One day, while Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the field and was famished.
Parallel translations
- WEB Jacob boiled stew. Esau came in from the field, and he was famished.
- KJV And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint:
- NKJV Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary.
- NASB When Jacob had cooked a stew one day, Esau came in from the field and he was exhausted;
- NLT One day when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau arrived home from the wilderness exhausted and hungry.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jacob cooks stew as Esau returns exhausted and famished from the field.
Overview
The ordinary scene becomes the setting for a momentous transaction over the birthright. Esau's hunger exposes his appetite-driven character, while Jacob seizes the opportunity. The episode reveals the differing values that distinguish the two brothers in God's purpose.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Prov 13:25A righteous man eats to his heart’s content, but the stomach of the wicked is empty.
- Isa 40:30–31Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.
- 1 Sam 14:28Then one of the soldiers told him, “Your father bound the troops with a solemn oath, saying, ‘Cursed is the man who eats food today.’ That is why the people are faint.”
- Judg 8:4–5Then Gideon and his three hundred men came to the Jordan and crossed it, exhausted yet still in pursuit.
- 1 Sam 14:31That day, after the Israelites had struck down the Philistines from Michmash to Aijalon, the people were very faint.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 25:29 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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