Genesis 25:25 - Exposition

And the first came out red ,— Adhmoni , πυῤῥάκης ( LXX .), rufus (Vulgate), red-haired (Gesenius), of a reddish color (Lange), containing an allusion to Adham , the red earth— all over like an hairy garment. Literally, all of him as a cloak of hair (not, as the LXX ; Vulgate, et alii , all of him hairy, like a cloak); the fur cloak, or hair mantle, forming one notion (Gesenius). The appearance of the child's body, covered with an unusual quantity of red hair, was "a sign of excessive sensual vigor and wildness" (Keil), "a foreboding of the animal violence of his character" (Kalisch), "the indication of a passionate and precocious nature" (Murphy). And they called his name Esau —"the hairy one," from an unused root signifying to be covered with hair (Gesenius).