And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. And the Lord said unto her. The answer, like the speech of the angel to Hagar (Genesis 16:11-12), is obviously given in parallelisms:
Two nations are in thy womb, And two manners of people shall be separated from thy bowels; And the one people shall be stronger than the other people:
And the older shall serve the younger
х Yipaareeduw (H6504)].-shall separate themselves; i:e., from the moment of their birth). A pre-intimation having been given to Abraham of the character and greatness of his posterity by Ishmael, the son of the bond-woman, it was a reasonable expectation that a similar prediction should be made concerning the offspring of Isaac, who was the heir of the promise. In neither case, however, did these prophecies refer to single individuals, so much as to people and nations springing from them. They were not verified in the personal experience of Isaac's two sons, but in that of their respective descendants, who rose not only into two separate nations, but "two manner of people," widely differing in character, habits, and pursuits. Although nearly equal in the natural advantages of their situations, they were destined to run very dissimilar courses of national fortune; because though the posterity of the older should delight in war and violence, they should have to bow in submission to that of the younger, who, moreover, should always enjoy the superiority in religious privileges and attainments.