Genesis 19:31

19:31 Later the older daughter said ¹  to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man anywhere nearby ²  to have sexual relations with us, ³  according to the way of all the world.

Genesis 19:35

19:35 So they made their father drunk ⁴  that night as well, and the younger one came and had sexual relations with him. ⁵  But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up. ⁶ 

Genesis 25:23

25:23 and the Lord said to her,

“Two nations ⁷  are in your womb,

and two peoples will be separated from within you.

One people will be stronger than the other,

and the older will serve the younger.”

Genesis 27:42

27:42 When Rebekah heard what her older son Esau had said, ⁸  she quickly summoned ⁹  her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is planning to get revenge by killing you. ¹⁰ 

Genesis 48:14

48:14 Israel stretched out his right hand and placed it on Ephraim’s head, although he was the younger. ¹¹  Crossing his hands, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, for Manasseh was the firstborn.

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¹ tn Heb “and the firstborn said.”

² tn Or perhaps “on earth,” in which case the statement would be hyperbolic; presumably there had been some men living in the town of Zoar to which Lot and his daughters had initially fled.

³ tn Heb “to enter upon us.” This is a euphemism for sexual relations.

⁴ tn Heb “drink wine.”

⁵ tn Heb “lied down with him.”

⁶ tn Heb “And he did not know when she lied down and when she arose.”

⁷ sn By metonymy the two children in her womb are described as two nations of which the two children, Jacob and Esau, would become the fathers. The language suggests there would be a struggle between these nations, with one being stronger than the other. The oracle reveals that all of Jacob’s scheming was unnecessary in the final analysis. He would have become the dominant nation without using deception to steal his brother’s blessing.

⁸ tn Heb “and the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah.”

⁹ tn Heb “she sent and called for.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “is consoling himself with respect to you to kill you.” The only way Esau had of dealing with his anger at the moment was to plan to kill his brother after the death of Isaac.

¹¹ tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial-concessive here.