Esau
As firstborn, Esau is the natural heir and Isaac's successor.
Esau is the elder son of Isaac in the Hebrew Bible. The Christian New Testament alludes to him in the Epistle to the Romans and the Hebrews. He is mentioned in the Book of Genesis and Obadiah and Malachi's prophets.
Born: Canaan
Died: Cave of the Patriarchs, Hebron
Children: Eliphaz, Jeush, Jaalam, Reuel
Grandchildren: Omar, Mizzah, Hatam
Parents: Isaac, Rebecca
Siblings: Jacob, Jacob in Islam
What happened to Esau?
According to the Babylonian Talmud, Esau was killed by Hushim, son of Dan, son of Jacob, because Esau obstructed the burial of Jacob in the cave of Machpelah.
What is the story of Esau in the Bible?
In the Old Testament, Esau, also called Edom, (Genesis 25:19–34; 27; 28:6–9; 32:3–21; 33:1–16; 36), son of Isaac and Rebekah, elder twin brother of Jacob, and in Hebrew tradition the ancestor of the Edomites.
Esau was red and hairy at birth, and he became a wandering hunter, while Jacob was a shepherd. Although younger, Jacob dominated him by deception. At one time, when Esau returned from an unsuccessful hunt and was hungry, Jacob bought Esau’s birthright (i.e., the rights due him as the eldest son) for some red pottage (soup). Jacob cheated Esau with Rebekah’s help when Isaac was dying out of his father’s blessing. Esau would have killed Jacob, but Jacob fled; when he returned 20 years later.
The story reflects the relationship between Israel and Edom. It sought to explain why Israel (in the time of the United Monarchy) dominated the kingdom of Edom, although the latter was older.
What became of Esau's descendants?
A few quick words about Esau and his descendants:
First, Esau’s descendants will come to be known as the Edomites, a group of people in continual conflict with God’s chosen race.
The hated King Herod in the New Testament is an Edomite.
He is the one who will try to kill the Messiah (Jesus) while still a baby by decreeing that all Israelite children up to the age of two be murdered.
In modern-day terms, a sizable portion of the people residing in modern-day Turkey are descendants from Esau. Most Syrians and the Kurdish people of Iraq are descended from Esau. It would not be inaccurate to say that a significant part of the Muslim world has the blood of Esau flowing through their veins. Finally, many Palestinians today recognize that they are descendants of Esau.
What is the meaning of the story of Esau and Jacob?
As the eldest son of Isaac, Esau should have inherited the covenant (agreement) with God that Abraham had passed on to Isaac. However, Esau traded his birthright (inheritance) to his younger brother, Jacob, for a “mess of pottage” (a meal of stew) when he was too hungry to consider what he was throwing away. Jacob also cheated Esau out of their blind father's deathbed blessing by impersonating him, deceit prompted by their mother, Rebecca. The feud between the brothers ended many years later in a joyful reconciliation. The night before his reunion with Esau, Jacob wrestled with God and forced God to bless him. God gave Jacob the new name of Israel, meaning “one who has been strong against God.” (See Jacob's ladder.)
Why did God love Jacob and hate Esau?
Malachi 1:2-3 declares, “‘I have loved you,’” says the LORD. However, you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’ ‘Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?’ the LORD says. ‘Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.’” Malachi 1:3 is quoted in Romans 9:10-13, “Not only that, but Rebekah’s children had the same father, our father, Isaac.
Nevertheless, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls—she was told, ‘The older will serve the younger.’ Just as it is written: ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.’” Why did God love Jacob and hate Esau? If God is love (1 John 4:8), how could He hate anyone?
It is critically essential always to study the context of a particular Bible verse or passage when studying the Bible. In these instances, the prophet Malachi and the apostle Paul are using the name “Esau” to refer to the Edomites, who were the descendants of Esau. Isaac and Rebekah had two sons, Esau and Jacob. God chose Jacob (whom He later renamed “Israel”) to be the father of His chosen people, the Israelites. God rejected Esau (who was also called “Edom”) and did not choose him to be the father of His chosen people. Esau and his descendants, the Edomites, were in many ways blessed by God (Genesis 33:9; Genesis chapter 36).
So, considering the context, God-loving Jacob and hating Esau has nothing to do with the human emotions of love and hate. It has everything to do with God choosing one man and his descendants and rejecting another man and his descendants. God chose Abraham out of all the men in the world. The Bible very well could say, “Abraham I loved, and every other man I hated.” God chose Abraham’s son Isaac instead of Abraham’s son Ishmael. The Bible very well could say, “Isaac I loved, and Ishmael I hated.” Romans chapter 9 clarifies that loving Jacob and hating Esau was entirely related to which of them God chose. Hundreds of years after Jacob and Esau had died, the Israelites and Edomites became bitter enemies. The Edomites often aided Israel’s enemies in attacks on Israel. Esau’s descendants brought God’s curse upon themselves. Genesis 27:29 tells Israel, “May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be Lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.”
What do you think about Esau?
We are in *Parashat Vayishlach, and we will finish the story of Esau in this portion.
In this Torah portion, God tells Jacob to return home. Worried that his brother Esau will kill him, Jacob divides his clan into two camps so some will survive in case of a fight. Jacob sleeps alone in the desert and is awakened by an angel who wrestles him through the night. Jacob survives and is blessed by the angel and renamed Israel. Jacob meets his brother, and, surprisingly, they embrace him. Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, is raped by Shekhem, who then proposes to Jacob that he marry her. Shimeon and Levi brutally murder Shekhem and his clan. Rachel has another child, whom she and Jacob name Benjamin.
Parashat Vayishlach: Honoring the Best of Jacob
[This Torah portion intersperses multiple momentous encounters with the divine realm with a series of fraught incidents between humans.]
When I think of Esau, It emphasizes the negativity of Esau. He is a person who drinks a lot, he is a person who beats his wife, and he is contrasted with Jacob, who is studying Torah and is the family guy.
When I go back to our parasha, I see a very different character, a positive person who pursues a career in hunting and makes sure his family has their needs met, who is ending up even more positive in our parasha 20 years later. He is making sure to take care of his brother, hugging him, reflecting his longing for his brother, reflecting how much he cares about him. How come Esau of Bialik and Esau of our parasha is connected? The more common explanation and probably the most accurate one is that in rabbinic tradition, Esau was parallel to Edom, where his people lived, and later to the Roman Empire and later to Christianity. For a very long period, the Roman Empire and Christianity did not play a very positive role in the history of our people. They were strong, oppressing, taking advantage, calling decrees, killing, and that led the sages to create more and more stories that build the character of Esau as a representative of Christianity, as a very negative person.
In a way, it was a psychological need to make us feel more comfortable about ourselves. We are indeed weak and oppressed, but the people who oppress us are flawed. They have bad qualities. They are not the right kind of people.
What do I want us to learn from our parasha? The thing I want us to learn – two things. It is effortless to build a negative character of a person. It is effortless to put negative qualities to a person. It takes more effort to notice and pay attention to the good parts, the best ingredients, and the good qualities a person entails. Moreover, we need to make an effort.
We need to read our parasha very accurately and listen to it slowly to see these kinds of qualities. We need to do this daily when we know these people. We need to go back and make sure that we try to notice the positive components they have in them. Furthermore, we will probably notice the destructive components but not emphasize them. When we do this, we increase the level of good in the world, and we make a world that we are happy to live in, which will probably end us with a Shavua Tov from Schechter.
Avi Novis-Deutsch is presently the Dean of the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary. Ordained as a Masorti rabbi by the SRS in 2003, Rabbi Novis-Deutsch also has an MA in Jewish Studies from JTS. He served as a pulpit rabbi for nine years at two Masorti congregations in Israel, most recently at Haminyan Hamishpachti Masorti Kfar Vadim. Rabbi Novis-Deutsch also worked as a Jewish educator in Berkeley and California Bay Area for two years. He is married to Dr. Nurit Novis-Deutsch. They and their three children live on Kibbutz Hanaton.
14 Facts About Esau Everyone Should Know
1. He Was the Son of Isaac
Isaac, the son of Abraham, was married to Rebecca for many years before being blessed with children. Finally, after 20 years of marriage, they were blessed with twin boys, Jacob and Esau.
2. He Had Three Names
When Esau was born, he was fully formed and had hair covering his body like a full-grown man. This prompted all those present to give him Esau (Esav in Hebrew), which translates as made or formed.
At 15, Esau was given a second name, Edom, Hebrew for red. This name was also associated with the reddish complexion of his skin, which symbolized his propensity for violence. The impetus for this name was his foolhardy decision to sell his birthright to Jacob in turn for a pot of red lentil soup (see below).
Some say that Seir, Esau’s residence (see below), was yet a third name after his hairy appearance (hair is se’ar in Hebrew).
3. He Was the Eldest
Esau was the older twin. Scripture relates that Jacob grasped Esau's heel when leaving their mother’s womb to delay his birth.
The *Midrash relates that Jacob was created from the first drop of semen, while Esau was created from the second. Similar to two spheres in a tube, the one inserted last exits first, Esau exited Rebecca’s womb first, and Jacob exited second. From this perspective, Jacob was essentially the firstborn. This is why he tried to delay his brother’s birth to be born first, just as he was created first.
*Definition of Midrash
1: a haggadic or halachic exposition of the underlying significance of a Bible text
2: a collection of midrashim
3. capitalized: the midrashic literature written during the first Christian millennium
4. He Was a Hunter
While Jacob was an ardent student, Esau was more inclined to spend his days hunting animals and birds in the fields. It is told that Nimrod, a master hunter himself, had a cloak passed down from Adam, which attracted wildlife when worn, facilitating his hunting abilities. Esau strongly desired this cloak, to the extent that he plotted against Nimrod, murdering him and securing the cloak for his personal use.
5. His Father Loved Him
While Rebecca favored Jacob, Isaac preferred Esau, as Esau would prepare him delicious meals. The Midrash adds that Esau tricked his father by leading him to believe that he was pious. He did this by asking Isaac detailed questions involving Jewish law, such as whether it was necessary to separate tithes from salt and straw.
6. He Sold His Birthright
One day, 15-year-old Esau returned home after a long day of hunting. (Our Sages add that it was the day he had murdered Nimrod—see above.) Weary and hungry, he encountered his brother cooking a pot of red lentils. Jacob planned to give the dish to his father, who was mourning his father Abraham, who had passed away that very day.
When Esau asked Jacob for a portion of stew, Jacob stipulated that he would only share it with him if Esau would sell him his birthright. Knowing a special status, Judaism accorded the firstborn; he did not want it bestowed upon a wicked person like Esau. Esau agreed. He sold his birthright and was duly given a lavish bread and lentil soup meal.
7. He Married at 40
At 40, Esau married two Canaanite women: Adah, daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Ahalivamah, daughter of Tzivon the Hivite. His wives made his parents miserable, blatantly sacrificing incense to pagan deities.
He married a third wife—his first cousin, Basmat, and his uncle Ishmael.
8. Jacob “Stole” His Blessings
The friction between the two brothers escalated one spring day when the elderly, blind Isaac instructed Esau to hunt some game and prepare it for him, after which he would bless him. Wanting Jacob to receive the blessings, Rebecca prepared a goat meat dish and instructed Jacob to masquerade as Esau. Jacob did as he was instructed and received his father’s blessings.
When Esau discovered what had happened, he was furious at Jacob and wanted to kill him, forcing his brother to flee the home. Jacob spent 20 years at the home of his uncle Laban in Haran, who also became his father-in-law when Jacob married his daughters Leah and Rachel.
9. He Later Made Peace With Jacob
After many long years, Jacob finally made his way home, only to be told that his brother was marching towards him with a large army. Alarmed, Jacob prepared for war, prayed to God, and sent gifts to appease Esau. When they finally met, Esau fell on his brother’s neck and kissed him, and finally, the brothers were at peace—or at least, so it seemed.
There are various opinions among the Sages as to what truly happened. Some say that he was overcome with compassion—temporarily—and kissed Jacob wholeheartedly, while others say that the kiss was half-hearted. However, others say that his real intent was to bite him at the neck, but God miraculously thwarted his plans by causing Jacob’s neck to become stiff like marble.
10. He Lived on Mount Seir
While Jacob was in Haran, Esau acquired an estate in the land of Seir, then inhabited by the Horites. After his brother’s return, he decided to employ more drastic measures. He returned to Seir and waged battle against the Horites, conquering their land, taking his family with him. From then on, Mt. Seir became the homeland of Esau’s descendants, known as the nation of Edom.
On their way from Egypt, the Israelites wanted to cross Mt. Seir to the Promised Land, but the Edomites stubbornly refused, forcing the Jews to take a circular route.
11. His Head Is Buried Near Jacob
The fates of Esau and Jacob merged even at death. Jacob passed on in Egypt, and his body was taken by his sons to be buried in the Cave of Machpelah in the Land of Canaan. However, to their consternation, there was Esau, laying dubious claims to the last remaining plot in the cave. While the quick-running Naftali was dispatched to retrieve the bill of the deed, Hushim, the hard-of-hearing son of Dan, inquired about the cause of the delay. When he was informed that it had to do with his uncle Esau, he dealt him a mighty blow that brought about his demise.
Midrashic sources further state that Esau’s head (severed from the blow) rolled into the Cave of Machpelah until it reached the bosom of his father Isaac and was buried there.
12. He Is Considered the Progenitor of Rome
Esau’s offspring split into various groups, led by a chieftain. One of these groups was named Magdiel, which is identified as Rome. Indeed, there is a longstanding tradition that the Romans were descendants of Esau, and as such, Jewish literature refers to the Roman Empire as the Kingdom of Edom.
13. Obadiah Compared Him and His Brother to Straw and Fire
Esau was Jacob’s opposite even while still in their mother’s womb. Experiencing a difficult pregnancy, Rebecca consulted Shem, son of Noah, who conveyed to her the word of God:
Two nations are in your womb, and two kingdoms will separate from your stomach. One nation will [alternatingly] be stronger than the next, but [ultimately] the older one will serve the younger one.
The friction between the brothers continued with their descendants for millennia. The prophet Obadiah foretells how this twin-brother drama will conclude:
Saviors will ascend the mountain of Zion to judge the mountain of Esau, and sovereignty will be to God. The house of Jacob will be likened to a fire; the house of Joseph to a flame; and the house of Esau to straw. They will ignite them and consume them.
14. He Had Deep Spiritual Potential
Although the time was not yet ripe, Esau’s lofty spiritual source would come to fruition in later generations. Some famous converts traced their lineage to him, the prophet Obadiah, Onkelos, and Rabbi Meir. (In fact, Esau himself had the status of a Jew, *albeit one who rebelled against God.) Moreover, *Kabbalistic texts teach that Esau and his descendants will be transformed and embrace goodness and holiness in the Era of Moshiach.
* Chassidic - relating to or denoting Hasidism, a mystical Jewish movement founded in Poland in the 18th century in reaction to the rigid academicism of rabbinical Judaism.
*Kabbalistic – Kabbalah - literally "reception, tradition" or "correspondence" is an esoteric (obscure) method, discipline, and school of thought in Jewish mysticism.
