But Esau’s wives made life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah.
Parallel translations
- WEB They grieved Isaac’s and Rebekah’s spirits.
- KJV Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.
- BSB And they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
- NKJV And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.
- NASB and they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
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
Esau's pagan wives bring grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
Overview
The marriages cause deep distress to Esau's parents, signaling the spiritual division within the household. Esau's choices, like his earlier sale of his birthright, show a heart unconcerned with God's covenant. This grief frames the coming chapter, where the blessing passes to Jacob rather than Esau.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Gen 27:46Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good will my life do me?”
- Gen 6:2God’s sons saw that men’s daughters were beautiful, and they took any that they wanted for themselves as wives.
- Gen 28:8Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan didn’t please Isaac, his father.
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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 26:35 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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