So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir. Jacob, however, went to Sukkoth, Genesis 33:16-17a NIV However – Take a moment to read Genesis 33, Jacob’s reunion with Esau. You’ll find something odd about Jacob’s protests. Again and again, Esau shows no animosity, no hidden agenda of revenge, but Jacob turns away…
When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents. Genesis 25:27 NASB Was– Hebrew often communicates deep meaning through what is absent from the text. Such is the case with this verse. In the English translation, the copula is added in the…
Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. Genesis 27:5 In the next few weeks I will publish a book on the story of Jacob. This is an excerpt from one of the chapters. Isaac’s life is one of spiritual weakness. In the face of God, Isaac wilts. He is powerless. He doesn’t…
See my enemies who are many and with outrageous hatred despise me. Psalm 25:19 Robert Alter translation Despise – Buried in the Hebrew text is a powerful repetition not evident in Alter’s translation (but clear in the ESV). “Hatred” and “despise” are from the same Hebrew root, sane. To hate describes an emotional reaction of…
For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears. Hebrews 12:17 NASB No place – This verse scares me to death. I know the story of Esau. So do you.[1] The author of Hebrews…
