Genesis 25:26
26When his brother came out with ▼▼ The disjunctive clause describes an important circumstance accompanying the birth. Whereas Esau was passive at birth, Jacob was active.
his hand clutching Esau’s heel, they named him Jacob. ▼ ▼▼ The name Jacob is a play on the Hebrew word for “heel” (עָקֵב, ’aqev). The name (since it is a verb) probably means something like “may he protect,” that is, as a rearguard, dogging the heels. It did not have a negative connotation until Esau redefined it. This name was probably chosen because of the immediate association with the incident of grabbing the heel. After receiving such an oracle, the parents would have preserved in memory almost every detail of the unusual births.
Isaac was sixty years old ▼▼ Heb “the son of sixty years.”
when they were born.
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