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23 and the Lord answered her:

Two nations are in your womb,
    two peoples are separating while still within you;
But one will be stronger than the other,
    and the older will serve the younger.[a](A)

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Footnotes

  1. 25:23 The older will serve the younger: Rebekah now knows something that no one else knows, that God favors Jacob over Esau. The text does not say if she shared this knowledge with anyone or kept it to herself, but, from their actions, it seems unlikely that either Isaac or Esau knew. That fact must be borne in mind in assessing Rebekah’s role in chap. 27, the theft of Esau’s blessing.

23 The Lord said to her,

“Two nations(A) 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.(B)

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“You, Judah, shall your brothers praise
    —your hand on the neck of your enemies;
    the sons of your father shall bow down to you.

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“Judah,[a](A) your brothers will praise you;
    your hand will be on the neck(B) of your enemies;
    your father’s sons will bow down to you.(C)

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 49:8 Judah sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for praise.

Crouching, they lie like a lion,
    or like a lioness; who will arouse them?
Blessed are those who bless you,
    and cursed are those who curse you!(A)

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Like a lion they crouch and lie down,
    like a lioness(A)—who dares to rouse them?

“May those who bless you be blessed(B)
    and those who curse you be cursed!”(C)

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