Esau- Hebrew/Jewish FigureMortal"Father of the Edomites"

The Red Hunter

Esau's story begins in the womb. He and his twin brother Jacob struggled against each other before they were born. Rebekah, troubled by the violence inside her, inquired of God and received a troubling oracle: two nations were in her womb, two peoples would be divided, the older destined to serve the younger.

Esau emerged first, red and hairy like a garment. His brother Jacob followed, grasping Esau's heel, as if trying to pull him back. As they grew, the twins diverged. Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field. Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game. Rebekah loved Jacob.

The Birthright Sold

The first surrender of Esau's privileges came through his own choice. Returning from the field, famished and exhausted, he found Jacob cooking lentil stew and demanded to eat. Jacob's response was calculated: he would give the stew only if Esau sold him his birthright, the firstborn's double portion and family leadership.

Esau replied with words that have echoed through centuries of commentary: "I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?" He swore the birthright away, ate his stew, and went his way. "Thus Esau despised his birthright." His name was called Edom, from the Hebrew adom, meaning "red."

The Blessing Stolen

Years later, Isaac prepared to bless Esau before his death. He instructed Esau to hunt game and prepare a savory meal, after which he would bless him. Rebekah overheard and enacted her own plan. She dressed Jacob in Esau's clothes and covered his smooth hands and neck with goat skins to simulate Esau's hairiness. Jacob brought his mother's prepared food and impersonated his brother.

Isaac blessed him with the dew of heaven, the fatness of the earth, and dominion over peoples and nations. When Esau arrived with his own prepared game, the truth emerged. "He has cheated me these two times," Esau cried. He had lost both birthright and blessing. Jacob (Ya'akov) had supplanted (akav) him. The heel-grasper had become the deceiver.

Isaac trembled violently but could not revoke what had been spoken. The best he could offer Esau was a lesser blessing: he would live by the sword, he would serve his brother, but when he grew restless he would break the yoke from his neck.

Reconciliation

Esau vowed to kill Jacob. This intent sent Jacob fleeing to their uncle Laban in Haran, where he would spend twenty years. The brothers' separation was complete.

Twenty years later, Jacob returned to Canaan with wives, children, and vast flocks. He learned that Esau was coming to meet him with four hundred men. Terror seized him. He divided his company, sent gifts ahead in waves, and spent the night wrestling with a mysterious being who renamed him Israel.

Esau ran to meet his brother, embraced him, fell on his neck, kissed him, and they wept. The elder brother who had sworn murder now offered peace. He refused Jacob's gifts, though Jacob insisted. He offered an escort and departed. The brothers buried their father together, their last recorded act. Esau settled in Seir and became the father of the Edomites. Jacob remained in Canaan, the father of the Israelites.