Isaac is portrayed as the only son of Abraham, the claim of the older Ishmael being rejected. He is described as filial, even to the extent of helping in his own 'sacrifice', an act that would (in terms of the storyline) have wiped out the Israelite line before it began. This sacrifice is described as an instruction by God, then as a test, brought to an end by divine intervention replacing the boy with a ram. The post-exilic writer uses the story to build the character of Abraham as a chosen ancestor. Earlier stories show him meeting with angels, discussing Sodom's fate with God and making a covenant. Whether or not there were earlier sources, these passages have a key function in the narrative framework. For the post-exilic community, the Israelite remnant had survived not by accident but as part of a divine plan, in which punishment and testing were part and parcel.
The disapproval of intermarriage with Canaanites is explict in Genesis 24:3-4: Abraham sends a servant to "my country and my kindred" to find Isaac a wife. He is asked to swear an oath to bring her back, since Palestine had been gifted by God to Abraham and his descendants. The oath is intriguing: the servant has to place his hand 'under Abraham's thigh'. Rebecca comes from the family of Nahor, Abraham's 'brother' (v.15). We are introduced to Bethuel her father and Laban her brother. We also learn that Bethuel's mother was Milcah wife of Nahor. The servant prayed for guidance and a sign and when he met Rebecca the sign was granted. The story of the meeting and subsequent marriage are given in detail (Genesis 24), and contain details of Rebecca's family - Laban her brother, Bethuel her father, and Deborah her 'nurse'. Although two different sources have been suggested as combined in the story, this was an obsession within old source-historical studies and we treat the final text as a unity here. The narrative emphasises the authentic bloodline from Abraham to the neo-Israelite community in the writer's own day. 'Authentic' is understood to mean that God has approved, ordered and selected the Israelite people through a series of angelic visitations which represent conversations with God. These establish social, political and religious legitimacy for a community which needed to build roots quickly.
The marriage narrative emphasises close family marriage, that it is an arrangement between families, and was celebrated with a feast. Formal documents such as contracts are not mentioned - these are found for example at Nuzi much closer to the period being described and exiles would have been acquainted with legal documents in Babylonia. Marriage documents (the ketubah) came to be used later when more than family witnesses were required. Deuteronomy mentions a 'bill' of divorce, so this legal process was beginning in post-exilic Israel. Gifts were given to Rebecca, and others to her family. A feast was requested by her family, but the servant asked to leave immediately. When Rebecca arrived and saw Isaac, she veiled herself; then the marriage took place without formality.
Genesis 25 gives a further genealogy of Abraham's descendants, through another wife, Keturah. These depict other tribes in the middle East, such as Midian. The text affirms that Isaac was the chosen heir, and the others were given presents and sent out of Isaac's way 'eastwards'. This fictional Abrahamic family asserted kinship affiliation across the region, whilst affirming the priority of Isaac as heir and Israelite ancestor.
The birth of the twins Esau and Jacob is similar to the birth of Perez and Zerah to Tamar in Genesis 38, both with a 'red' theme, Esau being red and hairy, and Zerah having a red cord tied around his wrist. A prophecy said "Two nations in your womb, two peoples, going their own ways from birth. One shall be stronger than the other, the older shall be servant of the younger" (Genesis 25:23). The peoples were Israel through Jacob, and Edom through Esau. The Edomite genealogy is given in Genesis 36. The narrator is clearly Israelite, stressing the divine gift of the land (e.g. 26:1-5).
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