(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)
“The children struggled together within her. She said, “If it is like this, why do I live?” She went to inquire of Yahweh. Yahweh said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb.
Two peoples will be separated from your body.
The one people will be stronger than the other people.
The elder will serve the younger.””
(Genesis 25:22-23)
Isaac called out to God about Rebekah’s barrenness and He answered them. She got pregnant with twins. This was before the technology to really monitor what was going on inside. When Rebekah felt the struggles of the children within her (not knowing for sure whether there was more than one), she sought God. She looked to the One who had the answers. And He answered her. We can see she didn’t rely on her husband alone for answers. She had a personal relationship with God as well.
There were two people inside of Rebekah. The fathers of two nations. There were two points of view inside her. Two natures. One was willing to learn to submit and hold onto God. One was willing only to hold to the flesh. Jacob fathered the Israelites. Esau fathered the Edomites. Israel became stronger and the Edomites eventually were totally subdued by the Israelites.
There is no evidence in scripture that Rebekah shared this word with Isaac. Based on later behaviours, it implies that she kept it to herself. That she sought God alone, listened alone, and cherished it alone. It is dangerous to keep words from God to ourselves and not share them with our partners. There can be reasons to do that (their unbelief, for example), but when we share our vision with our partners, it can help when it comes time to hold onto the vision during tough times. It can also help us from the very human habit of trying to make things come to pass in our time and in our way.
The sage Ramban writes: ‘AND SHE SAID: IF IT BE SO, ‘LAMAH ZEH ANOCHI?’”If the pain of pregnancy is so great, lamah zeh anochi (why did I) pray for and aspire to pregnancy?” Thus Rashi. But it is not correct. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra says that she asked the women if they had experienced such pains, and they said, “No,” whereupon she said, “If the matter and custom of pregnancy be as they said, lamah zeh anochi, why am I beset with an unusual pregnancy?” Now according to this exposition, the verse is missing and not complete. The correct interpretation in my opinion is that she said, “If it shall be so with me, lamah zeh anochi, [why am I in the world]? Would that I did not exist, that I should die or never have come into existence.” This is similar to the verse, I should have been as though I had not been. TWO NATIONS ARE IN THY WOMB. The intent of this is that He informed her that she should not fear, for the reason that the struggle in her womb is that she is pregnant with twins, this being the customary way among women who are pregnant with twins.
It is possible that He is also saying that since they are destined to be two peoples, hating and warring with each other, at the very beginning of their creation they initiated a quarrel, thus intimating at the situation which will ultimately exist between them. But He assured her that now they will rest, and she will find rest and quiet for herself.’
The sage Rav Hirsch writes: ‘V. 22. ויתרצצו, from רוץ to run, hasten, in the Hiphil ויריצוהו מן הבור, they urged him to haste, so התרוצץ to urge oneself, or here where there are two, to urge each other to hasten. Each would not allow the other to rest — ותאמר אם כן by the notation these three words belong together, so it means “She said, when it was so”, when this occurred “why am I thus?” i.e. why do I have such an unusual experience? — ותלך, according to the explanation of our sages, to Shem and Eber — those who had preserved the traditions Noah had received — to ask for an explanation from God through them. V. 23. שני גוים וגו׳ ושני לאמים וגו׳. We consider the explanation, parallel expressions, כפל ענין וכו׳, certainly a convenient, but even of a serious human speech, and most certainly of a Divine message, an unworthy crutch on which to lean. Children, or at most drunken men, may lisp without special meaning כפל ענין במלות שונות (repeat what they have to say using different expressions I.L.). לאם is the government of a nation אין לאום אלא מלכות. Different nations need not have different forms of government. Europe contains a number of nations but they are mostly under a form of government which basically and in principle is the same (this was the case in Hirsch’s time when practically all the countries of Europe had a form of monarchy I.L.) Rebecca was informed that she carried two nations in her womb who would represent two different forms of social government. The one state would build up its greatness on spirit and morals, on the humane in humans, the other would seek its greatness in cunning and strength. Spirit and strength, morality and violence oppose each other, and indeed, from birth onwards will they be in opposition to each other. One form of government will always be more powerful than the other. The scales will constantly sway from one to the other, between לאום ולאום. The whole of history is nothing else than a struggle as to whether spirit or sword, or, as our sages put it, whether Caesaria or Jerusalem is to have the upper hand. רב never means the elder, but always: great in number and power. In the end it will be seen that the one who had seemed to be the mightier, who had fought only for lower purposes, the material, had in reality been working for the other, had really prepared the victory for him, and will finally submit to him. The representative of the spiritual and moral comes out of this struggle as the ultimate victor, and the representative of might and force is not destroyed, but at the end finds his own purpose served in submitting and devoting himself to the principles of the other.’
The Torah: A Women’s Commentary writes: ‘The children pressed.…She thought. Although there is no mention that Rebekah turned to God when she could not conceive, she does so in response to her pregnancy. “why do I exist?” Literally, “why am I?” Interpreters often say that Rebekah is bemoaning her physical pain. However, the text mentions only that the pregnancy is unsettling, not that it is painful. Instead, what prompts her question may be the prospect of multiple children, which in the Bible typically signals a special destiny. Far from complaining about her condition, Rebekah is wondering about her role in such destiny. God’s answer (v. 23) confirms such a reading, since it refers to the children’s future. inquire. Heb. lidrosh, a verb that usually designates a formal consultation, in this case with God. The text pointedly omits any mention of mediated communication, which suggests that Rebekah addresses God directly, and that God responds to her with equal directness (v. 23). The earlier picture of Rebekah as gutsy, independent, and resourceful (Genesis 24) thus continues. Yet many interpreters both ancient and modern have distanced Rebekah from a direct contact with God. One rabbinic commentator claimed, for example, that she went to a house of study (see, Post-biblical Interpretations). יהוהsaid to her. God replies to Rebekah directly, informing her—not Isaac—about their sons’ future. Two other biblical mothers to whom God discloses their son’s future are Hagar (16:10–12, 21:17–18) and Samson’s mother (Judges 13:3–5). the elder shall serve the younger. The poetic Hebrew is more ambiguous than the translation indicates—literally “elder serve younger,” which could also mean that the younger shall serve the elder. The text may seek to suggest that Jacob’s subsequent preeminence results from Rebekah’s interpretation. The election of the younger over the elder is a theme that pervades Genesis. It may reflect a conflict relating to the audience’s national identity and the formation of a people in which newer traditions are integrated with older ones.’
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