Bible Strands
Genesis 25:26
After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. And Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the birth of Isaac’s twins, noting that Jacob emerged immediately after Esau while Isaac was sixty years old.
The words — The text uses אֹחֶזֶת (o.Che.zet), meaning "[was] holding," and עֵקֵב ('e.Kev), meaning "heel," to describe Jacob’s physical grip on his brother at birth.
The thread — The narrative motif of grasping a heel reappears in Hosea 12:3 as a metaphor for Jacob’s lifelong struggle, while Genesis 27:36 records Esau interpreting the name Jacob as a claim of deception.
Why it lands — The passage establishes Jacob’s identity through a physical act of birth rather than moral character, framing his future actions as continuous with this initial posture.
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
King James Version
And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau’s heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.
Cross-references
- Genesis 27:36 So Esau declared, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me twice. He took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”
- Hosea 12:3 In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel, and in his vigor he wrestled with God.
- Genesis 38:28 And as she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it around his wrist. “This one came out first,” she announced.