And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.
25. red ] R.V. marg. ruddy. The adjective refers to the skin rather than to the hair, as in the case of David (1Sa 16:12). The Heb. for “red,” admoni, is intended as a play on the word “Edom,” as if the Edomites were known as “the Reds,” or “Redskins,” on account of their warm complexion.
like an hairy garment ] Cf. the description in Gen 27:11-12; Gen 27:16; Gen 27:23. The word for “hairy” ( s‘ar) contains a play on the word “Seir,” the country of the Edomites.
Esau ] The origin of the name is uncertain, but it may possibly be connected with an Arabic word meaning “thick-haired.” More doubtful is the suggested identification with , a hunter in Phoenician mythology. Esau appears as the poetical name for Edom. See Jer 49:8-10; Oba 1:6; Oba 1:8 ff.; Mal 1:2-3.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 25. Red, all over like a hairy garment] This simply means that he was covered all over with red hair or down; and that this must be intended here is sufficiently evident from another part of his history, where Rebekah, in order to make her favourite son Jacob pass for his brother Esau, was obliged to take the skins of kids, and put them upon his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.
They called his name Esau.] It is difficult to assign the proper meaning of the original esau or esav; if we derive it from asah it must signify made, performed, and, according to some, perfected; [Arabic] esa in Arabic signifies to make firm or hard, and also to come to man’s estate, to grow old. Probably he had this name from his appearing to be more perfect, robust, &c., than his brother.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Red; with red hair upon all the parts of his body. From him the Red Sea is supposed to receive its name, it being so called, as the heathen writers tell us, from one who reigned in those parts, and was called Erythras, or Erythrus, which signifies red, the same with Edom or Esau.
Esau, i.e. made or perfect; not properly a child, but rather a man as soon as he was born, having that hair upon him which in others was an evidence of manhood.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And the first came out red,…. Either his body, or rather the hair it was covered with, red; which was a sign, as Jarchi observes, that he would be a shedder of blood, fierce and cruel as were he and his posterity:
all over like an hairy garment; his body was all over full of hair, which stood as thick as a garment made of hair, and was a sign of the roughness of his disposition, as well as of the strength of his body:
and they called his name Esau; his parents, and those present at his birth, all that saw him thus covered with hair; for he had his name not from the colour of his body or hair; for the word does not signify “red”, but comes from a word which signifies “to make”, he being a “maker”: that made his way out before his brother, or an active man as afterwards, or because of his hair was “made” or born more like a man than a child; and so the Targum adds,
“because he was wholly perfect, with the hair of his head and beard, and with his teeth and grinders:”
but chiefly because of his hairiness, for Esau in the Arabic language signifies “covered” f, as he was with hair: some say, a word in that language signifies a hairy garment made of camel’s hair g.
f “texit”, “operuit”, Castel. col. 2930. g Vid. Stockium. p. 923.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(25) Red.Heb., admoni, a secondary reason for the name Edom. (See Gen. 25:30,)
All over like an hairy garment.Heb., all of himthat is, completelylike a garment of hair: words rendered a rough garment in Zec. 13:4, where it is used of the jacket of sheepskin worn by the prophets. It appears, therefore, that Esaus body was entirely covered with red down, which developed in time into hair as coarse as that of a kid (Gen. 27:16), and betokened a strong and vigorous, but sensual nature.
Esau.The Jewish commentators form this name from the verb to make, and render it well-made; but the usual explanation is hairy, from a word now extant only in Arabic.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
25. Red, all over like a hairy garment “His whole body was as if covered with a fur, with an unusual quantity of hair, ( hypertrichosis,) which is sometimes the case with new-born infants, but was a sign in this instance of excessive sensual vigour and wildness . ” Keil .
Esau Which means hairy .
Gen 25:25. Red all over like an hairy garment With his head and body covered all over with a red hair, or down, like an hairy garment; whence he was called Esau, or hairy, by his parents. Jacob taking hold of his brother’s heel was thence named a supplanter, one that trips up the heel, or displaces by stratagem, &c.
And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau’s heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.
The Holy Ghost mentions this, a thousand years after, with peculiar marks of approbation: See Hos 12:3 . Esau means perfectly made; and Jacob a supplanter.
Gen 25:25 And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.
Ver. 25. And the first came out red. ] Red and rough, cruel and crafty, as that red old dragon Rev 12:3 who inhabited in him, and both acted and agitated him. Eph 2:2 Ab ascensore suo daemone perurgebatur, saith Bernard. And so are those Romish Edomites, Esauites, Jesuites, &c.
And they called his name Esau. Esau
Esau stands for the mere man of the earth. Heb 12:16; Heb 12:17. In many respects a nobler man, naturally, than Jacob, he was destitute of faith, and despised the birthright because it was a spiritual thing, of value only as there was faith to apprehend it.
Esau: The word Esau has been generally considered to imply made, formed, or perfected; or perfect, robust, etc. But it appears to be a dialectical variation of the Arabic atha, to be covered with hair; whence athai, hairy, as no doubt the word Esau imports, in allusion to the circumstance of his being covered with red hair or down at his birth. Gen 27:11, Gen 27:16, Gen 27:23
Reciprocal: Gen 27:19 – I am
Gen 25:25. Red, like a hairy garment With red hair all over his body, as if he had been already a grown man, whence he had his name, Esau, made, reared already. This was an indication of a very strong constitution, and gave cause to expect that he would be a very robust, daring, active man. But Jacob was smooth and tender, as other children.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments