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 suggested; and our only regret is that this glimpse of everyday family piety is so tantalisingly meagre.—22. During pregnancy the children crushed one another] (v.i.) in a struggle for priority of birth.

Comp. the story of Akrisios and Proitus (Apol. Bibl. ii. 2. 1 ff.), sons of Abas, king of Argos, who. The sequel presents a certain parallelism to the history of Esau and Jacob, which has a bearing on the question whether there is an element of mythology behind the ethnological interpretation of the biblical narrative (see pp. 455 f.). Another parallel is the Polynesian myth of the twins Tangaroa and Rongo (Che. TBI, 356).

Rebekah, regarding this as a portent, expresses her dismay in words not quite intelligible in the text: If it [is to] be so, why then am I?] v.i.—to inquire of Yahwe] to seek an oracle at the sanctuary.—23. The oracle is communicated through an inspired personality, like the Arab. kāhin (We. Heid.$2$, 134 ff.), and is rhythmic in form (ib. 135).—two nations] whose future rivalries are prefigured in the struggle of the infants.—The point of the prophecy is in the last line: The elder shall serve the younger (see on 27$29. 40$).

24-26. Birth and naming of the twins.—24. Cf. 38$27-30$, the only other description of a twin-birth in OT.—25. —either tawny or red-haired—is a play on the name

des Opfers, die Begriffe liegen nahe bei einander" (We. 142).—22. ] G (the same word as Lk. 1$41. 44$), perhaps confusing, 'run,' with , 'break.' More correctly, Aq. ; Σ. .—] G  But the merely emphasises the interr. (G-K. § 136 c), and the latter part of the sentence seems incomplete: V quid necesse fuit concipere? S . Graetz supplies ; Di. Ba. Kit.  (cf. 27$46$); Frankenberg (GGA, 1901, 697) changes  to , while Gu. makes it  (Ps. 91$10$), with  as subj.—23. ] a poetic word; in Hex. only 27$29$ (J).—] 'the small[er],' in the sense of 'younger,' is characteristic of J (19$31. 34. 35. 38.$ 29$26$ 43$33$, Jos. 6$26$ [1 Ki. 16$34$]†).

24. ] properly [(so [E]), as 38$27$.—25.  used again only of David, 1 Sa. 16$12$ 17$42$. It is usually explained of the 'reddish brown' hue of the skin; but there is much to be said for the view that it means 'red-haired' (G, V rufus: so Ges. Tu. al.). The incongruity of the word with the name creates a suspicion that it may be either a gloss or a variant from a parallel source (Di.): for various conjectures see Bu. Urg. 217$2$; Che. EB, 1333; Wi. AOF, i. 344 f.— has no Heb. etymology. The nearest comparison is Ar. 'a'ta$y$ (so most) = 'hirsute'