Yacob, the artful shepherd and Esau the loutish hunter
The Trick To Obtain The Inheritance
The Hebrew shepherds never grew tired of listening to tales of the tricks that Yacob, the artful shepherd, played on the loutish Esau, the hunter. One day Yacob had just made for himself a sort of lentil soup which smelt very appetizing. Esau came on the scene, just back from a hunting expedition, hungry and exhausted. He went into his brother's tent and said: 'Let me eat the red soup, that red soup there; I am exhausted' -hence the name given to him, Edom.3
Yacob, who was shrewd and cunning, had an easy task in dealing with the uncouth Esau. He willingly agreed to give his brother the soup which he had just made, but on condition that Esau made over to Yacob his birthright (as the elder). Without hesitation Esau promised on oath what his younger brother had asked. “And after eating and drinking he got up and went. That was all Esau cared for his birthright.” 4 is the comment in Bereshith (a Yahwistic passage this one) which endeavours to show the right on Yacob's side since he was the ancestor of the twelve tribes of Yisrael. In this first public appearance Yacob gives us the impression of being certainly very intelligent but rather wily.
3 Another pun As we know already, Esau was red-haired. In addition we find him now eating the red soup. From this he was given the nickname of Edam (the red). All this betrays a biased view with all the elements of caricature. At the time when these passages were written (five or six centuries before MessiYah) the Edomites were the avowed enemies of the Yisraelites.
4 The laws of primogeniture, or the birthright among the Sumerians as among the Akkadians, whose legislation was followed by the Scriptural patriarchs. were of Mesopotamian origin, and have nothing in common with western practice in this connection. It was much less exclusive. In the East, when the paternal inheritance was shared out the law laid down that the eldest should receive a share that was double that given to the younger brothers. In certain cases it was allowed that on his own authority (and it was considerable) the father of the family could transfer this right, called the birthright, to a younger son of his choice.
This could be Esau.
Esau's Unfortunate Marriages
We know how important the Aramean shepherds considered the question of racial purity. The nomads of these tribes took care to choose their wives from a clan related to them. And we saw all the precautions taken by Abraham when the question arose of marrying his son Yitschaq; from Hebron, the pastoral centre in the south of Palestine, he sent Eliezer, his trusted servant, to Haran in the great northern elbow of the Euphrates. Haran was in fact the assembly point for the Aramean tribes scattered over the pasturelands of Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean countries which one day were to form Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Yardania.
When the Scriptural patriarchs became the guardians of the Revelation still less could there be any question of making an ill-chosen match with the Canaanites or Egyptian women, or even with women belonging to primitive non-Semitic peoples. Esau, indeed, seems to have had no understanding of the problem at all; he began in fact by marrying two Hittites. 5 We may well imagine the pain caused to Yitschaq and Rebekah by the matrimonial policy adopted by their elder son, hitherto regarded as the future chieftain of the Hebrew clan, who was to be responsible for the lofty spiritual mission entrusted by YAHWEH to Abraham and his descendants.
5 At this period (about 1800 B.C.) there were no Hittites in the land of Canaan. Hurrite women, a non-Semitic people, must be meant here.
Yacob Called Yisrael Index Yacob Sitemap Scripture History Through the Ages Yacob Called Yisrael Yacob and Esau Theft Of The Paternal Blessing Flight, The Only Solution For Yacob Yacob's Dream At Bethel Yacob Puts Up A Stele Named BethEl The Location Of Bethel Importance Of The Well, A Meeting Place Details Of The Mohar The Sons Of Yacob How Yacob Became Rich Yacob Leaves The Land Of The Fathers Treaty Between Yacob And Laban Messages Between Yacob And Esau Yacob Wrestles With YAHWEH Two Brothers, Yacob and Esau Meet Towards The Promised Land The Departure From Shechem The Conclusion Of Yacob