Genesis — Chapter 25

AND BEING OLD AND FULL OF DAYS, HE DIED IN A GOOD OLD AGE, AND WAS GATHERED TO HIS PEOPLE. — Abraham died at 175 years. \"Full of days\" = satisfied with life, longing for eternal life, fully completed in his course. \"Gathered to his people\" = reunited with the souls of the just in the realm of the departed. Isaac and Ishmael, reconciled, buried their father together — a touching sign of filial piety and of Ishmael's conversion to the worship of the true God in his later years (Lapide, citing Josephus).

AND THE LORD SAID TO HER: TWO NATIONS ARE IN THY WOMB, AND TWO PEOPLES SHALL BE DIVIDED OUT OF THY WOMB, AND ONE PEOPLE SHALL OVERCOME THE OTHER, AND THE ELDER SHALL SERVE THE YOUNGER. — The oracle at the twins' birth: one of the clearest pre-birth prophecies in Scripture. Paul cites this (Rom. 9:12) as the foundational text of the gratuity of divine election: \"not of works but of Him who calleth.\" Jacob was chosen not because of foreknown merits but by God's free election. Lapide refutes Calvin: God's election is not arbitrary but based on His foreknowledge of what each would freely choose; yet the election itself was prior to any works. The fulfillment: Edomites (Esau's descendants) were long dominant; but under David and the Israelites (Jacob's descendants) they became subjects — literally fulfilled (2 Kings 8:14; 1 Mach. 5:65).

AND JACOB BOILED POTTAGE: AND ESAU CAME FROM THE FIELD FAINT. — Esau sells his birthright for a mess of red lentil pottage. Lapide: \"Of all the sins and follies of men, this may be the greatest type: to exchange eternal goods for momentary pleasures.\" Hebrews call him \"Edom\" (red) from this moment — the red pottage being the symbol of earthly appetite triumphing over heavenly dignity. Chrysostom: \"Thus still do men who sell Christ for momentary pleasure, for money, for reputation, for carnal comfort.\"