Bible Strands
Genesis 27:42
When the words of her older son Esau were relayed to Rebekah, she sent for her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is consoling himself by plotting to kill you.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Rebekah receives news of Esau’s murderous intent and summons Jacob to deliver a warning.
The words — וַיֻּגַּד (wa-yuggad) means “it was told,” and וַתִּשְלַח (wa-tishlach) means “and she sent,” capturing the transmission of the threat and Rebekah’s immediate response.
The thread — The motif of familial plotting appears in Genesis 37:18, where Joseph’s brothers conspire against him, while Genesis 42:21 records their later reflection on that past violence.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of how concealed hostility within a family requires urgent intervention to preserve life.
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 these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee.
Cross-references
- Genesis 37:18 Now Joseph’s brothers saw him in the distance, and before he arrived, they plotted to kill him.
- Genesis 42:21 Then they said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.”
- 1 Samuel 30:5 David’s two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel, had been taken captive.
- Job 20:12 Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue,
- Psalms 64:5 They hold fast to their evil purpose; they speak of hiding their snares. “Who will see them?” they say.
- Proverbs 2:14 from those who enjoy doing evil and rejoice in the twistedness of evil,
- Proverbs 4:16 For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; they are deprived of slumber until they make someone fall.