Genesis 25:22 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

The children struggled, &c.— Instances of this kind have been recorded in prophane history. The exact mode or time of this struggling cannot be ascertained. Rebekah was alarmed at it, and said, "Since this is so, or as it is so, [that these children thus struggle in my womb,] why am I thus? for what reason am I in this situation? wherefore is this struggle in my womb?" Conceiving it, no doubt, to intend something prophetic, she went to satisfy this doubt, by inquiring of the Lord. This seems to me the most reasonable interpretation of Rebekah's words, and it is agreeable to the original, and far more proper, I humbly presume, than the supposition that they are the words of murmuring and complaint. Her going to inquire of the Lord proves, that the words imply religious doubt and anxiety. At this time, as some eminent men have observed, those who were said to inquire of the Lord, went to a prophet or seer of God to inquire concerning the event of any matter: if they themselves were prophets, they inquired for themselves. See Exodus 18:15. 1 Kings 14:5; 1 Kings 22:7-8. 2 Kings 22:18. 1 Samuel 9:9. Some have imagined, that the prophet to whom Rebekah applied was Melchizedek; others suppose it was Abraham, who was alive at that time; and others that she addressed herself to the Shechinah, or to the priest who attended there upon the Divine Presence. Others are of opinion, that she applied herself in silence and secrecy to the Lord himself, who heard and answered her prayer. But the words of the text seem plainly to express, that she went to consult some other person; she went to inquire of the Lord, most probably, by the priest, whoever he was, that attended upon the service of the altar, which service, we suppose, was established from the beginning.