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Genesis 25

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1 And Abraham took another wife named Keturah.

2 She became the mother of Zimran and Jokshan and Medan and Midian and Ishbak and Shuah.

3 And Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. And from Dedan came the Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim.

4 And from Midian came Ephah and Epher and Hanoch and Abida and Eldaah. All these were the offspring of Keturah.

5 Now Abraham gave all his property to Isaac;

6 But to the sons of his other women he gave offerings, and sent them away, while he was still living, into the east country.

7 Now the years of Abraham's life were a hundred and seventy-five.

8 And Abraham came to his death, an old man, full of years; and he was put to rest with his people.

9 And Isaac and Ishmael, his sons, put him to rest in the hollow rock of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hittite, near Mamre;

10 The same field which Abraham got from the children of Heth: there Abraham was put to rest with Sarah, his wife.

11 Now after the death of Abraham, the blessing of God was with Isaac, his son.

12 Now these are the generations of Ishmael, the son of Abraham, whose mother was Hagar the Egyptian, the servant of Sarah:

13 These are the names of the sons of Ishmael by their generations: Ishmael's first son was Nebaioth; then Kedar and Adbeel and Mibsam

14 And Mishma and Dumah and Massa,

15 Hadad and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah:

16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names in their towns and their tent-circles; twelve chiefs with their peoples.

17 And the years of Ishmael's life were a hundred and thirty-seven: and he came to his end, and was put to rest with his people.

18 And their country was from Havilah to Shur which is east of Egypt: they took their place to the east of all their brothers.

19 Now these are the generations of Abraham's son Isaac:

20 Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramaean of Paddan-aram, and the sister of Laban the Aramaean, to be his wife.

21 Isaac made prayer to the Lord for his wife because she had no children; and the Lord gave ear to his prayer, and Rebekah became with child.

22 And the children were fighting together inside her, and she said, If it is to be so, why am I like this? So she went to put her question to the Lord.

23 And the Lord said to her, Two nations are in your body, and Two peoples will come to birth from you: the one will be stronger than the other, and the older will be the servant of the younger.

24 And when the time came for her to give birth, there were two children in her body.

25 And the first came out red from head to foot like a robe of hair, and they gave him the name of Esau.

26 And after him, his brother came out, gripping Esau's foot; and he was named Jacob: Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them.

27 And the boys came to full growth; and Esau became a man of the open country, an expert bowman; but Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents.

28 Now Isaac's love was for Esau, because Esau's meat was greatly to his taste: but Rebekah had more love for Jacob.

29 And one day Jacob was cooking some soup when Esau came in from the fields in great need of food;

30 And Esau said to Jacob, Give me a full meal of that red soup, for I am overcome with need for food: for this reason he was named Edom.

31 And Jacob said, First of all give me your birthright.

32 And Esau said, Truly, I am at the point of death: what profit is the birthright to me?

33 And Jacob said, First of all give me your oath; and he gave him his oath, handing over his birthright to Jacob.

34 Then Jacob gave him bread and soup; and he took food and drink and went away, caring little for his birthright.

   

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Hair

  
Photo of swimmer whipping water from her hair, by Caleb Kerr

The hair is the very outermost part of the body, and "hair" in the Bible represents the outermost expression of whatever the body represents. In most cases, the hair and beard are discussed in connection with prophets and other holy men. Since they represent the Lord as He is expressed through the Bible, their hair and beards represent the literal, external stories of the Bible -- which is why they were forbidden to shave or clip their hair. In other cases, the hair and beard can represent the external truths a person uses to live, the day-to-day ideas. Very often, the hair and beard are connected with power and strength in the Bible, Samson being the most obvious example. This is because the whole power of the Bible, in all its depth and meaning, is contained within those literal stories we read. If we disregard the stories, then we will cut ourselves off from the power of the Bible, the same way Samson lost his strength when Delilah cut his hair. This is also why calling someone "bald" was considered a great insult, why shaving the heads of captives was a way to humiliate them, and why people would shave their own heads as either a sign of mourning or as a sign of transition a new level of understanding -- removing the old external ideas so new ones can grow in their place. "Hair" can also be used in the negative, to represent the falsities that can guide someone in an evil life.