Verse 40
40. By thy sword shalt thou live By war and rapine . Here note how different from Jacob, whose source of support is abundance of grain and of sweet wine. Genesis 27:28.
Shalt serve thy brother This is not a blessing, but a confirmation of the prophecy already uttered over Jacob.
When thou shalt have the dominion Rather, When thou shalt rove at large. Thus Gesenius, fittingly pointing to the roving character of the Edomites. Hengstenberg renders: when thou shakest; tossest thy head, like the wild ox. Either rendering more clearly sets forth the true thought than “when thou shalt have the dominion.” This was fulfilled in the days of Ahaz.
2 Kings 16:6; 2 Chronicles 28:17. The Edomites were, however, subsequently conquered by John Hyrcanus, and compelled to submit to circumcision. Josephus, Ant. 13: 9, 1; 15:7, 9. But afterwards they succeeded in establishing that Idumaean dynasty of the Herods, which continued until the Jewish state was utterly overthrown by the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.
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