Bible Strands
Genesis 26:35
And they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrative records the impact of Esau’s two Hittite marriages, which Genesis 26:34 notes he took at age forty. The statement addresses the resulting emotional state of Isaac and Rebekah.
The words — The Hebrew phrase מֹרַת ר֑וּחַ (mo.rat ru.ach) literally renders as "bitterness of spirit" and denotes the profound distress caused by these unions.
The thread — This tension reappears in Genesis 27:46, where Rebekah voices her life-weary distress over these wives, and Genesis 28:8, which records Esau observing his father’s disapproval of Canaanite marriages.
Why it lands — The text establishes the factual consequence of Esau’s choices before any direct parental intervention is recorded. It asks the reader to track how unwise alliances generate ongoing familial strain without inserting narrative commentary.
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
Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.
Cross-references
- Genesis 27:46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a Hittite wife from among them, what good is my life?”
- Genesis 6:2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took as wives whomever they chose.
- Genesis 28:8 And seeing that his father Isaac disapproved of the Canaanite women,