Esau
Esau (עֵשָׂו, Esav) was the oldest son of Isaac and Rebekah and the twin brother of Jacob in the biblical Book of Genesis. Although he stood first in the line of inheritance, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob, who later also cheated him out of receiving Isaac's blessing. As a result, Esau planned to kill Jacob once Isaac died, but Rebekah wisely arranged for her younger son to flee to her relatives in Haran.
Esau became a wealthy man in his own right, and when Jacob returned 21 years later, Esau forgave and welcomed him. The two brothers lived separately but in peace thereafter.
In biblical tradition, Esau is considered to be the father of the Edomites, a Semitic people living south and east of the southern kingdom of Judah. Critical scholarship holds that the story of Esau reflects the relations between Edom and the Israelites in a later historical period.
Biblical Account
According to the Hebrew Bible, Esau was born miraculously to Isaac and Rebekah after twenty years of marriage. Rebekah had been barren, but Isaac's prayers for her were answered when she finally conceived. During Rebekah's pregnancy, "the children struggled together within her" (Gen. 25:22). A prophecy revealed that "two nations" wrestled within Rebekah's womb. "The one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger" (Gen. 25:23).
Esau was born immediately before his twin brother Jacob, whose hand grasped Esau's heel. His name, "Esau," derives from the Hebrew word for "red." The biblical narrative explains that "the first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment." Esau and his twin brother were markedly different not only in appearance, but also in character and behavior. Esau was a "skillful hunter, a man of the open country," but Jacob was a gentle man who preferred to stay close to home. Esau was favored by his father, Isaac, while Jacob was favored by his mother, Rebekah.
A major event in Esau's life occurred one day when he returned home from hunting. Faint from hunger, Esau requested some of the stew that Jacob had been cooking. Jacob agreed to sell his brother this food only in exchange for his birthright as the older brother. Feeling he was on the point of starvation, Esau agreed, saying, "I am going to die—what is this birthright to me?" (Gen. 25:29-34).
After this event, Isaac moved the family to the Philistine town of Gerar because of a famine. The text does not indicate whether Esau or Jacob accompanied them during this period, in which their mother was taken into the harem of the Philistine king Abimelech "for a long time."
By the age of forty, Esau, had taken two Hittite women to be his wives: Judith, daughter of Beeri, and Basemath, daughter of Elon (Gen. 26:34). This, however, displeased his parents, who preferred that Esau choose his mates from among the Hebrews. Esau's wives were thus "a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah" (Gen 26:35).
Robbed of his blessing
When Isaac grew old and had become nearly blind, he decided to give Esau his blessing. Isaac sent Esau out to hunt some game and prepare him a meal, saying: "Now then, get your weapons—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die."
Esau did as his father commanded, returning a few hours later with a dish of venison. "My father," Esau said, "sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing." Isaac however, seemed surprised to hear Esau's voice. "Who are you?" Isaac asked. "I am your son," Esau replied, "your firstborn, Esau." Isaac "trembled violently" and demanded to know who had just been in the tent pretending to be Esau. Answering his own question, he declared: "Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing."
"Bless me too, my father!" Esau begged. "Haven't you reserved any blessing for me?" Isaac answered solemnly: "I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?" Brokenhearted, Esau wept, saying, "Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!"
Isaac answered prophetically, predicting the fate of Esau's descendants, the Edomites, concerning their relations with the Israelites in a much later age:
- Your dwelling will be away from the earth's richness,
- away from the dew of heaven above.
- You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother.
- But when you grow restless
- you will throw his yoke from off your neck. (Gen. 27:39-40)
Jacob's deception left Esau in a position of servitude which Isaac never intended. However, once Isaac had given his blessing to Jacob—even under false pretenses—it could not be rescinded. Esau, no doubt justifying himself on account of Jacob's deception and thievery, planned to kill Jacob as soon as Isaac died. However, Rebekah advised Jacob to flee to her relatives in Haran, winning Isaac's support for the plan on the grounds that Jacob could find a wife from among the Hebrew women there. Isaac agreed and commanded Jacob: "Do not marry a Canaanite woman."
Esau then realized how displeasing his own wives were to Isaac. Still seeking to please his aging father, he went to is uncle Ishmael, Isaac's half-brother, and received permission to marry Ishmael's daughter, Mahalath, in addition to the wives he already had.
Reconciliation
Twenty years pass in the narrative with no report of Esau. In the twenty-first year, however, Esau learned of Jacob's approach with a major caravan of people and livestock. Although Jacob sent messengers ahead with assurances of his peaceful intent, Esau had been fooled by Jacob twice before. Sensing a threat, he took four hundred men with him and rode out to meet his brother.
On his way, however, Esau encountered three more messengers each with a rich gift of livestock, consisting of a total of "200 female goats and 20 male goats, 200 ewes and 20 rams, 30 female camels with their young, 40 cows and 10 bulls, and 20 female donkeys and 10 male donkeys." The next day, as Esau neared Jacob's train, he saw Jacob in the lead, followed by what must have been his wives and children, slaves, and a large herd of various livestock. As Jacob approached, he bowed to the ground seven times before Esau.
Forgetting his anger, "Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept" (Gen. 33:4). Jacob introduced Esau to his wives and children, and they, too, prostrated themselves before Esau.
Esau, who himself had grown rich in Jacob's absence, said Jacob's gifts were not necessary, but Jacob insisted that Esau accept then as a token of peace: "If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably" (Gen. 34:10).
Esau then offered to accompany Jacob as they traveled together; but Jacob declined, pleading that his wives and children would slow the caravan down. When Esau returned to his habitation in Seir, however, Jacob turned away from the path and settled in Succoth. He is reported as later moving to Shechem and Bethel.
The two brothers and their growing clans apparently continued to live peacefully, but separately, from then on. Their only reported reunion occurred at the time of the death and burial of their father Isaac near Hebron (Gen. 35:29).
Legacy
Esau is said to be the forefather of the Edomites, one of Israel's neighbors and occasionally both a vassal and an enemy. Esau intermarried with women of Hittite, Hivite, and Ishmaelite origin and eventually grew into the nation of Edom. A genealogical account of the growth of his clan to become the nation of Edom is given in Genesis 36. Since they were related by blood to the Israelites, the Edomites were exempt from God's command that Joshua "drive out" the Canaanites and slaughter those inhabitants who resisted conquest. However, in accordance with the earlier prophecies concerning Esau, the Israelites viewed the Edomites as destined to be subservient to them, even though the Israelites were latecomers to the land. Edom was at times a vassal state to the southern Kingdom of Judah.
In New Testament times, the Edomites were known as the Idumeans. Although they came to accept Judaism, they were seen by many Jews as racially impure and religiously suspect. Historically, the most famous Idumean Jew was King Herod the Great. His status as a descendant of Esau and the Edomites is one reason for his lack of popularity in Jerusalem and Judea.
Critical View
Biblical scholars often view the story of Esau as a legendary account originating in later Israelite traditions concerning their neighbors, the Edomites. Thus, Esau's character reflects the Israelite attitude that Edom is destined to "serve" Israel even though the Israelites were relative latecomers to Canaan and thus "the younger son." The relationship of Esau's name to the word "red" is probably due to the reddish sandstone prevalent in parts of the territory of Edom, more than to the color of Esau's hair, or the color of the lentils he is said to have eaten for the price of his birthright.
The general narratives concerning Esau belong to both the Elohist and Yahwist sources (see documentary hypothesis). The Priestly source (P)—which adamantly opposed intermarriage between Israelites and Canaanites—is credited with the story that Esau's marriage was so distasteful to his parents that they sent him away rather than allowing him to intermarry with local women (Gen. 28:1-4). The multiple sources of the narrative also account for the discrepancies in the reported names of Esau's native wives. In Genesis 36, they are named "Adah daughter of Elon and Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite," rather than "Basemath daughter of Elon and Judith daughter of Beeri" as in Genesis 26. Basemath, meanwhile, is named as the daughter of Ishmael in Genesis 36, while Mahalath is so named in Genesis 28.
Rabbinical tradition
While at least one traditional Jewish source praises Esau's filial piety (Tan., Kedoshim, 15), the vast majority of rabbinical authorities strongly condemn his character, while justifying Jacob's seemingly unethical behavior toward his older brother.
One report holds that Esau sought to harm Jacob even in their mother's womb (Gen. R. 63). Another tradition describes him as physically indistinguishable from Jacob until they were teenagers (Tan., Toledot), while a third describes him as a misshapen dwarf from birth (Gen. R. 65). It is said his "hairy" appearance marked him a sinner, and his "red" color indicated his bloodthirsty character (Gen. R. 63).
The reason Jacob demanded such a high price for the pot of lentils he sold to Esau, was that this was a dish he had prepared for Isaac, who was mourning the death of Abraham while Esau was out hunting (Pirke R. El. 33). To make matters worse, Esau had not only been out hunting on such a solemn occasion, but had committed murder that very day. Esau also adopted a blasphemous attitude in accepting the bargain and proved himself to be no filial son (Gen. R. 63). Moreover, whenever Esau had previously succeeded in his hunting, he had always refused to share his own meals with Jacob (Pirke R. El. 50).
Esau won the affection of Isaac not by his own merit but through lying and insincere flattery (Targ. Pseudo-Jon.). Isaac's blindness was caused either by his grief because of the idolatry of Esau's wives (Tan., Toledot) or from trying not to see Esau's own evil deeds (Gen. R. 65). In fact, Esau spent much of his time visiting idolatrous shrines (Gen. R. 63).
Esau not only planned to kill Jacob, but actually attempted to murder him. It was this act that caused Rebekah to send Jacob to her brother Laban. Esau then conspired with his son Eliphaz to ambush Jacob on the road to Haran, but Eliphaz failed to fulfill this mission after Jacob bribed him (Sefer ha-Yashar 50).
Increasing in wealth, Esau relocated from Canaan to Seir after he and his children feuded with the inhabitants of Canaan (Sefer ha-Yashar 50). When Jacob returned to Canaan, Esau was dissuaded from his warlike purpose by four mighty angels, each of whom appeared to Esau like an army of two thousand soldiers. Only because he thought himself outnumbered, Esau resolved to meet Jacob instead of making war on him. Finally, it was Jacob who received Esau with brotherly affection, rather than the other way around (Sefer ha-Yashar 50). Some rabbis hold that Esau really repented at this meeting; while others maintain that even in this scene he played the hypocrite (Gen. R. 78; Ab. R. N. 34; Ex. R. 5).
The reason Jacob separated from Esau after their meeting is that Jacob knew that Esau lay in wait to ambush him. Nevertheless, Jacob and Esau did meet amicably and compete in showing filial piety at the death of Isaac. Esau's death was brought about in an argument with Jacob's sons over their right to bury their father in the cave of Machpelah (Sotah 13a). To summarize the account given in the Sefer ha-Yashar: Esau resorted to war, and was slain by Dan's son, Hushim.[1]
Footnotes
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Buhl, Frants, Emil G. Hirsch and Solomon Schechter. Esau, Jewish Encyclopedia. Retrieved August 8, 2007.
- Cross, Frank Moore. Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic. Cambridge, M.A.: Harvard University Press, 1973. ISBN 978-0674091764
- Dicou, Bert. Edom, Israel's Brother and Antagonist: The Role of Edom in Biblical Prophecy and Story, Sheffield Academic Press, 1994. ISBN 978-1850754589
- Grant, Michael. The History of Ancient Israel. Scribner, 1984. ISBN 0684180812
- Heap, Norman, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: Servants and Prophets of God. Family History Pub., 1999. ISBN 978-0945905028
- Keller, Werner. The Bible as History. Bantam, 1983. ISBN 0553279432
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