024. XII. Jacob And His Brother Esau
§ XII. JACOB AND HIS BROTHER ESAU.
Genesis 25:21-26 a, Genesis 25:27 ac, Genesis 25:28-34, Genesis 27
1. The oracle concerning the unborn twins.Now Isaac prayed to Jehovah in behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and Jehovah heard his prayer, so that Rebekah his wife conceived. And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why has this befallen me ? Therefore she went to inquire of Jehovah. And Jehovah said to her, Two nations are in thy womb, And the two races, which spring from thee, shall separate from each other, And one people shall be stronger than the other, And the elder shall serve the younger.
2. Origin of the names Esau and Jacob. When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, there were indeed twins in her womb. And the first came forth red all over, like a hairy garment; so they called his name Esau [Hairy]. And afterwards his brother came forth holding fast Esau’s heel with his hand; so his name was called Jacob [Heel-holder],
3.Characteristics of the brothers. Now as the boys grew Esau became a skillful hunter, but Jacob was a quiet man, a dweller in tents. And Isaac loved Esau—for he had a taste for game—and Rebekah loved Jacob.
4.Sale of the birthright. Once when Jacob was preparing a stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was faint; therefore Esau said to Jacob, Let me eat quickly, I pray, some of that red food, for I am faint. (Therefore his name was called Edom [Red]). But Jacob said, Sell me first of all your birthright. And Esau replied, Alas! I am nearly dead, therefore of what use is this birthright to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me first; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and stewed lentils, and when he had eaten and drank, he rose up and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
5.Isaac’s request. Now it came to pass, when Isaac was so old that he could not see, that he called Esau his eldest son, and said, Behold I am old and know not the day of my death. Now therefore take, I pray you, your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and hunt game for me, that I myself may bless you before I die. So Esau went to the field to hunt game in order to bring it to him.
6.Re-bekah’s plot. Then Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son and said, I just now heard your father say to your brother Esau, “Bring me game that I may eat and bless you in the name of Jehovah.” And Rebekah took the fine garments of Esau, her elder son, which she had with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob, her younger son, and he went to his father.
7. Jacob’s deception. And Isaac said, Who are you, my son? And Jacob said to his father, I am Esau your first-born. I have done according as you commanded me. Arise, I pray you, and sit and eat of my game, that you yourself may bless me. And Isaac said to his son, How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because Jehovah your God gave me success. And he said, Are you really my son Esau? And he said, I am. Then he said, Bring it to me, that I may eat of my son’s game, in order that I myself may bless you. So he brought it to him, and he ate. He also brought him wine and he drank.
8. The blessing upon Jacob. And his father Isaac said to him, Come near now and kiss me, my son. And as he came near and kissed him, he smelled the smell of his garment, and blessed him and said, See, the smell of my son Is as the smell of a field which Jehovah hath blessed.
Let peoples serve thee, And races bow down to thee.
Cursed be every one that curseth thee, And blessed be every one that blesseth thee.
9. Esau’s sorrow. And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting, and said to his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son’s game, that you yourself may bless me. And Isaac his father said to him, Who are you? And he said, I am your son, your first-born, Esau. And Isaac trembled violently, and said, Who then is he that hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate plentifully before you came? Verily, I have blessed him, and he shall remain blessed. When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a very loud and bitter cry, and said to his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father.
10. Jacob’s flight. And Esau said to himself, The days of mourning for my father are near, then will I slay my brother Jacob. But when the words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah, she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, Behold your brother Esau will avenge himself upon you by killing you. Flee to Laban my brother at Haran, until your brother’s anger turn away from you.
I.Jacob’s Efforts to Supplant Esau. The great prophetic teaching that Jehovah personally directed Israel’s history from the first is again emphasized by the story of the birth of Jacob and Esau. Rebekah, like Sarah, was barren until Jehovah heard Isaac’s prayer for offspring. The later history of the two nations, represented by Esau and Jacob, is reflected in the divine message to Rebekah. Even though the Edomites grew to be a nation and found a permanent home to the south of the Dead Sea long before the Israelites, they later became subject to their younger kinsmen. The popular interpretation of the meaning of the two names is woven into the tradition of the birth of the two brothers. With a grim humor, peculiar to these early narratives, the long, bitter struggle between the two nations is represented as beginning at the birth of their traditional ancestors. Jacob’s chief characteristic, the desire to get ahead of his rival, is revealed, even before he sees the light. Departing from their usual custom, the prophetic historians give a brief character sketch of the two brothers. Esau has the characteristics of his father; Jacob those of his mother.
According to Hebrew custom a double portion went to the firstborn (cf.Deuteronomy 21:16-17). For food to satisfy his immediate hunger the careless Esau was ready to sell his special rights as the eldest son and that rich heritage of promise which he should have passed on to his descendants. Jacob, the ambitious schemer, did not hesitate to take advantage of his brother’s weakness. Neither of the brothers figures in a noble role.
II.Jacob’s Base Deception. Jacob’s character is further revealed by the means which he employs to establish his title to the birthright. In this incident he shows himself not only the favorite, but the true son of his ambitious and unscrupulous mother. Taking advantage of the infirmities of his aged father and the absence of his brother on a mission prompted by filial duty, he secures by deception the coveted paternal blessing. The blessing of a dying father was believed by the ancients to exert an important influence in the life of his descendants. The early Judean prophetic historians (whose narrative has been followed), make no effort to excuse Jacob’s deliberate falsehoods. They simply record the effect of the act upon his character and later history. The sympathy of the early historians, as well as of the reader, goes out to Esau, whose sorrow, on discovering the wrong of which he is the victim, is vividly and touchingly portrayed. Jacob flees, impelled like Cain, by the fear that vengeance will fall upon his guilty head.
III.The Underlying Tribal History. The vividness and consistency of the early prophetic portraits of Esau and Jacob favor a personal interpretation, but there is much evidence to show that they represent more than mere individuals. The name Jacob has been found on the Babylonian tablets coming from the age of Hammurabi. It appears also in slightly different form, on contract tablets discovered in Cappodocia. It is likewise the name of one of the Asiatic Hyksos kings who ruled over Egypt. Thutmose III, the great conqueror of the eighteenth Egyptian dynasty, mentions a certain Jacob-el among the Palestinian cities captured by him. From these references it is clear that the name was borne by individuals; but in Palestine it was the designation of a city or tribe. As has been already noted in the early prophetic stories, both Jacob and Esau are clearly types of the two nations which were regarded as their immediate descendants. Esau is in many ways an attractive, picturesque character. His home is out in the open air and his occupation is hunting. He is ingenuous and impulsive, but ruled by his inclinations, a child of the present, with no lofty ideal or genuine religious zeal. He is a type of the modern gypsy or tramp. The portrait is true to the character of the Edomites. Living on the borders of Canaan, they largely retained their early nomadic, roving habits, depending for existence upon the scanty products of the wilderness and the plunder which they extorted or stole from passing caravans. The Esau stories assume the historic fact that the Edomites were established as a nation long before the Israelites. In the inscriptions telling of conquests by kings of the eighth Egyptian dynasty, Edom is the name of one of the captured cities. In the el-Amarna tablets Udumu or Edom figures as a city hostile to the Egyptians. In the later Assyrian inscriptions, Udumu is the name of both a city and a land. The biblical narratives also proclaim that close relationship between the Edomites and Israelites, which is confirmed by similarity in language and institutions. These stories likewise reflect the close geographical and political relations, which ever linked these two peoples together, and which ultimately resulted in the conquest of the older race by the younger. These traditions evidently are intended to answer the question, Why this reversal of their earlier fortunes came about. The answer is found, as in the Noah oracle (§ IV), in the characteristics of the two races.
IV.Significance of the Portrait of Jacob. The deeper historical and ethical value of the Jacob stories is found in the marvellous portrait and analysis of the character and experiences of the Israelites which these narratives present. They are almost without analogy in human literature. Only the Hebrew prophets, who studied existing conditions and forces with eyes opened by the divine touch and with a thoroughness that rivals the work of the modern scientist and historian, could thus portray, so simply and yet with absolute fidelity, the strength and weaknesses of their race. For hunting and the frivolities of life Jacob has no time or inclination. In him the noble aspirations of Abraham for the future of his descendants have become a selfish passion. He ever remains beside the tents, plotting how he may win from his brother the coveted rights of the first-born. No opportunity to gain the desired prize escapes him. His fatal fault is that he is ready to employ any means to attain his ends; he even resorts to misrepresentation and actual falsehood. Cowardice, begotten by his own wrong-doing, adds to the blackness of the portrait.
Yet in contrast to Esau, who is but a drifter on the stream of life, Jacob is the more promising character. Notwithstanding his glaring faults, he has energy and ambition. His ambition is selfish and material, and yet it extends beyond himself to the prosperity and victories of his descendants.
V.Aim and Teachings. Of the many aims that are revealed in these stories, perhaps the chief with the prophets was to hold up before their countrymen such a clear portrait of their national character that all would see and correct their hereditary faults. As inspired interpreters of history, the prophets were also setting forth the fundamental reasons why Israel, even through failure and discipline, became at last the conquering race, with the full consciousness of a glorious destiny. The immediate teachings of the stories are obvious: (1) A man or a nation, however gifted and personally attractive, if intent only on immediate and physical enjoyment and without a spiritual ideal or ambition, is, like Esau, destined to degenerate and prove a failure. (2) Selfishness and trickery bring only injustice to others and cowardice and suffering to the wrong-doer. He who soweth the wind shall reap the whirlwind. (3) God himself cannot make a man out of an idle drifter; but he who has ambition and persistence is never impossible.