Genesis Chapter 25 verse 26 Holy Bible

ASV Genesis 25:26

And after that came forth his brother, and his hand had hold on Esau's heel. And his name was called Jacob. And Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.
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BBE Genesis 25:26

And after him, his brother came out, gripping Esau's foot; and he was named Jacob: Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them.
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DARBY Genesis 25:26

And after that came his brother out; and his hand took hold of Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob. And Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.
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KJV Genesis 25:26

And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.
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WBT Genesis 25:26

And after that his brother was born, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
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WEB Genesis 25:26

After that, his brother came out, and his hand had hold on Esau's heel. He was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
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YLT Genesis 25:26

and afterwards hath his brother come out, and his hand is taking hold on Esau's heel, and one calleth his name Jacob; and Isaac `is' a son of sixty years in her bearing them.
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Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 26. - And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel. The inf. constr, standing for the finite verb (Ewald's 'Hebrews Synt.,' 304). Not simply followed close upon the heels of Esau (Kalisch), but seized Esau's heel, as if he would trip him up (Keil, Murphy). It has been contended (De Wette, Schumann, Knobel) that such an act was impossible, a work on obstetrics by Busch maintaining that an hour commonly intervenes between the birth of twins; but practitioners of eminence who have been consulted declare the act to be distinctly possible, and indeed it is well known that "a multitude of surprising phenomena are connected with births" (Havernick), some of which are not greatly dissimilar to that which is here recorded. Delitzsch interprets the language as meaning only that the hand of Jacob reached out in the direction of his brother's heel, as if to grasp it; but Hosea 12:3 explicitly asserts that he had his brother's heel by the hand while yet in his mother's womb. And his name was called - literally, and he (i.e. one) called his name; καὶ ἐκάλεσε τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ (LXX.); id circo appellavit eum (Vulgate; cf. Genesis 16:14; Genesis 27:36) - Jacob. Not "Successor," like the Latin secundus, from sequor (Knobel, Kalisch); but "Heel-catcher" (Rosenmüller, Gesenius, Keil, Lange, Murphy), hence Supplanter (cf. Genesis 37:36). And Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them. Literally, in the bearing of them, the inf. constr, taking the case of its verb (vide Gesenius, § 133) - when she (the mother) bare them; ὄτε ἔτεκεν αὐτοὺς Ῥεβέκκα (LXX.); quum nati sunt parvuli (Vulgate); though, as Rebekah's name does not occur in the immediate context, and ילד is applied to the father (Genesis 4:18; Genesis 10:8, 13) as well as to the mother, the clause may be rendered when he (Isaac) begat them (Kalisch, Afford). CHAPTER 25:27-34

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(26) His hand took hold on Esau's heel.--Usually there is a considerable interval--an hour or more--between the birth of twins; but here Jacob appeared without delay, following immediately upon his brother. This is expressed by the metaphorical phrase that his hand had hold on Esau's heel--that is, there was absolutely no interval between them. Though very rare, yet similar cases have been chronicled from time to time.His name was called Jacob.--The name signifies one who follows at another's heels. It was Esau who first put upon it a bad meaning (Genesis 27:36), and this bad sense has been riveted to it by Jacob's own unworthy conduct. It is constantly so used even in the Bible. Thus in Hosea 12:3--a passage quoted in defence of a literal explanation of the metaphor in this verse by those who are acquainted only with the English Version--the Hebrew has, he Jacobed, literally, heeled--that is, oJeremiah 9:4 and elsewhere; but it is not well rendered by our word supplant, which contains a different metaphor, the planta being the sole of the foot; whereas to be at a person's heel is to be his determined pursuer, and one who on overtaking throws him down.