Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.
Ver. 9. Then went Esau unto Ishmael.] Stulta haec fuit κακοζηλια, et hypocrisis, saith Pareus rightly. Apes will be imitating men: spiders have their webs, and wasps their honeycombs. Hypocrites will needs do something, that they may seem to be somebody: but, for want of an inward principle, they do nothing well: they amend one error with another, as Esau here; and as Herod prevents perjury by murder. Thus, while they shun the sands, they rush upon the rocks, and while they keep off the shallows, they fall into the whirlpool. a Sed nemo ira perplexus tenetur inter duo vitia, quin exitus pateat absque tertio, saith an ancient.
a Incidit in Scyllam, cupiens vitare Charybdim .