And Jacob said, sell me this day thy birthright. Which had many privileges annexed to it, as honour and authority in the family next to parents; a double portion of inheritance; some say the exercise of priesthood, but that is questioned; the parental blessing, and especially in this the promises of the Messiah, and of inheritance of the land of Canaan, and which was typical of the heavenly inheritance: all which Rebekah knew by the divine oracle were designed for Jacob, and which no doubt she had acquainted him with, and advised him to deal with his brother about parting with his birthright as he had opportunity; and very likely they had talked together about it before in a distant manner, and Esau had shown some indifference to his right, and made no great account of it; and now, an opportunity offering to get him in the mind to part with it, he takes it, and moves for a sale of it immediately, at once, without any more delay, and even before he had his pottage; thus taking the advantage of his brother's necessity: or, sell it me "as the day" , let the bargain be as clear as the day, as Jarchi interprets it; let it be made in plain and full terms, that there may be no dispute about it hereafter, or any revocation of it: but the former sense seems best, as appears from Ge 25:33, where the same way of speaking is used.
Bible Commentary
Genesis 25:31
Genesis 25:31
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible · John Gill (1697–1771) · Public Domain
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Genesis 25 — OverviewGenesis 25 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleThe sacred historian, in this chapter, I. Takes his leave of Abraham,
with an account, 1. Of his children by another wife, ver. 1-4. 2. Of
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We are now entering a new stage of the sacred history, where we are looking less upon the development of one man's character than upon the unfolding purposes of Jehovah in the family with…Genesis 25:29-34Genesis 25:29-34 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleWe have here a bargain made between Jacob and Esau about the
birthright, which was Esau's by providence but Jacob's by promise. It
was a spiritual privilege, including the excellency of dignity and the…
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