Genesis 25:23

and He declared to her: “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Yahweh speaks to Rebekah, who has just come to inquire of the LORD after the twins struggled in her womb (25:22).

The words — The verse uses two distinct Hebrew nouns: גוֹיִם (gôyîm, "nations") and לְאֻמּוֹת (lĕʾummîm, "peoples"), a deliberate pairing that marks the two groups as both politically distinct and ethnically separate.

The thread — The "older will serve the younger" is realized in Genesis 27:40 (Esau serving Jacob) and the blessing of 27:29 (peoples serving Jacob); Paul returns to the same episode in Romans 9:10 to argue that election is not grounded in human effort or birth order.

Why it lands — The verse places a divine declaration before the birth itself, so the reader must hold that what is spoken over the womb is binding and that firstborn privilege is not the final word.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וַיֹּ֨אמֶרva/i.Yo.merand/ he said יְהוָ֜הYah.wehYahwehלָ֗הּLa/hto <the>/ herשְׁנֵ֤יshe.Neitwo גוֹיִם֙go.yimnations בְּבִטְנֵ֔ךְbe./vit.Ne/kh[are] in/ womb/ your וּשְׁנֵ֣יu./she.Neiand/ two לְאֻמִּ֔יםle.'u.Mimpeoples מִמֵּעַ֖יִךְmi./me.'A.yi/khfrom/ inward parts/ your יִפָּרֵ֑דוּyi.pa.Re.duthey will separate וּלְאֹם֙u./le.'Omand/ a people מִלְאֹ֣םmi/l.'Ommore than/ a people יֶֽאֱמָ֔ץye.'e.Matzit will be strong וְרַ֖בve./Ravand/ [the] great [one]יַעֲבֹ֥דya.'a.Vodit will serve צָעִֽיר׃tza.'Ir[the] young [one]

King James Version

And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.

Cross-references

Romans 9:10 Not only that, but Rebecca’s children were conceived by one man, our father Isaac.
Genesis 27:40 You shall live by the sword and serve your brother. But when you rebel, you will tear his yoke from your neck.”
Genesis 27:29 May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. May you be the master of your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed.”
2 Samuel 8:14 He placed garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites were subject to David. So the LORD made David victorious wherever he went.
Malachi 1:2 “I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you ask, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet Jacob I have loved,
Genesis 17:16 And I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will descend from her.”
Genesis 24:60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands upon thousands. May your offspring possess the gates of their enemies.”
1 Chronicles 18:13 He placed garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites were subject to David. So the LORD made David victorious wherever he went.
Ezekiel 25:12 This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because Edom acted vengefully against the house of Judah, and in so doing incurred grievous guilt,
Numbers 20:14 From Kadesh, Moses sent messengers to tell the king of Edom, “This is what your brother Israel says: You know all the hardship that has befallen us,