old when he took Keturah as his wife.
What then? Are we to suppose that inducements of the flesh have flourished in so great a partriarch at that time? And shall he who is said to have been dead long ago in his natural impulses now be supposed to have been revived for passion? Or, as we have already often said, do the marriages of the patriarchs indicate something mystical and sacred, as also he suggests who said of wisdom: “I decided to take her as my wife”?
Perhaps, therefore, already at that time Abraham also thought something like this. And, although he was wise, for this very reason never-theless he knew that there is no end of wisdom, nor does old age impose a limit on learning. For when can that man who has been accustomed to share a marriage in that manner in which we indicated above, that is, who is accustomed to have virtue in marriage, cease from such a union? For indeed the death of Sarah is to be understood as the consummation of virtue. But a man of consummate and perfect virtue ought always to be engaged in some learning. The divine language calls this learning his wife.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 11.1

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Genesis 25:1

[One] who wishes to show himself to be a child of Abraham by doing the works of Abraham in accordance with the Savior’s explanation need not literally have sexual intercourse with a handmaid or take another wife in old age after the death of his wife. We also learn from this quite clearly that we must interpret the whole story of Abraham allegorically and make each thing he did spiritual, beginning with the command, “Go forth from your land, your kindred, and your father’s house, into the land that I will show you.” This statement is made not only to Abraham but also to everyone who will be his child.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 20.67

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Genesis 25:1

Indeed, Keturah, whom Abraham, now an old man, obtains in marriage means thymiama, which is incense or a pleasing fragrance. He also in fact was saying, just as Paul said, “We are the pleasing fragrance of Christ.” But let us see how someone becomes “Christ’s pleasing fragrance.” Sin is a foul affair. In fact, sinners are compared with pigs that wallow in sins as in foul dung. And David, as a repentant sinner, says, “My sores have putrified and are abscessed.”12If there is therefore any one of you in whom there is now no odor of sin but an odor of justice, the sweetness of mercy, if anyone, by praying “without ceasing” always offers incense to the Lord and says, “Let my prayer be directed as incense in your sight, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice,” this man has married Keturah. In this way, therefore, I think the marriages of the elders are interpreted more fittingly; in this way the unions entered by the patriarchs in their now final and weakened age are understood nobly; in this way I hold the necessary begetting of children should be reckoned. For young men are not so well fitted as old men for such marriages and for offspring of this kind. For to the extent that someone is feeble in the flesh, to such an extent will he be stronger in virtue of the soul and more fit for the embraces of wisdom.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 11.1-2

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Genesis 25:1

In this way also you can, if you wish, be a husband of marriages of this kind. For example, if you freely practice hospitality, you will appear to have taken her as your wife. If you shall add to this care of the poor, you will appear to have obtained a second wife. But if you should also join patience to yourself and gentleness and the other virtues, you will appear to have taken as many wives as the virtues you enjoy.Thus it is, therefore, that Scripture recounts that some of the patriarchs had many wives at the same time, that others took other wives when previous wives had died. The purpose of this is to indicate figuratively that some can exercise many virtues at the same time; others cannot begin those that follow before they have brought the former virtues to perfection. Accordingly Solomon is reported to have had many wives at the same time, to whom the Lord had said, “There was no wise man like you before you and there will not be after you.” Because therefore the Lord had given him an abundance of prudence, “like the sand of the sea,” that he might judge his people “in wisdom,” for this reason he could exercise many virtues at the same time.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 11.2

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Genesis 25:1

However, beyond this which we are taught from the law of God, if we also are in touch with some of these instructions that appear to be on the outside in the world—for example, as the knowledge of literature or the theory of grammar, as geometry or mathematics or even the discipline of dialectic—and we bring over to our purposes all these things which have been sought from without and we approve them in the declaration of our law, then we will appear to have taken in marriage either foreign wives or even “concubines.” And if, from marriages of this kind, by disputing, by discussing, by refuting those who contradict, we shall be able to convert some to the faith, and if, overcoming them with their own reasonings and skills, we shall persuade them to receive the true philosophy of Christ and the true piety of God, then we shall appear to have begotten sons from dialectic or rhetoric as if from some foreign wife or concubine.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 11.2

[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on Genesis 25:1

Because no law concerning virginity or chastity had been set down, lest desire ever make a stain in the mind of that just man.… Abraham took for himself a concubine after the death of Sarah, so that through the uprightness of his many sons who were to be scattered throughout the entire earth, knowledge and worship of the one God would be spread. Abraham then had sons from Keturah, and he sent them eastward with gifts. Abraham died 175 years old and was buried next to Sarah, his wife.

Source: COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 22:1

[AD 420] Jerome on Genesis 25:1

(Chapter 25, Verse 1) And Abraham added and took another wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. And Jokshan begot Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. And the sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah. And Abraham gave everything that he had to Isaac. But to the sons of the concubines whom Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and he sent them away from Isaac his son, while he was still alive, to the east, to the land of the east. Cetura is interpreted in the Hebrew language as 'joined' or 'bound'. For this reason, the Hebrews suspect that, with a changed name, she is the same as Hagar, who, after the death of Sara, went from being a concubine to a wife. And it seems that the advanced age of Abraham is now being excused, so that he is not accused of indulging in new marriages after the death of his old wife. Leaving aside what is uncertain, we say this: the sons of Abraham born from Cetura, according to Hebrew historians, occupied Troglodytis and Arabia, which is now called Idumea, up to the borders of the Red Sea. But it is said that one of the descendants of Abraham, who was called Apher, led an army against Libya, and there, after defeating the enemies, settled. And his descendants from the name of their ancestor were called Africa. This fact is testified by Alexander, who is called Polyhistor, and Cleodemus, nicknamed Malchus, who retell the barbarian history in Greek. And as for what he says, 'And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim': they think that Asshurim refers to merchants, Letushim to those who work with copper and iron, and Leummim to chiefs, meaning leaders of many tribes and peoples. Others claim that they are called Asurim, that they are Syrians, and that the regions of India have been occupied by most of the sons of Abraham from Keturah.

Source: Hebrew Questions on Genesis

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Genesis 25:1

As for those who prefer to read no symbolic meanings into such facts, they still have no ground of complaint against Abraham. For, in the literal sense, there may be meant to be here an argument against those heretics who are opposed to second marriages, since the example of the very father of many nations proves that there is no sin in a second marriage that is made after one’s wife is dead.

Source: City of God 16.34

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Genesis 25:6

If then we are the sons of the free Jerusalem, let us realize that some gifts belong to those who are disinherited; others, to the heirs. For they are heirs to whom it is said, “You have not received a spirit of bondage so as to be again in fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons, by virtue of which we cry: ‘Abba! Father!’ ”

Source: On Patience 28

[AD 735] Bede on Genesis 25:7

Isaac, the son of the promise, was born in Abraham’s hundredth [year], because the blessing of the inheritance that is promised to all the families of the earth through his seed will doubtless be conferred in the heavenly homeland that is to come. [Abraham] sojourned a hundred years in the land of promise, because all of us who are made children of Abraham through faith ought to live as sojourners in the present church in hope of a heavenly inheritance. In this manner, “Isaac sowed in Gerar (which is interpreted as “residence [as an alien]”), and “in that same year he acquired a hundredfold,” because as soon as we go forth from the body into the heavenly life, we receive back whatever good works we have done while sojourning in this life as children of the promise.

Source: On the Tabernacle 2.13.85

[AD 420] Jerome on Genesis 25:8

I am reviewing carefully the places in Scripture where I might find old age mentioned for the first time. Adam lived for 930 years, yet he is not called an old man. Methuselah’s life was 969 years, and he is not called an old man. I am coming down all the way to the flood, and after the flood for almost three thousand years, and I find no one who has been called old. Abraham is the first one, and certainly he was much younger than Methuselah, but he is called an old man because his old age had been anointed with rich oil. In fine, it is written there in the Scripture, “Abraham died at a good old age; full of days.” His was a good old age because it was full of days, for the whole of his life was day and not night.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 21

[AD 420] Jerome on Genesis 25:8

(v. 8) And Abraham died in good old age, an old man and full, and he was gathered to his people. A wrong addition is made by the Septuagint translators, that Abraham died lacking: for it is not fitting for Abraham to fail and diminish. Also, what we have proposed, an old man and full in good old age: in the Greek manuscripts it is written, full of days. While it seems to explain the meaning, because he has passed away full of light and the works of the day: nevertheless, it is more fitting for the spiritual interpretation if it is simply stated as full.

Source: Hebrew Questions on Genesis

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Genesis 25:10

Yet the bodies of the dead, especially of the just and faithful, are not to be despised or cast aside. The soul has used them as organs and vessels for all good work in a holy manner. If a paternal garment or a ring or anything else of this kind is as dear to children as is their love for their parents, in no way are their very bodies to be spurned, since they are much more familiar and intimate than any garment we put on. Bodies are not for ornament or for aid, as something that is applied externally, but pertain to the very nature of the man. Hence the funerals of the just men of old were cared for with dutiful devotion, the processions solemnized and a fitting burial provided. Oftentimes they themselves, while they were yet alive, gave directions to their sons concerning everything pertaining to their burial.

Source: On the Care of the Dead 3.5

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Genesis 25:11

What more can we say about the death of Abraham than what the Word of the Lord in the Gospels contains, saying, “Concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read how he says in the bush: ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob’? Now he is not God of the dead but of the living. For all those are living.” Let us also therefore choose this kind of death, as also the apostle says, that “we may die to sin but live to God.” For indeed the death of Abraham should be understood to be such, which death has amplified his bosom so much that all the saints who come from the four parts of the earth “may be borne by the angels into the bosom of Abraham.”

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 11.3

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Genesis 25:11

“The Lord blessed Isaac,” the text says, “and he dwelt at the well of vision.” This is the whole blessing with which the Lord blessed Isaac: that he might dwell “at the well of vision.” That is a great blessing for those who understand it. Would that the Lord might give this blessing to me too, that I might deserve to dwell “at the well of vision.”What kind of person can know and understand what the vision is “which Isaiah the son of Amos saw”? What kind of person can know what Nahum’s vision is? What kind of person can understand what that vision contains which Jacob saw in Bethel when he was departing into Mesopotamia, when he said, “This is the house of the Lord and the gate of heaven”? And if anyone can know and understand each individual vision or the things that are in the law or in the prophets, that one dwells “at the well of vision.”
But also consider this more carefully, that Isaac deserved to receive such a great blessing from the Lord that he might dwell “at the well of vision.” But when shall we sufficiently deserve to pass by, perhaps, “the well of vision”? He deserved to remain and dwell in the vision; we, what little we have been illuminated by the mercy of God, can scarcely perceive or surmise of a single vision.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 11.3

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Genesis 25:11

If, however, I shall have been able to perceive some one meaning of the visions of God, I shall appear to have spent one day “at the well of vision.” But if I shall have been able to touch something not only according to the letter but also according to the spirit, I shall appear to have spent two days “at the well of vision.” But if also I shall have touched the moral point, I shall have spent three days. Or certainly even if I shall not have been able to understand everything, if I am nevertheless busily engaged in the divine Scriptures and “I meditate on the law of God day and night” and at no time at all do I desist inquiring, discussing, investigating and certainly, what is greatest, praying God and asking for understanding from him who “teaches humankind knowledge,” I shall appear to dwell “at the well of vision.”But if I should be negligent and be neither occupied at home in the Word of God nor frequently enter the church to hear the Word, as I see some among you who only come to the church on festive days, those who are of this sort do not dwell “by the well of vision.” But I fear that perhaps those who are negligent, even when they come to the church, may neither drink from the well of water nor be refreshed, but they may devote themselves to the occupations and thoughts of their heart which they bring with them and may depart thirsty no less from the wells of the Scriptures.
You, therefore, hasten and act sufficiently that that blessing of the Lord may come to you, that you may be able to dwell “at the well of vision,” that the Lord may open your eyes and you may see “the well of vision” and may receive from it “living water,” which may become in you “a fountain of water springing up into eternal life.” But if anyone rarely comes to church, rarely draws from the fountains of the Scriptures and dismisses what he hears at once when he departs and is occupied with other affairs, this one does not dwell “at the well of vision.”

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 11.3

[AD 420] Jerome on Genesis 25:13

(Verse 13) And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations. The firstborn of Ishmael was Nebaioth, and Kedar, and the rest, up to the place where it is said: They lived from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt as you go towards Assyria. He fell in the sight of all his brothers. Twelve sons were born to Ishmael, and the firstborn was Nebaioth, from whom the whole region from the Euphrates to the Red Sea is called Nebaioth until this day, which is part of Arabia. For both their families, towns and villages, fortified castles, and three of them, Cedar in the desert, and Duma in another region, and Theman to the south, and Cedema to the east, are celebrated with this name. But what we read in the final section of this chapter, according to the Septuagint, is that he dwelt opposite the face of all his brothers (Gen. XIII, 18): it is more accurate to say what we have put, he died in the presence of all his brothers, that is, he died in the hands of all his children, with his surviving children, and with no one dying before him. But to be called brothers for the sons, Jacob also shows to Laban, saying: What is my sin, because you have persecuted me: and because you have searched all my vessels? What have you found of all the vessels of your house? Let it be placed before my brothers and your brothers: and let them judge between us (Ibid. 35). For we cannot believe, as Scripture recounts, that Jacob, apart from his children, had any brothers with him.

Source: Hebrew Questions on Genesis

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Genesis 25:21

First of all consider why it is that many holy women in the Scriptures are related to have been barren, as Sarah herself, and now Rebekah. But also Rachel, Israel’s beloved, was barren. Hanna also, the mother of Samuel, is recorded to have been barren. But also in the Gospels Elizabeth is related to have been barren. Yet in all these instances this term is used because after sterility they all gave birth to a holy person.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 12.1

[AD 345] Aphrahat the Persian Sage on Genesis 25:21

Isaac too demonstrated the power of prayer when he prayed over Rebekah, and she gave birth.

Source: ON PRAYER 4

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Genesis 25:21

Now Rebekah conceived and by her patience untied the knot of sterility. Let us consider what her prophetic and apostolic soul brought to birth, and how. “She went to consult the Lord,” because the children leapt up in her womb, and she received the reply, “Two nations are in your womb.” For of herself she presumes nothing but invokes God as supreme protector of her counsels; filled with peace and piety, she joins two nations together by her faith and by prophecy and encloses them in her womb, so to speak. Not without reason is she called sister rather than wife, because her gentle and peaceable soul enjoys a reputation for affection common to all rather than for union with one individual and because she thought that she was bound to all rather than to one.

Source: ISAAC, OR THE SOUL 4.18-19

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Genesis 25:21

One question is worth raising initially: If she and her husband were conspicuous for their good life and both concerned for chaste living, why was she barren? We cannot find fault with their life or say barrenness was the result of sin. To grasp the full extent of this remarkable circumstance, remember that it was not only herself who was barren but also the good man’s mother, Sarah; and not only his mother but also his daughter-in-law—I mean Jacob’s wife Rachel.What is the meaning of this gallery of sterile people? All were good people, all virtuous, all given testimony by God; of them he said, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” And blessed Paul says, “Hence God is not ashamed to be called their God.” There is great commendation of them in the New Testament; great praise of them in the Old. In each case they were distinguished and remarkable men, yet all had barren wives. They spent a long period in a childless condition. So whenever you see a man and wife of virtuous life experiencing childlessness, whenever you see pious people devoted to religion yet childless, don’t think it is the result of sin. After all, many reasons for God’s designs are beyond our understanding, and we ought to thank God for everything and brand as wicked only those living in sin, not those without children. It frequently happens, in fact, that God works things for our good without our realizing the reason for what happens. Hence in every case we should marvel at his wisdom and praise his ineffable love.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 49.5-6

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Genesis 25:21

These things are told for our benefit so that we may give evidence of much goodwill and not pry into God’s plans. Yet we need to explain the reason why these women were barren. What, then, is the reason? So that when you see the Virgin giving birth to our common Lord you may not be incredulous. Exercise your mind, it is saying, on the womb of these sterile women, so that when you see an infertile and sealed womb opened for childbearing by God’s grace, you may not be surprised to hear that a maiden gave birth. Or rather, feel surprise and amazement but don’t refuse faith in the marvel. So when the Jew says, “How did the Virgin give birth?” say to him, “How did the sterile old woman give birth?” In that case, you see, there were two impediments, her advanced age and the imperfect condition of nature, whereas with the Virgin there was one impediment, her not having experienced marriage. Consequently the barren woman prepares the way for the virgin.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 49.7

[AD 420] Jerome on Genesis 25:21

(Verse 21.) And Rebecca his wife conceived, and the sons within her were moved. Concerning this movement, the Seventy Interpreters rendered it as ἐσκίρτων, which means they were playing or kicking; which Aquila translated as they were breaking in the womb. But Symmachus rendered it as διέπλεον, which means they were carried on the surface like a ship.

Source: Hebrew Questions on Genesis

[AD 735] Bede on Genesis 25:21

Thus Isaac, the son of the promise, who as a figure of our Redeemer became obedient to his father even unto death, was born of parents who were old. He had a mother who had long been barren. Thus Jacob, the patriarch Joseph, Samson, [who was] the bravest of the chieftains, and Samuel, [who was] the most distinguished of the prophets, [all] had as their progenitors [mothers who were] for a long time barren in body but always fruitful in virtues. In this way their dignity would be known from the miraculous nativity of those who were born, and it might be proven that they would be famous in their lives, since at the very outset of their lives they transcended the norms of the human condition.

Source: Homilies on the Gospels 2.19

[AD 220] Tertullian on Genesis 25:22

The very vitals of Rebekah are stirred, though the child is a long way from birth and there is no breath of air. Behold, the twin offspring struggles in the womb of their mother, though there yet is no sign of the two nations. We might regard as prophetic this struggle of the two infants, who are at enmity even before they are born, who show animosity before animation, for their restlessness disturbed their mother. When, however, the womb is opened, their number known and the symbolic implications of their condition made manifest, we see clearly not only the separate souls of those children but even then the beginning of their rivalry.

Source: ON THE SOUL 26.2

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Genesis 25:22

So therefore also now it is related of Rebekah: “She departed to inquire of the Lord.” As we have said, she should be considered to have departed not by the steps of her feet but by the advances of her mind.You also therefore will be said to have de-parted “to inquire of the Lord” if you have begun to contemplate not those things “which are seen but those which are not seen,” that is, not carnal but spiritual things, not present but future things.
Tear yourself away from your old manner of life and from the fellowship of those with whom you have lived shamefully and notoriously. Associate yourself with honorable and religious actions, when you shall have been searched for among companions of shamefulness and shall never have been found in crowds of the guilty. If so, then it will be said also of you: “He departed to inquire of the Lord.”
So therefore the saints depart not from one place to another but from one life to another, from beginning instructions to more advanced instructions.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 12.2

[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on Genesis 25:22

“God blessed Isaac,” and Isaac prayed for Rebekah, who was barren. After twenty years God heard him, and she conceived. Her sons struggled together within her womb. She went to inquire of the Lord, and it was told her, “Two nations are in your womb,” that is, the Edomite and Hebrew nations. To whom did she go to inquire? It was to Melchizedek that she went to inquire, as we mentioned above in the genealogy of Melchizedek. She returned quickly because of the pangs that were striking her, and she gave birth to Esau and Jacob.

Source: COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 23:1

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Genesis 25:22

They were wrestling in the womb of their mother, and it was said to Rebekah, when they were wrestling there, “Two peoples are in your womb.” Two men, two peoples, a good people, an evil people; but still they are wrestling in one womb.How many evil people there are in the church! And one womb carries them until they are separated in the end. And the good shout against the evil, and the evil shout back against the good, and both are wrestling in the bowels of the one.

Source: TRACTATE ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 11.10.2-3

[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Genesis 25:22

Almost everyone accepts the fact that blessed Isaac represented a type of the Lord our Savior. Therefore Isaac prefigured Christ and blessed Rebekah the church, because although like the church she remained sterile for a long time, she conceived through the prayer of blessed Isaac and the Lord’s gift. Now the children struggled in her womb, and not tolerating this annoyance, she said, “If this be so, why am I pregnant?” Then the Lord replied to her, “Two nations are in your womb; two peoples shall stem from your body. One people shall be stronger than the other, and the elder shall serve the younger.” Indeed, as the apostle says, dearly beloved, “All these things happened to them as a type, and they were written for us.” Therefore Rebekah corporally conceived of blessed Isaac, because the church was going to conceive spiritually of Christ. Moreover, just as the two children struggled in Rebekah’s womb, so two peoples continually oppose each other in the church’s womb. If there were only wicked or only good persons, there would be just one people. In the church, so much the worse, good and bad people are found, two peoples struggling as in the womb of the spiritual Rebekah—the humble, indeed, and the proud, chaste and adulterous, meek and irascible, kind and envious, merciful and avaricious.

Source: SERMON 86.2

[AD 56] Romans on Genesis 25:23

I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen. Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son. And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. [Genesis 25:23] As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Genesis 25:23

I think that this can be said also of each of us as individuals that “two nations and two peoples are within you.” For there is a people of virtue within us, and there is no less a people of vice within us. “For from our heart proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, thefts, false testimonies” but also “deceits, contentions, heresies, jealousies, revelings and such like.” Do you see how great a people of evil is within us? But if we should deserve to utter that word of the saints, “From fear of you, Lord, we have conceived in the womb and have brought forth. We have wrought the spirit of your salvation on the earth.” Thus another people, begotten in the Spirit, is found within us. For “the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, temperance, purity” and so forth. You see another people that is also itself within us. But this one is less; that one greater. For there are always more evil than good people, and vices are more numerous than virtues. But if we should be such as Rebekah and should deserve to conceive from Isaac, that is, from the Word of God, “one people shall overcome the other, and the elder shall serve the younger,” even in us, for the flesh shall serve the Spirit, and vices shall yield to virtues.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 12.3

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Genesis 25:23

We must now take a look at the history of the city of God, as it takes its course from this point on among the descendants of Abraham. In the period from Isaac’s birth to his seventieth year, when his first children were born, there is one memorable fact: He asked God that his wife, who was barren, might bear him a child. God heard the prayer, and she conceived twins who leaped while still in her womb. She was troubled by the disturbance, and, asking the Lord, she received this answer: “Two nations are in your womb; two people shall stem from your body. One people shall be stronger than the other, and the elder shall serve the younger.”This is interpreted by the apostle Paul as an obvious proof of the working of grace: “For before the children had yet been born or had done anything of good or evil,” the younger was chosen, through no merits of his own, and the older rejected. So far as original sin goes, both were equal. As for personal sins, neither had any.

Source: City of God 16.35

[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Genesis 25:23

How then do the wicked serve the good? As persecutors serve the martyrs; as a file or hammer, gold; as a mill, wheat; as ovens, the baking of bread: those are consumed, so that these may be baked. How, I say, do the wicked serve the good? As chaff in the furnace of the goldsmith serves gold …. Therefore the wicked should not boast or extol themselves when they send tribulations to the good. For while they are persecuting the good in their bodies, they are killing themselves in their hearts. If the misfortune of an evil person affects a good person, the iniquity has already caused his own soul to decay. Therefore if in an evil spirit someone who is inflamed with the fury of wrath tries to stir up a good man, it is still doubtful whether the good man can be consumed with rage, but there is no doubt that the evil man is already glowing with anger. Perhaps that good man who is full of spiritual vigor and the refreshment of the Holy Spirit will not get excited, even if the fire of persecution is inflicted; but without any doubt the one who tried to arouse him cannot fail to burn with passion. Esau and Jacob were born of the one seed of Isaac, just as Christian people are begotten of our Lord and Savior’s one baptism and one womb of the church. However, just like Esau and Jacob, these people are divided into two parts because of their moral differences. For from the fruits of their works one part is known to be carnal, the other spiritual. For this reason, then, Scripture says, “The elder shall serve the younger,” because the number of the wicked is always greater than that of the good. So just like those two children in the womb of Rebekah, so these people will struggle in the womb of the church until judgment day, as we said above, while the proud resist the humble, while adulterers persecute the chaste, while drunkards whose number is infinite rail at the sober, while the envious rival the good, while robbers desire to destroy those who give alms like the irascible do the peaceable, and while the dissolute attempt to drag down to earth those who have a taste for heavenly things.

[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Genesis 25:23

Good souls want to win over the evil, but the wicked long to destroy the just. It is the desire of the good that those who are bad be corrected, while the destruction of the good is the pursuit of the wicked. There is one class of the pious, another of the impious. The class of the good are raised up to heaven through humility, while the class of the wicked are plunged into hell through pride. For all those members of the Catholic church belong to Esau who are inclined toward earthly possessions, love the earth, desire the earth and place all their hopes in the earth. Whoever wishes to serve God in order to increase in honors or receive material profits is known to belong to Esau, that is, to earthly happiness. For in Esau carnal souls are understood, while spiritual ones are truly in Jacob. These are the two people whom the apostle clearly mentions when he distinguishes the carnal and the spiritual. As he says, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are immorality, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, witchcrafts, enmities, contentions, jealousies, anger, quarrels, factions, parties, envies, drunkenness, carousing and suchlike.” Behold the fruits of the people who belong to Esau. In the following passage the same apostle adds the fruits of those who belong to Jacob, saying, “But the fruit of the Spirit is: charity, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faith, modesty, continence.” Behold the spiritual works belonging to blessed Jacob, that is, to people who are pious.

Source: SERMON 86.2

[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Genesis 25:23

The fact that we read “One people shall be stronger than the other, and the elder shall serve the younger” we do not see fulfilled according to the letter in Esau and Jacob. For Scripture does not mention that Esau served blessed Jacob bodily. Therefore we ought to inquire how this is to be understood spiritually, or how the elder shall serve the younger, for if this were not to happen holy Scripture would not mention it. Therefore if one pays careful attention, one will know how the elder people shall serve the younger in the case of Christians and Jews. The greater and older people of the Jews are proved to serve the younger, that is, the Christian people, for like servants of the Christians they are known to carry the books of the divine law throughout the world for the instruction of all nations. Therefore the Jews were scattered in every land, so that when we want to invite some pagan to faith in Christ by testifying that Christ was announced by all the prophets, and he resists and says that the holy books of the divine law were written by us rather than the Holy Spirit, we may thus have a means of refuting him with positive arguments. To such a person we may say, “If a doubt arises in you concerning my books, behold the books of the Jews, apparently our enemies, which I certainly could neither have written nor changed. Read them over, and when you have found in them the same thing as in my books, ‘Be not unbelieving but believing.’ ” In this way the elder people is known to serve the younger, for through their books the people of the Gentiles are invited to belief in Christ.

Source: SERMON 86.3

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Genesis 25:24

“And her days were fulfilled,” the text says, “that she should give birth, and there were twins in her womb.” This statement, that is, “her days were fulfilled that she should give birth,” is almost never written except of holy women. For this is said of this Rebekah and of Elizabeth the mother of John51 and of Mary the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whence a birth of this kind seems to me to show something extraordinary and beyond other human beings. The fulfillment of the days seems to indicate the birth of perfect offspring.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 12.3

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Genesis 25:25

This Esau proceeded from his mother’s womb “hairy all over like a skin,” but Jacob was smooth and simple. Thus Jacob received his name from wrestling or supplanting, but Esau—as those who interpret Hebrew names say—received his name either from redness or from earth, that is, “red” or “earthly,” or, as it seemed to others, his name appears to mean “something made.”Certainly, as the apostle says, both sons were conceived “from our one father Isaac.” But why these prerogatives are given is not mine to know. Neither do I know why one “supplanted his brother” and was born smooth and simple, nor why the other was born “hairy all over” and shaggy and, so to speak, enwrapped in the squalor of sin and vileness. This is not mine to discuss.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 12.4

[AD 420] Jerome on Genesis 25:25

(Verse 25) And the first came out red, all over like a hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. 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 Rebekah bare them.

Source: Hebrew Questions on Genesis

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Genesis 25:25

Two twins were born at so short an interval of time that the second had a hold on the foot of the first. Yet they were so unlike in their lives, character, conduct and the love their parents bore them that this unlikeness made them enemies one of the other. When I say unlike, I do not mean that one would sit while the other walked, or that one slept while the other was awake or that one talked while the other kept quiet.One of our twins led a life of servile toil, while the other served no one. One was loved by his mother; the other was not. One lost the title to primogeniture, which was then so highly esteemed, and the other obtained it. Further, there were immense differences between them in regard to their wives, children and possessions. If such differences are to be explained by those split seconds between the births of twins which are considered negligible in their horoscopes, why are such matters mentioned when other people’s horoscopes are in question?

Source: City of God 5.4

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Genesis 25:26

In addition, because [Christ] supplanted the activity of the adversary and because he alone sees the Father, he is “Jacob” and “Israel” when he has become man. As we become light because he is the light of the world, so we become Jacob because he is called “Jacob” and Israel because he is named “Israel.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 1.260

[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Genesis 25:26

There was the example of the patriarch Isaac, who did not marry at the peak of his youth, in order that marriage should not be a deed of passion; because of the blessing of God upon his seed. He continued in the marriage until the birth of his twin sons, and later, closing his eyes, he entered again fully the realm of the unseen. This is what the story of the patriarch seems to mean, in my opinion, when it refers to the failing of his sight.

Source: ON VIRGINITY 7

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Genesis 25:28

But we ought not to leave his parents without excuse for having preferred their younger son to the elder. At the same time we must take care so that no one, in turning to their example, would make an unfair judgment between his sons or suppose that he should love the one and esteem the other less. From this line of conduct fraternal hatreds are aroused, and the crime of fratricide is contrived to gain a worthless sum of money. Let children be nurtured with a like measure of devotion. Granted that one’s love may fasten more upon some trait in a child who is more agreeable or similar to oneself, the exercise of justice ought to be the same in regard to all. The more that is given to the child that is loved and who seeks his brothers’ love, the more is taken away from the one who is burdened with jealousy at the unfair preference. Esau threatened that he would kill his brother. Neither the fact of brotherhood nor respect for their parents kept him from his fratricidal madness. He grieved that the blessing had been snatched away from him, whereas he should have proved himself worthy of it by forbearance rather than by crime.

Source: JACOB AND THE HAPPY LIFE 2.2.5

[AD 420] Jerome on Genesis 25:30

(Verse 30) And Esau said to Jacob: Give me a taste of that red stew, for I am famished. That is why he was called Edom. Red or tawny is called Edom in the Hebrew language. Therefore, from the fact that he sold his birthright for red food, he obtained the name Edom, which means tawny.

Source: Hebrew Questions on Genesis

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Genesis 25:30

Let frugality be joined to fasting. Just as overeating is to be censured, so stimulants of the appetite must be eliminated. It is not that certain kinds of food are to be detested but that bodily pleasure is to be checked. Esau was censured not for having desired a fat calf or plump birds but for having coveted a dish of lentils.

Source: SERMONS ON THE LITURGICAL SEASONS 207.2

[AD 379] Basil of Caesarea on Genesis 25:31-32

This vice of gluttony delivered Adam up to death; by the pleasure of the appetite consummate evil was brought into the world. Through it Noah was mocked, Canaan was cursed, Esau was deprived of his birthright and married into a Canaanite family. Lot became his own son-in-law and father-in-law, by marrying his own daughter.

Source: ON RENUNCIATION OF THE WORLD

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Genesis 25:31

Reason would then curtail the attractions of gluttony and the other excessive desires and would check the passions and emotions of the body. Therefore temperance comes before correction and is the mistress of learning. Proceeding from it, holy Jacob received from his brother the primacy that he had not possessed; by his agreement to that preference, Esau taught for the future that those who do not govern their own selves are worthless in judgment. .

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Genesis 25:31-32

I have already put it to your holinesses yesterday that the reason why the elder son is called Esau is that no one becomes spiritual without first having been “of the flesh” or materialistic. But if they persist in “the mind of the flesh,” they will always be Esau. If, however, they become spiritual, they will then be the younger son. But then the junior will be the senior; the other takes precedence in time, this one in virtue. Before it ever came to this blessing, Esau had longed to have the lentils Jacob had cooked. And Jacob said to him, “Give me your birthright, and I will give you the lentils I have cooked.” He sold his right as firstborn to his younger brother. He went off with a temporary satisfaction; the other went off with a permanent honor. So those in the church who are slaves to temporary pleasures and satisfactions eat lentils—lentils that Jacob certainly cooked but that Jacob did not eat. Idols, you see, flourished more than anywhere else in Egypt; lentils are the food of Egypt; so lentils represent all the errors of the Gentiles. So because the more obvious and manifest church which was going to come from the Gentiles was signified in the younger son, Jacob is said to have cooked the lentils and Esau to have eaten them.…Now apply this. You have a Christian people. But among this Christian people it is the ones who belong to Jacob that have the birthright or right of the firstborn. Those, however, who are materialistic in life, materialistic in faith, materialistic in hope, materialistic in love, still belong to the old covenant, not yet to the new. They still share the lot of Esau, not yet in the blessing of Jacob.

Source: SERMON 4.12

[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on Genesis 25:34

Jacob saw that the right of the firstborn was despised by Esau, and he contrived to take it from him, trusting in God who had said, “The elder shall serve the younger.” Jacob boiled some lentils, and “Esau came home famished after hunting and said to Jacob, ‘Let me eat some of that red pottage,’ ” that is, “Let me eat some of your lentils.” “Jacob said to him, ‘Give me your birthright and you may take all of them.’ After Esau swore to him and sold him his birthright, Jacob then gave Esau [the lentils].” To show that it was not by reason of his hunger that Esau sold his birthright, Scripture says, “After he had eaten he arose and went away, and Esau despised his birthright.” Therefore Esau did not sell it because he was hungry, but rather, since it had no value to him, he sold it for nothing as if it were nothing.

Source: COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 23:2

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Genesis 25:34

Listening to this, however, let us learn the lesson never to neglect the gifts from God or forfeit important things for worthless trifles. I mean, why, tell me, should we be obsessed with a desire for money when the kingdom of heaven and those ineffable blessings are within our grasp, and why prefer blessings that endure forever and ever to those that are passing and scarcely last until evening? What could be worse than the folly of being deprived of the former through lust after the latter and never being able to enjoy them in a pure fashion? What good, after all, tell me, is such wealth? Are you not aware that acquisition of great wealth brings us nothing else than an increase in worry, anxiety and sleeplessness? Do you not see that these people (in particular those possessing great wealth) are, so to say, everyone’s slaves, and day in and day out are in fear even of shadows? This, you see, is the source of plotting, envy, deep hatred and countless other evils. Often you would see the person with ten thousand talents of gold hidden away calling blessed the one behind the shop counter who prepares his own meals by hand.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 50.7