21 Isaac made prayer to the Lord for his wife because she had no children; and the Lord gave ear to his prayer, and Rebekah became with child.
So we went without food, requesting our God for this: and his ear was open to our prayer.
And made prayer to him; and in answer to his prayer God let him come back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh was certain that the Lord was God.
And not only so, but Rebecca being about to have a child by our father Isaac-- Before the children had come into existence, or had done anything good or bad, in order that God's purpose and his selection might be effected, not by works, but by him whose purpose it is, It was said to her, The older will be the servant of the younger.
But the angel said, Have no fear, Zacharias, for your prayer has come to the ears of God, and your wife Elisabeth will have a son, and his name will be John.
And they were without children, because Elisabeth had never given birth, and they were at that time very old.
Then at the sound of your voice, the Lord will give an answer; at your cry he will say, Here am I. If you take away from among you the yoke, the putting out of the finger of shame, and the evil word;
The Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, says, Will you put a question to me about the things which are to come, or will you give me orders about my sons, and the work of my hands?
To his worshippers, he will give their desire; their cry comes to his ears, and he gives them salvation.
See, sons are a heritage from the Lord; the fruit of the body is his reward.
To you, O hearer of prayer, let the words of all flesh come.
Let your voice come up to me in the day of trouble; I will be your saviour, so that you may give glory to me.
And she made an oath, and said, O Lord of armies, if you will truly take note of the sorrow of your servant, not turning away from me but keeping me in mind, and will give me a man-child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.
And he had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah: and Peninnah was the mother of children, but Hannah had no children.
And I will give her a blessing so that you will have a son by her: truly my blessing will be on her, and she will be the mother of nations: kings of peoples will be her offspring. Then Abraham went down on his face, and laughing, said in his heart, May a man a hundred years old have a child? will Sarah, at ninety years old, give birth? And Abraham said to God, If only Ishmael's life might be your care! And God said, Not so; but Sarah, your wife, will have a son, and you will give him the name Isaac, and I will make my agreement with him for ever and with his seed after him.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Genesis 25
Commentary on Genesis 25 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 25
The sacred historian, in this chapter,
Gen 25:1-10
Abraham lived, after the marriage of Isaac, thirty-five years, and all that is recorded concerning him during the time lies here in a very few verses. We hear no more of God's extraordinary appearances to him or trials of him; for all the days, even of the best and greatest saints, are not eminent days, some slide on silently, and neither come nor go with observation; such were these last days of Abraham. We have here,
Gen 25:11-18
Immediately after the account of Abraham's death, Moses begins the story of Isaac (v. 11), and tells us where he dwelt and how remarkably God blessed him. Note, The blessing of Abraham did not die with him, but survived to all the children of the promise. But he presently digresses from the story of Isaac, to give a short account of Ishmael, forasmuch as he also was a son of Abraham, and God had made some promises concerning him, which it was requisite we should know the accomplishment of. Observe here what is said,
Gen 25:19-28
We have here an account of the birth of Jacob and Esau, the twin sons of Isaac and Rebekah: their entrance into the world was (which is not usual) one of the most considerable parts of their story; nor is much related concerning Isaac but what had reference to his father while he lived and to his sons afterwards. For Isaac seems not to have been a man of action, nor much tried, but to have spent his days in quietness and silence. Now concerning Jacob and Esau we are here told,
Gen 25:29-34
We have here a bargain made between Jacob and Esau about the birthright, which was Esau's by providence but Jacob's by promise. It was a spiritual privilege, including the excellency of dignity and the excellency of power, as well as the double portion, ch. 49:3. It seemed to be such a birthright as had then the blessing annexed to it, and the entail of the promise. Now see,
1. Edited by BLB [An error was made in the original document incorrectly quoting Hos 12:8]