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When Jacob had cooked a stew one day, Esau came in from the field and he was exhausted;
Genesis 25:29 · New American Standard Bible
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:
  • BSB One day, while Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the field and was famished.
  • NKJV Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary.
  • 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 13:25The righteous one eats to the satisfying of his soul, but the belly of the wicked goes hungry.
  • Isa 40:30–31Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall;
  • 1 Sam 14:28Then one of the people answered, and said, “Your father directly commanded the people with an oath, saying, ‘Cursed is the man who eats food today.’” The people were faint.
  • Judg 8:4–5Gideon came to the Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men who were with him, faint, yet pursuing.
  • 1 Sam 14:31They struck the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. The people were very faint;

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Genesis videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Genesis 25:29YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on GenesisMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.