Genesis 25:27-34

ESAU SELLS THE BIRTHRIGHT

"And the boys grew: and Esau was a skilled hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. Now Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: and Rebekah loved Jacob. And Jacob boiled pottage: and Esau came in from the field, and he was faint: and Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. And Jacob said, Sell me first thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am about to die: what profit shall the birthright be to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me first; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; and he did eat, and drink, and rose up, and went his way: so Esau despised his birthright."

No one can read this simple account without pitying the foolish and reckless son who bartered the incredible blessings of his birthright for a mess of pottage (a single meal). But let all men feel pity also for themselves when tempted to barter life's treasures for a moment of indulgence or pleasure. How strongly do sensual appetites assert their influence over us! The Arabs themselves have a story of, "Abu Gabshan, the governor and guardian of the temple at Mecca, but also a weak and silly man, who was checkmated and removed from his post by Cosa, an ancestor of Mohammed, who bought from him the keys of the temple, and with it the presidency, for a single bottle of wine!"[19] The N.T. tells us that Esau was a "profane person and a fornicator," which, of course, only fills in the picture of the man controlled and dominated by his appetites. There can be no doubt that the Bible, both O.T. and N.T., places the greater blame for what happened here upon Esau. Nevertheless, there is something also very unlovely in what Jacob did. Knowing his brother's weakness, coldly calculating how he might take advantage of it, and mercilessly insisting that his brother "swear away" his birthright, are traits that make the heart sick to contemplate. However, one should not fault the Divine judgment. God's Chosen People could not have been developed through a man like Esau; it was difficult enough for God to do so through Jacob; but it would have been impossible through Esau.

Regarding this sordid sale, Jamieson commented: "Never was any meat, except the forbidden fruit, so dearly bought, as this broth of Jacob!"[20]

THE EXCURSUS ON KETURAH

The reasons which underlie the conviction that Keturah's being the secondary wife of Abraham was an event antedating even his taking Hagar are as follows:

1. She is called in the Bible, the "concubine," not wife, of Abraham in 1 Chronicles 1:32. This proves the secondary status of Keturah.
   
2. No representative of Keturah appeared at Abraham's funeral.
   
3. The word "wife" used in this chapter (Genesis 25:1) is [~pilgash],[21] a Hebrew word also used to describe Jacob's concubine, Bilhah.
   
4. That she was a secondary wife, also called a concubine, appears in Genesis 25:6.
   
5. The indication that Keturah was a "secondary wife" could not be true at all had Sarah been dead when he took her. Any marriage contracted by the patriarch AFTER the event would have made her a full wife in the highest sense. She has to be either that, or a concubine elevated to the status of secondary wife, as was Hagar, although Hagar was not a concubine.
   
6. The Bible says that Abraham was "as good as dead" at the time God enabled him to beget Isaac, which flatly denies his ability to marry after Sarah's death and beget six sons. But the scholars insist that "he was rejuvenated." Where does the Bible say that? See Romans 4:19.
   
7. They also say that Abraham's strong preference for monogamy was only overcome "reluctantly" in the matter of his taking Hagar, but again we find no such reluctance mentioned. Furthermore, that Abraham already had begotten many sons from his slaves could easily have been the reason Sarah herself sought to have her OWN special child "by her own private maid." It is that factor regarding Hagar which clouds some of the allegations.
   
8. The order of arrangements of the sons of Keturah both in this chapter and in 1 Chronicles 1 clearly places them PRIOR TO Ishmael and therefore PRIOR TO Isaac. As Jamieson said, "It is improbable that he married after Sarah's death ... This marriage is here related out of its chronological order, in order to form a proper winding up of the patriarch's history."[22]
   
9. Many scholars have discerned these things: "This must have occurred many years before the death of Sarah."[23] "Keturah had not been mentioned before this verse, but her status seems to have been the same as Hagar's. And we may well suppose that this union, like Hagar's, had taken place at a much earlier date in Abraham's life."[24] Even Adam Clarke agreed with this and suggested that, "Abraham took another wife," (Genesis 25:1) should have been translated, "Abraham had taken another wife."[25]
   
10. In the notes above, we referred to Josephus' declaration that Keturah's sons were all grown and that they had removed to their remote habitations at the time of Abraham's funeral, a tradition difficult to account for as having been based on anything except the truth.
    

Admittedly, the question is perplexing, and we do not propose that the above citations in any sense achieve a final settlement of it, but they are added here because of the invariable interest that always attaches to this problem.

One thing we feel very sure of, however, is that such an allegation as the following could not possibly be accepted as having any merit:

Abraham's marriage to Keturah, which took place after Isaac's marriage, shows that after the church is completed, and the present age ends, all families of the earth will be blessed (Genesis 12:3). This is prefigured by Abraham's descendants from Keturah. These prefigure millennial nations![26]

Such a view is cited here, not through any agreement with it, but because it shows some of the important issues that pivot upon the proper understanding of the status of Keturah.