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Genesis 25 General Notes
Structure and formatting
Some translations set poetry farther to the right than the rest of the text to show that it is poetry. The ULB does this with the poetry in 25:23.
Special concepts in this chapter
Polygamy
Abraham married another wife. This was sinful of him. Many other Hebrew leaders came to marry multiple wives. This is known as "polygamy." It has never been an acceptable practice. (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/sin)
Inheritance
In the ancient Near East, inheritance was passed on through the eldest son. Even though Esau and Jacob were twins, it is very important that Esau was born first. It was his birthright to receive his inheritance, but he foolishly gave it up. (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/inherit and rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/birthright and rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/foolish)
Other possible translation difficulties in this chapter
God fulfills his promise
God begins to fulfill the promise he gave to Abraham about making his descendants numerous. Many of these children through his concubines would become large people groups. This may not be easy to understand without the remainder of the Old Testament and the history it records. (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-explicit)