Genesis 25:21
And Isaac besought the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and he heard him, and made Rebecca to conceive.
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- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Deprecatusque est Isaac Dominum pro uxore sua, eo quod esset sterilis : qui exaudivit eum, et dedit conceptum Rebeccæ.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- ἐδεῖτο δὲ Ἰσαὰκ Κυρίου περὶ Ῥεβέκκας τῆς γυναικὸς αὐτοῦ, ὅτι στεῖρα ἦν· ἐπήκουσεν δὲ αὐτοῦ ὁ θεός, καὶ ἔλαβεν ἐν γαστρὶ Ῥεβέκκα ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ.
- Hebrew (WLC)
- וַיֶּעְתַּ֨ר יִצְחָ֤ק לַֽיהוָה֙ לְנֹ֣כַח אִשְׁתּ֔וֹ כִּ֥י עֲקָרָ֖ה הִ֑וא וַיֵּעָ֤תֶר לוֹ֙ יְהוָ֔ה וַתַּ֖הַר רִבְקָ֥ה אִשְׁתּֽוֹ
Haydock's commentary
Barren. They had been married 20 years, (ver. 26.) during which time, St. Chrysostom says, Isaac had earnestly besought the Lord, (Menochius) and obtained by prayer what God long before decreed. See St. Gregory, Dial. i. 8. (Worthington)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
The Epistle of Barnabas The Epistle of Barnabas, Chapter XIII. Christians, and not
But let us see if this people is the heir, or the former, and if the covenant belongs to us or to them. Hear ye now what the Scripture saith concerning the people. Isaac prayed for Rebecca his wife, because she was barren; and she conceived. Furthermore also, Rebecca went forth to inquire of the Lord; and the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in thy womb, and two peoples in thy belly; and the one people shall surpass the other, and the elder shall serve the younger.” You ought to understand who was Isaac, who Rebecca, and concerning what persons He declared that this people should be greater than that. And in another prophecy Jacob speaks more clearly to his son Joseph, saying, “Behold, the Lord hath not deprived me of thy presence; bring thy sons to me, that I may bless them.” And he brought Manasseh and Ephraim, desiring that Manasseh should be blessed, because he was the elder. …
St John Chrysostom The Commentary and Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Galatians and Ephesians, Ephesians 6:1-3
Again, the son of this great man was reverenced, not because of his riches, but for his hospitality: not because of his children, but for his obedience: not because of his wife, but for the barrenness inflicted on his wife. ( Gen. xxv. 21 .)
St John Chrysostom The Commentary and Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Galatians and Ephesians, Ephesians 6:14-17
But let us look, again, at the deep wisdom of this woman. “And Eli,” it says, “thought she had been drunken.” ( Ver. 13 .) Yet observe what she says to him also, “Nay, count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial, for out of the abundance of my complaint and my provocation have I spoken hitherto.” ( Ver. 16 .) Here is truly the proof of a contrite heart, when we are not angry with those that revile us, when we are not indignant against them, when we reply but in self-defense. Nothing renders the heart so wise as affliction; nothing is there so sweet as “godly mourning.” ( 2 Cor. vii. 10 .) “Out of the abundance,” saith she, “of my complaint and my provocation have I spoken hitherto.” Her let us imitate, one and all. …