◄ Genesis 26:35 ►
And they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
Study Bible
They brought grief
The Hebrew word for "grief" here is "מֹרַת" (morat), which conveys a sense of bitterness or vexation. This phrase indicates a deep emotional disturbance caused by Esau's actions. In the cultural and familial context of the time, marriages were not just personal unions but alliances that affected the entire family. Esau's choice of wives from the Hittite people, who were outside the covenant community, would have been seen as a rejection of the family's values and traditions, causing significant distress to his parents.

to Isaac and Rebekah
Isaac and Rebekah, as patriarch and matriarch, were deeply invested in the spiritual and cultural legacy of their family. Their grief is not merely personal but also reflects a concern for the future of God's covenant promises. Isaac, the son of Abraham, was the bearer of God's covenant, and Rebekah, chosen by God to be Isaac's wife, shared in this responsibility. Their distress underscores the importance of maintaining the purity and faithfulness of the covenant community, a theme that resonates throughout the Old Testament. The grief they experienced serves as a reminder of the consequences of straying from God's intended path and the impact of personal choices on the broader community of faith.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Esau
- The elder son of Isaac and Rebekah, known for selling his birthright to his brother Jacob. His marriages to Hittite women caused distress to his parents.

2. Isaac
- The son of Abraham and Sarah, and father of Esau and Jacob. He is a patriarch in the lineage of the Israelites.

3. Rebekah
- The wife of Isaac and mother of Esau and Jacob. She played a significant role in the family dynamics and the fulfillment of God's promises.

4. Hittite Women
- The women from the Hittite nation whom Esau married. Their cultural and religious differences brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

5. Canaan
- The land where Isaac and his family lived, inhabited by various tribes including the Hittites, who were often at odds with the Israelites.
Teaching Points
The Impact of Unequally Yoked Relationships
Esau's marriages to Hittite women serve as a cautionary tale about the challenges and grief that can arise from being unequally yoked in faith and values.

Parental Influence and Responsibility
Isaac and Rebekah's grief highlights the importance of guiding children in making godly choices, especially in relationships.

Cultural and Spiritual Integrity
The account underscores the need for maintaining cultural and spiritual integrity in a world with differing values and beliefs.

Consequences of Disobedience
Esau's actions remind us that disobedience to God's commands can lead to personal and familial distress.

The Importance of Spiritual Heritage
The grief of Isaac and Rebekah reflects the significance of preserving a spiritual heritage and the challenges faced when it is threatened.
Bible Study Questions
1. How do Esau's marriages to Hittite women illustrate the concept of being unequally yoked, and what are the implications for believers today?

2. In what ways can parents today guide their children in making godly choices, particularly in relationships, as seen in the grief of Isaac and Rebekah?

3. How does the cultural context of Canaan and the Hittites inform our understanding of the challenges faced by Isaac and Rebekah?

4. What lessons can we learn from Esau's choices about the importance of prioritizing spiritual values over cultural or personal desires?

5. How can believers today maintain their spiritual heritage in a world with diverse and often conflicting values, as seen in the account of Genesis 26:35?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Genesis 27:46
- Rebekah expresses her distress over Esau's Hittite wives, indicating the ongoing family tension.

Exodus 34:16
- Warns against intermarriage with pagan nations, which can lead to spiritual compromise.

Deuteronomy 7:3-4
- Prohibits intermarriage with surrounding nations to prevent turning away from God.

Hebrews 12:16-17
- Reflects on Esau's choices and their consequences, emphasizing the importance of spiritual priorities.
Sermons
Esau Supplants HimselfJ. Parker, D. D.Genesis 26:34-35
Esau's MarriageT. H. Leale.Genesis 26:34-35
Esau's WivesJ. Parker, D. D.Genesis 26:34-35
LessonsG. Hughes, B. D.Genesis 26:34-35
Line Upon Line, in God's TeachingR.A. Redford Genesis 26
People
Abimelech, Ahuzzath, Bashemath, Basmath, Beeri, Elon, Esau, Isaac, Judith, Phichol, Rebekah
Places
Beersheba, Egypt, Esek, Gerar, Rehoboth, Shibah, Sitnah, Valley of Gerar
Topics
Bitter, Bitterness, Grief, Grieved, Isaac, Isaac's, Mind, Rebecca, Rebekah, Rebekah's, Spirit, Spirits
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Genesis 26:34-35

     5654   betrothal
     5970   unhappiness

Library
The First Apostle of Peace at any Price
'Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold, and the Lord blessed him. And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him. For all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth. And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

"Thou Art Now the Blessed of the Lord. "
"Thou art now the blessed of the Lord."--Genesis 26:29. THESE words truly describe the position of many whom I address at this time. There are hundreds here upon whom my eye can rest, and to any one of whom I might point with this finger, or rather, to whom I might extend this hand, to give a hearty shake, and say, "Thou art now the blessed of the Lord." I need not say it in the same spirit, nor for the same reason, that the Philistines did. They had behaved basely towards Isaac, and now that he …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 38: 1892

Tithing
There are few subjects on which the Lord's own people are more astray than on the subject of giving. They profess to take the Bible as their own rule of faith and practice, and yet in the matter of Christian finance, the vast majority have utterly ignored its plain teachings and have tried every substitute the carnal mind could devise; therefore it is no wonder that the majority of Christian enterprises in the world today are handicapped and crippled through the lack of funds. Is our giving to be …
Arthur W. Pink—Tithing

Whether Every Lie is a Sin?
Objection 1: It seems that not every lie is a sin. For it is evident that the evangelists did not sin in the writing of the Gospel. Yet they seem to have told something false: since their accounts of the words of Christ and of others often differ from one another: wherefore seemingly one of them must have given an untrue account. Therefore not every lie is a sin. Objection 2: Further, no one is rewarded by God for sin. But the midwives of Egypt were rewarded by God for a lie, for it is stated that …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Elucidation.
The conduct of Father Abraham, although not approved of by Inspiration, but simply recorded (Gen. xxvi. 7), gave early Christians an opinion that the wicked may be justly foiled, by equivocation and deception, for the preservation of innocence or the life of the innocent. In such case the person deceived, they might argue, is not injured, but benefited (Gen. xxvi. 10), being saved from committing violence and murder. The Corinthian maiden was accustomed to be veiled (as Tertullian intimates), and …
Hippolytus—The Extant Works and Fragments of Hippolytus

An Obscured vision
(Preached at the opening of the Winona Lake Bible Conference.) TEXT: "Where there is no vision, the people perish."--Proverbs 29:18. It is not altogether an easy matter to secure a text for such an occasion as this; not because the texts are so few in number but rather because they are so many, for one has only to turn over the pages of the Bible in the most casual way to find them facing him at every reading. Feeling the need of advice for such a time as this, I asked a number of my friends who …
J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot

The Plan for the Coming of Jesus.
God's Darling, Psalms 8:5-8.--the plan for the new man--the Hebrew picture by itself--difference between God's plan and actual events--one purpose through breaking plans--the original plan--a starting point--getting inside. Fastening a Tether inside: the longest way around--the pedigree--the start. First Touches on the Canvas: the first touch, Genesis 3:15.--three groups of prediction--first group: to Abraham, Genesis 12:1-3; to Isaac, Genesis 26:1-5; to Jacob, Genesis 28:10-15; through Jacob, …
S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks about Jesus

And to Holy David Indeed it Might More Justly be Said...
22. And to holy David indeed it might more justly be said, that he ought not to have been angry; no, not with one however ungrateful and rendering evil for good; yet if, as man, anger did steal over him, he ought not to have let it so prevail, that he should swear to do a thing which either by giving way to his rage he should do, or by breaking his oath leave undone. But to the other, set as he was amid the libidinous frenzy of the Sodomites, who would dare to say, "Although thy guests in thine own …
St. Augustine—Against Lying

Covenanting Performed in Former Ages with Approbation from Above.
That the Lord gave special token of his approbation of the exercise of Covenanting, it belongs to this place to show. His approval of the duty was seen when he unfolded the promises of the Everlasting Covenant to his people, while they endeavoured to perform it; and his approval thereof is continually seen in his fulfilment to them of these promises. The special manifestations of his regard, made to them while attending to the service before him, belonged to one or other, or both, of those exhibitions …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Jesus Sets Out from Judæa for Galilee.
Subdivision B. At Jacob's Well, and at Sychar. ^D John IV. 5-42. ^d 5 So he cometh to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 and Jacob's well was there. [Commentators long made the mistake of supposing that Shechem, now called Nablous, was the town here called Sychar. Sheckem lies a mile and a half west of Jacob's well, while the real Sychar, now called 'Askar, lies scarcely half a mile north of the well. It was a small town, loosely called …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Appendix ii. Philo of Alexandria and Rabbinic Theology.
(Ad. vol. i. p. 42, note 4.) In comparing the allegorical Canons of Philo with those of Jewish traditionalism, we think first of all of the seven exegetical canons which are ascribed to Hillel. These bear chiefly the character of logical deductions, and as such were largely applied in the Halakhah. These seven canons were next expanded by R. Ishmael (in the first century) into thirteen, by the analysis of one of them (the 5th) into six, and the addition of this sound exegetical rule, that where two …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Sundry Sharp Reproofs
This doctrine draws up a charge against several sorts: 1 Those that think themselves good Christians, yet have not learned this art of holy mourning. Luther calls mourning a rare herb'. Men have tears to shed for other things, but have none to spare for their sins. There are many murmurers, but few mourners. Most are like the stony ground which lacked moisture' (Luke 8:6). We have many cry out of hard times, but they are not sensible of hard hearts. Hot and dry is the worst temper of the body. Sure …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

The Section Chap. I. -iii.
The question which here above all engages our attention, and requires to be answered, is this: Whether that which is reported in these chapters did, or did not, actually and outwardly take place. The history of the inquiries connected with this question is found most fully in Marckius's "Diatribe de uxore fornicationum," Leyden, 1696, reprinted in the Commentary on the Minor Prophets by the same author. The various views may be divided into three classes. 1. It is maintained by very many interpreters, …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Genesis
The Old Testament opens very impressively. In measured and dignified language it introduces the story of Israel's origin and settlement upon the land of Canaan (Gen.--Josh.) by the story of creation, i.-ii. 4a, and thus suggests, at the very beginning, the far-reaching purpose and the world-wide significance of the people and religion of Israel. The narrative has not travelled far till it becomes apparent that its dominant interests are to be religious and moral; for, after a pictorial sketch of …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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