Romans 9:12

It was said unto her,.... To Rebecca, Genesis 25:23, the elder shall serve the younger, or "the greater shall serve the lesser", an Hebrew way of speaking; so Japheth is called הגדול, "the great",

It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. No JFB commentary on this verse.

This verse is to be read with ,11 being a parenthesis. Then when she resorted to the Lord for counsel, about the struggling of the children in her womb, it was told her, or revealed to her of God, that the elder should serve the younger: of the sense of which words, sea annotations on , where they are recorded.

12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. Ver. 12. Shall serve] Servitude came in with a curse, and figureth reprobation, Genesis 9:25; John 8:34-35 Galatians 4:30.

(12) The elder shall serve the younger.—The margin gives as an alternative rendering, “the greater shall serve the lesser.” The quotation is taken from the LXX., in which there is the same ambiguity. This ambiguity also appears to exist in the Hebrew, where it is a disputed question whether the words refer to age or to the comparative strength of the two peoples. In either case, it is the nations that should spring from Esau and Jacob that are meant.

Verse 12. The elder shall serve the younger] These words, with those of Malachi, Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated, are cited by the apostle to prove, according to their typical signification, that the purpose of God, according to election, does and will stand, not of works, but of him that calleth; that is, that the purpose of God, which is the ground of that election which he makes among men, unto the honour of being Abraham's seed, might appear to remain unchangeable in him; and to be even the same which he had declared unto Abraham. That these words are used in a national and not in a personal sense, is evident from this: that, taken in the latter sense they are not true, for Jacob never did exercise any power over Esau, nor was Esau ever subject to him. Jacob, on the contrary, was rather subject to Esau, and was sorely afraid of him; and, first, by his messengers, and afterwards personally, acknowledged his brother to be his lord, and himself to be his servant; see Genesis 32:4; Genesis 33:8, Genesis 33:13. And hence it appears that neither Esau nor Jacob, nor even their posterities, are brought here by the apostle as instances of any personal reprobation from eternity: for, it is very certain that very many, if not the far greatest part, of Jacob's posterity were wicked, and rejected by God; and it is not less certain that some of Esau's posterity were partakers of the faith of their father Abraham. From these premises the true sense of the words immediately following, Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated, Malachi 1:2, Malachi 1:3, fully appears; that is, that what he had already cited from Moses concerning the two nations, styled by the names of their respective heads, Jacob and Esau, was but the same in substance with what was spoken many years after by the Prophet Malachi. The unthankful Jews had, in Malachi's time, either in words or in their heart, expostulated with God, and demanded of him wherein he had loved them? I have loved you, saith the Lord: yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Malachi 1:2-5. To this the Lord answers: Was not Esau Jacob's brother? Yet I loved Jacob and hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness. Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the Lord of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the Lord hath indignation for ever. And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The Lord will be magnified from the border of Israel. 1. It incontestably appears from these passages that the prophet does not speak at all of the person of Jacob or Esau, but of their respective posterities.

12. The elder, &c.] Verbatim as LXX. of Genesis 25:23—Of both Hebrew and Greek the literal rendering is The greater shall he bondsman to the less.shall serve] In the personal history of Esau and Jacob this was not literally fulfilled; but it was so in spirit, in the subjection of Esau’s interests and privileges to those of Jacob. In the history of their descendants it was repeatedly fulfilled to the letter; and prophecy (as in other cases, e.g. that of Abraham,) regarded the ancestor and his descendants as solidaire.

It was said unto her - By Yahweh; see Genesis 25:23. The elder - The oldest son, which was Esau. By the law of primogeniture among the Hebrews, he would have been entitled to special honors and privileges.

12. Said unto her—(Genesis 25:23.) Disquieted by the commotion of her unborn twins, Rebecca makes inquiry of Jehovah as to the reason, who replies: “Two nations are in thy womb, and two manners of