GENESIS 25:22

This verse occurs in the middle of the story of the birth of Jacob and Esau. Van Dam and Swart summarize the action thusly:

“It was noteworthy that Esau and Jacob 'jostled each other' (rss) in the womb before their birth (Gen 25:22). Alarmed, Rebekah inquired of Yahweh for an explanation. He said, 'Two nations are within your womb, and two peoples within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger' (v. 23). Thus, the prebirth friction would carry over into later conflict.”

Kline and Knauth both comment on the fact that Rebekah was the one to receive the oracle:

    “It is highly interesting...that it was to Rebekah, rather than to Isaac himself, that God had revealed his plans for succession of the promise, as it been Rebekah who had taken the initiative to inquire of God in the first place (Gen 25:22). (Knauth)

    “Rebekah, as perhaps Isaac too, had recourse to a sanctified place, probably one of the patriarchal altars, in her distressed calling on God. Why, she wondered, had God healed her barrenness, if the issue of her conception would be unhappy, as the inner struggle made her fear it would.” (Kline)

The distress suffered by Rebekah at this point is addressed below:

    Wenham: “The pregnancy is so painful that she wonders if there is any point going on living. After they had grown up, Rebekah had similar thoughts (27:46).”

    Fokkelman: “How cruelly the sweet expectations of children, the greater after twenty years of hope and despair, are dashed for Isaac and Rebekah! As early as the pregnancy their parental happiness is threatened. 'What shall I do' Rebekah wonders in despair.”

This brings us to one of the two key points I would like to stress in this verse – Exactly what were the words spoken by Rebekah in response to her discomfort? Below is a brief survey of the renderings of several translations and paraphrases of her words.

The first five translations below treat the Hebrew wording here as too obscure or uncertain to render into English, and so they fall back on the early Syriac version instead as a guide:

    RSV – “If it is thus, why do I live?”

    NRSV – “If it is to be this way, why do I live?”

    JB – If this is the way of it, why go on living.”

    The Message – “If this is the way it's going to be, why go on living?”

    Living Bible – “I can't endure this.”

Then there are those translations who do not rely on the Syriac, but attempt to make sense out of the Hebrew directly:

    KJV – “If it be so, why am I thus?”

    TEV – “Why should something like this happen to me?”

    NIV – “Why is this happening to me?”

NEB – “If this is how it is with me, what does it mean?”

Wenham translates it as “If it is like this, why am I here?” His opinion is that resorting to the Syriac version is “unnecessary.”

Then there is Hamilton, who starts with the literal Hebrew words – “If thus, why this, I?” and renders it as, “If this is so, why ever I...?” His explanation of this truncated saying is that “Rebekah suddenly breaks off her thought.” And that may just be the best way to treat this difficult subject.

There was one other issue regarding this annunciation and birth story that struck me. I seemed to see several parallels between the birth of Jacob and the nativity story as told by Luke.

Luke 1:25 – Elizabeth conceives and says, “This is what the Lord has done for me when he looked favorably on me and took away the disgrace I have endured among my people.” Compare that miraculous answer to prayer with Rebekah's sudden ability to have children after many years of barrenness (Genesis 25:21). Of course, even more miraculous is the fact that Mary the virgin will be having a son at all.

Luke 1:33 – The angel Gabriel tells Mary that her Son “will reign over the house of Jacob forever...” That oracle foretells a favorable a glorious future for her son and can also be taken as the ultimate fulfillment of God's prediction in Genesis 25:23 that Jacob would be the founder of a nation which would surpass that of Esau.

Luke 1:41-44 – Interestingly, Mary's cousin Elizabeth feels the baby in her womb move as soon as pregnant Mary enters the room. And she exclaims, “And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?” This is a clear echo of Genesis 25:22 (See especially the NIV translation above) in which Rebekah feels movement within her womb. But whereas Rebekah predicts only foreboding events from her sons' movements, Elizabeth reads only glad tidings from her son's actions.

Van Dam and Swart also pick up on this correspondence with the life of Jacob in these verses. They note that the Septuagint rendering of the Hebrew word rss (jostle or wrestle) in Genesis 25:22 is translated into the Greek word skirtao. “This vb. also occurs in Luke 1:41,44, where it is used of the baby (John the Baptist) in Elizabeth's womb. Here the action carries a positive message.”

Luke 2:34f – There are many predictions of the future greatness of Jesus given to Mary which are found in the first two chapters of Luke, but among them is that of Simeon in 2:34-35 which also states, “And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” This is the same sort of mixed blessing that Rebekah received earlier in Genesis 25:23 when she was told by God that the two people arising from her sons would be divided and not united.

Luke 3:23-38 – Luke traces Jesus' line by way of his presumed father Joseph all the way back to Jacob.

Luke 6:28 – Jesus says, “Bless them that curse you and pray for those who abuse you.” This is a noted reversal of Isaac's blessing on Jacob in Genesis 27:29: “Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you.” And Isaac's words certainly fit the tenor of the whole New Testament (especially Luke 2:34), which teaches that everyone in the world will be judged ultimately by their relationship to Jesus Christ. In addition, the preceding words of blessing to Jacob in Genesis 27:29 state, “Be lord over your brothers and may your mother's sons bow down to you.”  And, of course, we know that even though Jesus' half-brothers mocked Jesus' pretentions to greatness at first, they (James and Jude) became his loyal followers after the post-resurrection appearances.