bitterness · noun, common feminine singular construct
mind
ר֑וּחַRu.ach
H7307
wind · noun, common feminine singular absolute
Isaac
לְיִצְחָ֖קle.yitz.Chak
H3327
Jitschak (or Isaac) · preposition + proper noun, a man's name
Rebekah
וּלְרִבְקָֽהu.le.riv.Kah
H7259
Ribkah · conjunction + preposition + proper noun, a woman's name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Genesis 27:46-28:2 And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as th…
Genesis 6:2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
Genesis 28:8 And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father;
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Genesis 26:34–end
Here is, 1. Esau's foolish marriage - foolish, some think, in marrying two wives together, for which perhaps he is called a fornicator (Heb 12:16), or rather in marrying Canaanites, who were strangers to the blessing to Abraham, and subject to the curse of Noah, for which he is called profane; for hereby he intimated that he neither desired the blessing nor dreaded the curse of God. 2. The grief and trouble it created to his tender parents. (1.) It grieved them that he married without asking, or at least without taking, their advice and consent: see whose steps those children tread in who either contemn or contradict their parents in disposing of themselves. (2.) It grieved them that he marr…
Esau . . . took to wife--If the pious feelings of Abraham recoiled from the idea of Isaac forming a matrimonial connection with a Canaanitish woman [Gen 24:3], that devout patriarch himself would be equally opposed to such a union on the part of his children; and we may easily imagine how much his pious heart was wounded, and the family peace destroyed, when his favorite but wayward son brought no less than two idolatrous wives among them--an additional proof that Esau neither desired the blessing nor dreaded the curse of God. These wives never gained the affections of his parents, and this estrangement was overruled by God for keeping the chosen family aloof from the dangers of heathen infl…
Which were a grief of mind - Not the marriage, though that was improper, but the persons; they, by their perverse and evil ways, brought bitterness into the hearts of Isaac and Rebekah. The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, and that of Jerusalem, say they were addicted to idol worship, and rebelled against and would not hearken to the instructions either of Isaac or Rebekah. From Canaanites a different conduct could not be reasonably expected. Esau was far from being spiritual, and his wives were wholly carnal.
The same reflections which were suggested by Abraham's conduct in denying his wife in Egypt and Gerar, will apply to that of Isaac; but the case of Isaac was much less excusable than tha…
The Church Fathers
See how much can be learned from these few words. I mean, why did it indicate to us Esau's age? Not idly, but for us to learn from it Isaac's advanced years and the fact that he was now well beyond his prime. You see, if we recall what was said before, that at the time he married Rebekah he was in fact forty years old, whereas when the children were born he was sixty, we will realize that now at a hundred he had reached the height of old age. Since, in fact, it is next about to recount to us that because of his age he had poor eyesight, accordingly it indicates his age to us so that we might be in a position to know precisely Isaac's time of life. So it said, "Now, Esau was forty."Then for us to learn the boy's indiscretion in taking brides from races he should not have, it revealed to us that one was from the race of the Hittites, the other from the Hivites. Yet knowing as Esau did the pains taken by the patriarch in giving express orders to his servant to select a bride for Isaac from his own tribe and the fact that their mother Rebekah came from Haran, he should not have set his mind on any such thing. In order, however, to show from the outset the undisciplined character of Esau's behavior, he took those wives before seeking advice. And for us to learn their intractable nature Scripture says, "They were at odds with Isaac and Rebekah." What could be more galling than this antipathy when they were due to show complete respect and not only did not do this but were even prepared for hostility?
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Esau — Hairy, Rebekah’s first-born twin son (Gen. 25:25). The name of Edom, “red”, was also given to him from his conduct in connection with the red lentil “pottage” for which he sold his birthright (30,…
Alliance And Society With The Enemies Of God · Saints grieve to witness in their brethren — Saints grieve to witness in their brethren
Esau · His marriage to, a grief to — His marriage to, a grief to
Miscegenation · .Esau — .Esau
Rebekah (Rebecca) · Displeased with Esau’ s wives — Displeased with Esau’ s wives
Sabbath · Signifying a period of rest — Signifying a period of rest
Wives · Not to be selected from among the ungodly — Not to be selected from among the ungodly
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac, and to Rebekah. The marriage of them itself was a trouble to them, it being contrary to their will that any of their children should marry with the Canaanites, and those the worst sort of them, the Hittites; it having been the care of Abraham, the father of Isaac, that his son should not marry with them, and laid a strict injunction on his servant not to take a wife for his son from among them; and which was an example to be followed in later times, and which Esau very likely was not ignorant of: and besides this, the women themselves he took for wives were very disagreeable on all accounts, partly because of their religion, being idolaters, and partly…
And Esau was forty years old. For many reasons Moses relates the marriages of Esau. Inasmuch as he mingled himself with the inhabitants of the land, from whom the holy race of Abraham was separated, and contracted affinities by which he became entangled; this was a kind of prelude of his rejection. It happened also, by the wonderful counsel of God, that these daughters-in-law were grievous and troublesome to the holy patriarch (Isaac) and his wife, in order that they might not by degrees become favorable to that reprobate people. If the manners of the people had been pleasing, and they had had good and obedient daughters, perhaps also, with their consent, Isaac might have taken a wife from a…
Esau's Marriage. - To the various troubles which the Philistines prepared for Isaac, but which, through the blessing of God, only contributed to the increase of his wealth and importance, a domestic cross was added, which caused him great and lasting sorrow. Esau married two wives in the 40th year of his age, the 100th of Isaac's life (Gen 25:26); and that not from his own relations in Mesopotamia, but from among the Canaanites whom God had cast off. On their names, see Gen 34:2-3. They became "bitterness of spirit," the cause of deep trouble, to his parents, viz., on account of their Canaanitish character, which was so opposed to the vocation of the patriarchs; whilst Esau by these marriage…
Esau’s marriages illustrate how unfit he was to lead the covenant people into God’s blessings, and how foolish was Isaac’s later attempt to bless Esau (27:1-40). Esau later married a third wife in a vain attempt to do the right thing (28:6-9).
Rashi on Genesis 26:10
והבאת עלינו אשם AND YOU WOULD HAVE BROUGHT GUILT UPON US — If he had lain with her already, YOU WOULD HAVE BROUGHT GUILT UPON US.
