In the Beginning:
The Book of Genesis

Lesson 15 The Brothers Esau & Jacob
the book of Genesis 25:1—26:35

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)*
New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE)*
Catechism of the Catholic Church
ex libris (in our library)
cross references in the book of Genesis
next lesson: Isaac Blesses Jacob; Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

This material coordinates with Lesson 15 on pages 84–88 in the study book In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis.

“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.  And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.”—the book of Genesis 1:31—2:2

welcome to our in-depth study of the book of Genesis
We invite interested groups and individuals to check out the sample first lesson from this 28-lesson Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study. These online study pages link to our free lesson video overviews as well as to a list of cross references in the biblical text. Other study aids include maps, charts, illustrations, additional commentary, and prayers based on the primary Scripture in each lesson. In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis has been granted an imprimatur and can be purchased from our website shop. If you have a Bible-study question or comment, click on one of the “ask us your question” or “what do you think” buttons on any online study page.

open with prayer
It’s always wise to begin any Bible study with prayer, whether reading the Scriptures alone or meeting with others in a discussion study group. You can pray using your own words or use one of the opening prayers on our website. We especially like the following:

Lord Jesus, you promised to send your Holy Spirit
to teach us all things.
As we read and study your word today,
allow it to touch our hearts and change our lives. Amen.

let’s review—the book of Genesis 24:1–67
In Lesson 14 Isaac & Rebekah, Abraham sends his most trusted servant to Mesopotamia to find a wife for his son Isaac. Abraham is insistent that Isaac not marry a Canaanite woman and that Isaac himself not go to Mesopotamia. The servant swears an oath that he won’t allow Isaac to marry a local Canaanite woman, and then the servant departs for the land from which Abraham came. When he arrives in Mesopotamia, he meets Rebekah, daughter of Abraham’s nephew Bethuel, and Rebekah’s brother Laban. The servant explains his mission and gives Rebekah’s family many gifts. They agree to allow her to return to the land of Canaan with the servant, who wishes to return immediately. Although Rebekah’s family aren’t crazy about the idea, she readily agrees. Isaac and Rebekah marry in the land of Canaan.

genealogy notes—Abraham has eight sons
This genealogical chart picks up where the previous one in Lesson 13 left off. It shows all of Abraham’s direct descendants and their immediate families. The red line, which represents the branch of the family into which Jesus eventually will be born, passes through Isaac and Jacob. As the history of the people of God develops, the rest of Abraham’s descendants will end up at odds with those in the patriarchal line. The primary reason will be that only Isaac is raised to adulthood as a member of God’s covenant with Abraham. As the generations progress, Scripture focuses on Isaac’s direct descendants. The lifestyle and worship practices of Abraham’s other descendants become farther and farther removed from the way of life and worship practices of Isaac’s descendants, causing rifts that appear irreparable in the Old Testament. Click on the family tree (above right) to enlarge it. The original genealogical chart is on page 87 in the study book In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis.

lineage matters in the book of Genesis (24:15)
In the video overview for this lesson, Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps looks at the importance of Abraham’s monogamy and at the book of Genesis 25:11, which indicates it is only after Abraham’s death that God blesses Isaac. This blessing passed down through the line of the patriarchs will have far-reaching implications for God’s people. In Abraham’s case, the blessing from God automatically passes to Isaac, his only son born to Abraham and his wife Sarah, and it appears that the patriarchal blessing can go to only one person at a time. Isaac has the advantage of being the only son born to Sarah. Things are far less cut-and-dried for Isaac’s twin sons, Esau and Jacob. The videos for this study are being redone and will be posted as they become available. The original videos for Lessons 4 through 28 will remain accessible until then.


The Scripture ranges for the videos being redone to accompany this Catholic Bible study from Turning to God’s Word will match the Scripture ranges for the sets of questions in the study book In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis. Viewers will be able to follow along as author Matthew Phelps discusses Lesson 15, “The Brothers Esau & Jacob,” on pages 84–88 in the study book.

WHAT DO YOU THINK about the blessing that passes to Isaac?
Although God repeatedly indicates that Isaac will receive the same favor that’s been shown to his father Abraham, the book of Genesis 25:11 records that it’s only after the death of Abraham that God blesses Isaac.

?  Since Isaac is considered Abraham’s true heir and the blessing is hereditary, what reason can you suggest that might explain why Abraham doesn’t himself pass the blessing on to Isaac?
?  How do you expect this same blessing to pass to Isaac’s heir?

Rebekah inquires of the LORD
When Rebekah is experiencing a difficult pregnancy, Scripture almost casually records that she goes to inquire of the LORD. This raises the question of exactly how it is that she does this. Scholars generally believe that in the book of Genesis 25:22–23 Rebekah is practicing some type of divination, although it certainly is possible that she may have established a relationship of her own with God that allowed her to approach God in a more direct manner. Only the patriarchs seem to have the ability to pray. The apparent ease with which Rebekah approaches the LORD with her inquiry—paired with the fact that God doesn’t hesitate to respond—makes this a rather unexpected passage—and one that has future ramifications about which of the twins will inherit the blessing from Isaac.

read the Catechism—how well do you know your faith?
The Old Testament occasionally records instances of God’s people casting lots or practicing some other forms of divination. Can you answer the following question without looking at the Catechism of the Catholic Church?

What forms of divination popular in the secular world also escape being frowned upon by the Church? To learn what the Church teaches, refer to paragraph 2116 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Are you surprised by any of this teaching about divination?

sexual immorality—you could look it up in our archives
In the book of Genesis, the Philistines display an unexpected sense of propriety when Isaac and Rebekah are sojourning in Gerar. This generally isn’t the way that pagans are represented in Scripture. To learn about the link between sexual immorality and idolatry, read Lost in Translation, an online column in which Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps helps readers connect with ideas expressed in the original languages of the Scriptures. New Lost in Translation entries are posted on Mondays, and past entries are archived on our website. Contact us if you’d like to receive Lost in Translation by email every week.

so who are these Hittite wives of Esau?
The book of Genesis 26:34–35 records that Esau takes two wives, both Hittites, and that these women make life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah. The obvious reason the two women might not fit into Isaac’s family is that they come from different backgrounds. It’s a little tricky to try to trace the Hittites, since they aren’t called Hittites on first reference in Scripture. The book of Genesis 10:15–17 lists the children of Canaan. The second son born to Canaan is Heth, and the Hittites are descended from him. Canaan is the son of Ham who was cursed by Noah in chapter nine in the book of Genesis.

an unexpected question about the sojourn in Gerar
Isaac and Rebekah’s sojourn in Gerar recorded in the book of Genesis 26:1–11 is in many ways very similar to the story of Abraham and Sarah’s sojourn there, which is recorded in the book of Genesis 20:1–18. To learn more about the significance of the way in which these two stories differ, read “An Unexpected Pagan View of Sexual Morality” on page 87 in the study book In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis. Unless the account in the twenty-sixth chapter is understood not to follow chronological order—and this isn’t at all obvious from the text—a big question looms: Where are the twins during Isaac and Rebekah’s sojourn in Gerar?

the best Catholic commentary about Scripture
To find out more about how Church teaching is supported by Scripture passages in In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis, check out the Index of Citations in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Links (Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition [RSVCE*]) to the primary Scripture passages in the lesson and relevant paragraphs in the Catechism are provided here. Not every passage in the biblical text for this Catholic study is referenced in a Catechism paragraph however, including the passage in this lesson from the book of Genesis 25:1—26:35.

to learn more, read more Scripture
If you’re having difficulty with a particular passage of Scripture, it can be helpful to read the relevant cross references—but looking these up can take time. To make that easier, we’ve compiled the cross references from the Revised Standard Version Second Catholic Edition (RSV2CE)—the translation that we reprint in our study books. That list can be found at the top of every online study page, and it includes links to cross references in the primary biblical text for In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis.

don’t forget about our indexes & extra online material
If you’re trying to locate information about a specific Scripture passage, you can look it up in the index at the back of the study book or sample lesson. If you want to find a particular commentary, you can look up its title in the topics index. To learn more about another book of the Bible for which there’s a Turning to God’s Word study, visit the online study directories to read the commentaries and watch any accompanying videos. Finally, if you have a question or would like to make a comment about any of our studies, you can use one of the “ask us your question” or “what do you think” buttons to email our authors.

ex libris—Church documents & books about religious topics
Link to magisterial documents referred to in our Bible studies at ex libris—magisterial documents. This listing includes significant recent encyclicals as well as a number of historical Church documents. Recommended books related to Scripture study can be found at ex libris—main bookshelf.

wondering how to pronounce some of these words?
The following link is to a reading from the New International Version (NIV) Bible. To listen, open the link and click on the audio icon above the printed text. Although not taken from the translations used in our study materials, the NIV reading provides an audio guide to pronunciation of words in this lesson’s primary biblical text. A close online version of the translation of the Bible used in Catholic liturgy in the United States as well as an audio guide for daily Mass readings for the current month can be found on the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

the book of Genesis 25:1—26:35 (NIV)

round black doveclose with Bible-based prayer related to this lesson
Many of our Catholic study groups like to conclude their discussions with a prayer based on the scriptural focus of their lesson, and some participants include Scripture-specific prayer in their individual study. If you’re uncomfortable composing your own Bible-based prayers, you can follow our four easy steps. If you prefer, you can use the following prayer based on this lesson’s text from the book of Genesis.

O God, you honored your promise to Abraham to bless his son Isaac,
and after Abraham’s death you appeared to Isaac
to renew the promises made to his father.
Teach us to call on you by name
as we’ve been taught by your own Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Lesson 16 Isaac Blesses Jacob; Jacob’s Dream at Bethel—the book of Genesis 27:1—28:22
Lesson 14 Isaac & Rebekah—the book of Genesis 24:1–67

you also may like our two-part study of the prophets
Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets—Volume I: A Kingdom Divided examines the prophets in their historical context using the First and Second Books of the Kings and other Old Testament passages written before the Babylonian Exile in 586 B.C. Volume II: Restoration & Redemption looks at the post-exilic prophets. This 51-lesson Catholic Bible study builds on The United Kingdom of Israel: Saul, David & Solomon Foreshadow Christ the King. Click on the books’ covers to view a sample lesson from each volume.

start a Turning to God’s Word Bible study
Thank you for your interest in our study In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis. Information about beginning a Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study can be found at start a Bible study. Tami, Matthew, and I are available to answer questions and offer support. Contact us if you’d like to start a Turning to God’s Word study or have your schedule listed with other TtGW study groups on our website. —Jennifer

*There are seven deuterocanonical books in the Old Testament—the Books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, and First and Second Maccabees, as well as some passages in the Books of Esther and Daniel. Protestants usually refer to these works as “apocryphal,” a word that means “outside the (Protestant) canon” because they’re excluded from most Protestant Bibles. The word “deuterocanonical” means “second canon”; Catholics use that word to refer to any section of the Catholic Old Testament for which there are no extant, or existing, Hebrew manuscripts. All of the deuterocanonical books appear in the Septuagint, the earliest remaining versions of which date to the 1st century B.C. This Greek translation of the Old Testament was in common use by Jews at the time of Jesus—but the same books aren’t found in existing Hebrew manuscripts, which aren’t as old as the oldest version of the Septuagint. Learn more by reading How Do Catholic & Protestant Bibles Differ?

Turning to God’s Word printed Bible studies use the 2006 Revised Standard Version Second Catholic Edition (RSV2CE) translation for all Scripture references except those to the Psalms, which are taken from The Abbey Psalms and Canticles, prepared by the Benedictine monks of Conception Abbey and published in 2020 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). All Scripture links for the online study pages for In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis are to the 1966 Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE) translation. The New International Version (NIV) audio recordings follow the same chapter and verse numbering as the RSV Catholic translations, but the NIV translation doesn’t include the deuterocanonical books and passages.

The 1966 RSVCE uses archaic pronouns and verb forms such as “thee,” “thou,” “didst” in the Psalms and in direct quotations attributed to God. The 2006 RSV2CE replaces those with more accessible English. The few significant translation changes in the RSV2CE include rendering almah as “virgin” in the Book of Isaiah 7:14 and restoring the term “begotten” in the Gospel According to John 3:16.

Numbering varies for some passages in this Bible study. Turning to God’s Word studies (print and digital) follow the numbering in the Revised Standard Version Catholic translations (RSV2CE and RSVCE). Discrepancies in the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE) are noted in the Index of Scripture Citations in the study book and the online sample.

You can learn more about the Psalms by viewing a sample lesson from the Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume I: Lauds & Vespers. The second part of that study, Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume II: Vigils, Day Prayer & Compline, is scheduled for publication in 2025. Some verse numbers may vary in different translations of the Psalms.