1 Now Abraham had taken another wife, named Keturah, 2 and she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were the Asshurites, the Letushites, and the Leummites. 4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah. 5 Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. 6 But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east. 7 Abraham lived a total of 175 years. 8 And at a ripe old age he breathed his last and died, old and contented, and was gathered to his people. 9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite. 10 This was the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites. Abraham was buried there with his wife Sarah. 11 After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who lived near Beer-lahai-roi. 12 This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham. 13 These are the names of the sons of Ishmael in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16 These were the sons of Ishmael, and these were their names by their villages and encampments—twelve princes of their tribes. 17 Ishmael lived a total of 137 years. Then he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people. 18 Ishmael’s descendants settled from Havilah to Shur, which is near the border of Egypt as you go toward Asshur. And they lived in hostility toward all their brothers. 19 This is the account of Abraham’s son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban the Aramean. 21 Later, Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived. 22 But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So Rebekah went to inquire of the LORD, 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.” 24 When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb. 25 The first one came out red, covered with hair like a fur coat; so they named him Esau. 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. 27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home. 28 Because Isaac had a taste for wild game, he loved Esau; but Rebekah loved Jacob. 29 One day, while Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the field and was famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am famished.” (That is why he was also called Edom.) 31 “First sell me your birthright,” Jacob replied. 32 “Look,” said Esau, “I am about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?” 33 “Swear to me first,” Jacob said. So Esau swore to Jacob and sold him the birthright. 34 Then Jacob gave some bread and lentil stew to Esau, who ate and drank and then got up and went away. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
Genesis · Majority Standard Bible
Genesis 25 Majority Standard Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Abida
One of the five sons of Midian, descendants of Keturah.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25:4; 1 Chronicles 1:33
Abraham
Called by God, he left home in faith to become the father of a chosen people.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 12–25
Adbeel
One of the twelve sons of Ishmael, listed among the princes of his people.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25:13
Dedan
A son of Jokshan, grandson of Abraham and Keturah; the Asshurites, Letushites and Leummites are listed as his sons.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25:3; 1 Chronicles 1:32
Dumah
A son of Ishmael whose name is also attached to a place in Arabia.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25:14
Eldaah
The last-named of the five sons of Midian, descendants of Keturah.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25:4; 1 Chronicles 1:33
Ephah
The first-named of the five sons of Midian, descendants of Keturah.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25:4; 1 Chronicles 1:33
Epher
One of the five sons of Midian, descendants of Keturah.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25:4; 1 Chronicles 1:33
Ephron
A Hittite at Hebron, son of Zohar, who sold Abraham the field and cave of Machpelah for four hundred shekels of silver, where Abraham buried Sarah and was himself buried.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 23:8–10; Genesis 23:16; Genesis 25:9
Esau
Isaac's elder son, who traded his birthright for a bowl of stew.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25–27; 36
Hadad
A son of Ishmael numbered among the twelve princes of his people.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25:15
Hanoch
One of the five sons of Midian, descendants of Keturah.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25:4; 1 Chronicles 1:33
Isaac
The long-promised son, nearly offered on Moriah, through whom the covenant continued.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 21–27
Ishbak
A son of Abraham by Keturah who fathered an Arabian people of the east.
Cited in the guide: Gen. 25:2
Ishmael
Abraham's son by Hagar, blessed by God to become a great nation.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 16; 17:20; 21; 25:12–18
Jacob
He wrestled with God through the night and rose as Israel, father of twelve tribes.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25–35; 46–49
Jetur
One of Ishmael's twelve sons, later linked to the Itureans.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25:15
Jokshan
A son of Abraham by Keturah and father of the trading peoples Sheba and Dedan.
Cited in the guide: Gen. 25:2-3
Kedar
Second son of Ishmael whose name marks a prominent northern Arabian tribe.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25:13
Kedemah
The last-named of Ishmael's twelve sons in the genealogy.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25:15
Keturah
The wife Abraham took after Sarah's death, mother of six more sons.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25:1-6
Laban
Bethuel's son and Rebekah's brother, who welcomed Abraham's servant, later became Jacob's uncle and father-in-law, deceived him by giving him Leah, and pursued him to Gilead when…
Cited in the guide: Genesis 24:29; Genesis 25:20; Genesis 29:13
Massa
One of the twelve sons of Ishmael listed among his tribal princes.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25:14
Medan
A son of Abraham by Keturah who fathered a people of the Arabian east.
Cited in the guide: Gen. 25:2
Mibsam
A son of Ishmael counted among the twelve princes of his descendants.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25:13
Midian
A son of Abraham by Keturah and ancestor of the Midianites of the northwestern Arabian desert.
Cited in the guide: Gen. 25:2
Mishma
One of Ishmael's twelve sons, named among the tribal princes.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25:14
Naphish
A son of Ishmael counted among the twelve tribal princes.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25:15
Nebaioth
Ishmael's firstborn son and one of the twelve princes God promised him.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25:13
Rebekah
Wife of Isaac and mother of the twins Jacob and Esau.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 24-27
Sheba
A son of Jokshan, grandson of Abraham and Keturah.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25:3; 1 Chronicles 1:32
Shuah
The youngest son of Abraham by Keturah and ancestor of an eastern desert people.
Cited in the guide: Gen. 25:2
Tema
A son of Ishmael whose name marks an oasis and tribe of the desert.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25:15
Zimran
A son of Abraham by Keturah, the wife he took after Sarah's death.
Cited in the guide: Gen. 25:2
Zohar
A Hittite named only as the father of Ephron, from whom Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 23:8; Genesis 25:9
Cross references (32)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 1 Chronicles 1:32–33; Genesis 28:1; Genesis 23:1–2
- 2 1 Chronicles 1:32–33; Numbers 31:8; Genesis 37:36; Numbers 25:17–18; Numbers 31:2
- 3 Ezekiel 25:13; 1 Kings 10:1; Ezekiel 27:6; Jeremiah 49:8; Job 6:19
- 4 Isaiah 60:6
- 5 Genesis 24:36; Galatians 3:29; Hebrews 1:2; Matthew 11:27; Romans 8:32
- 6 Genesis 21:14; Judges 6:3; Acts 14:17; Matthew 5:45; Judges 19:1–2
- 7 Genesis 12:4
- 8 Genesis 35:28–29; Genesis 15:15; 1 Chronicles 29:28; Genesis 49:33; Job 5:26
- 9 Genesis 50:13; Genesis 35:29; Genesis 49:29–30; Genesis 21:9–10; Genesis 23:9–20
- 10 Genesis 23:16; Genesis 49:31
- 11 Genesis 16:14; Genesis 22:17; Genesis 24:62; Genesis 12:2; Genesis 17:19
- 12 Psalm 83:6; Genesis 17:20; Genesis 21:13; Genesis 16:10–15
- 13 1 Chronicles 1:29–31; Isaiah 60:7; Isaiah 42:11; Psalm 120:5; Song of Songs 1:5
- 14 Isaiah 21:16; Isaiah 21:11
- 15 1 Chronicles 5:19; Job 2:11
- 16 Genesis 17:20; Genesis 17:23
- 17 Genesis 15:15; Genesis 25:7–8
- 18 Genesis 16:12; Genesis 20:1; Genesis 21:21; 2 Kings 23:29; Psalm 78:64
- 19 Matthew 1:2; Luke 3:34; Acts 7:8; 1 Chronicles 1:32
- 20 Genesis 24:29; Genesis 24:67; Genesis 22:23; Deuteronomy 26:5; Genesis 31:24
- 21 2 Chronicles 33:13; Ezra 8:23; Luke 1:13; Isaiah 58:9; 1 Chronicles 5:20
- 22 1 Samuel 9:9; 1 Samuel 28:6; 1 Samuel 30:8; 1 Samuel 10:22; Ezekiel 20:31
- 23 Romans 9:10–13; Genesis 27:40; Genesis 27:29; 2 Samuel 8:14; Malachi 1:2–5
- 25 Genesis 27:11; Genesis 27:23; Genesis 27:16
- 26 Genesis 27:36; Hosea 12:3; Genesis 38:28–30
- 27 Hebrews 11:9; Genesis 21:20; Genesis 28:10–11; Genesis 6:9; Genesis 10:9
- 28 Genesis 27:19; Genesis 27:31; Genesis 27:4; Genesis 27:9; Genesis 27:25
- 29 Isaiah 40:30–31; Proverbs 13:25; 1 Samuel 14:28; Judges 8:4–5; 1 Samuel 14:31
- 30 Numbers 20:14–21; Genesis 36:43; Genesis 36:1; Deuteronomy 23:7; Exodus 15:15
- 32 Job 34:9; Job 22:17; Job 21:15; Malachi 3:14; Exodus 22:9
- 33 Hebrews 12:16; Genesis 27:36; Hebrews 6:16; Genesis 24:3; Genesis 36:6–7
- 34 Hebrews 12:16–17; Philippians 3:18–19; Matthew 26:15; Isaiah 22:13; 1 Corinthians 15:32
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… might stand, not of works, but of Him that calleth, it was said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people are in thy body; and the one people shall overcome the other, and the elder shall serve the younger." From which it is evident, that not only [were there] prophecies of the patriarchs, but …
I know, too, that Esau was deceived by a longing for lentiles, and that David took blame to himself for desiring water, and that our King was tempted not by flesh but bread.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)
Thus, in the first place, at his birth, since he laid hold on his brother's heel, he was called Jacob, that is, the supplanter--one who holds, but is not held; binding the feet, but not being bound; striving and conquering; grasping in his hand his adversary's heel, that is, victory.
… her handmaid, after Abraham had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife." And of Keturah, whom he took after Sarah's departure, we read, "Then again Abraham took a wife, whose name was Keturah." Lo!
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
But unto the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from his son Isaac, (while he yet lived,) eastward, unto the east country." Therefore the sons of the concubines, that is, the heretics and the carnal Jews, have some gifts, but do not attain the promised kingdom; "For they which are the children of the flesh, …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)