Esav comes in from the field worn out, asks for food and sells Yaakov his birthright.
The story
Yitzchak prayed to God for his wife, because she was barren. God answered him, and Rivka conceived. The children struggled inside her, and she said, “If so, why am I?” Then she went to ask God.
When her time came to give birth, it turned out there were twins in her womb. The first came out red, all of him like a cloak of hair, and they called him Esav. After him his brother came out, his hand holding Esav’s heel, and his name was Yaakov. Yitzchak was sixty when she gave birth to them.
וְיָדוֹ אֹחֶזֶת בַּעֲקֵב עֵשָׂו
Bereshit 25:26
The boys grew up. Esav knew how to hunt and was a man of the field, and Yaakov stayed in the tents. Yitzchak loved Esav because of the wild game, and Rivka loved Yaakov. Yaakov cooked a stew, and Esav came in from the field, worn out.
עֵשָׂו אִישׁ יֹדֵעַ צַיִד אִישׁ שָׂדֶה
Bereshit 25:27
Esav said to Yaakov, “Please let me gulp down some of that red stuff, that red stuff, for I am worn out.” That is why Esav got the name Edom. Yaakov said, “Sell me your birthright.” Esav answered, “I am going to die, so what good is a birthright to me?”
Yaakov said, “Swear to me.” Esav swore to him and sold his birthright to Yaakov. Yaakov gave Esav bread and lentil stew. Esav ate and drank, got up and left, and despised the birthright.
Yaakov gave Esav bread and lentil stew; he ate and drank, got up and went, and Esav despised the birthright.
Words from the verse
וַיֵּשְׁתְּand he drank
וַיִּבֶזand he scorned, treated it as worthless
אֶת־הַבְּכֹרָהthe standing and rights of the firstborn
What it teaches: Patience
Mastering anger and impulse, and giving people and things time.
Esav comes back worn out, asks to gulp down the stew and sells the birthright before he has eaten. The Torah tells what happened next in five verbs in a row: he ate, drank, got up, left and despised. Patience is pausing between the urge and the act, and asking what really matters to us.
A question to sit with
What do I give up easily when I am tired or hungry, and regret after a rest?
Questions about the story
What was Yaakov’s hand doing when he was born?
Pushing Esav aside
Resting on Esav’s head
Holding Esav’s heel
Answer
c. Holding Esav’s heel
The Torah tells that Yaakov came out after his brother, with his hand holding Esav’s heel.
What did Esav answer when Yaakov asked him to sell the birthright?
That he was going to die
That his father would not agree
That a birthright was worth more than stew
Answer
a. That he was going to die
Esav answered that he was going to die, and asked what good a birthright was to him.
The lesson
Hunger passes after one meal, but what we sold because of it stays sold.
For this week
Try this week: when a request or an offer comes while you are tired or hungry, answer, “I’ll get back to you once I’ve eaten and rested.”
From the sources
Rashi explains why Esav said he was going to die. Esav asked what the birthright’s service involved, and was told how many warnings, punishments and death penalties depend on it. He answered: “I am going to die through it; if so, what do I want with it?”
The verses are from Miqra according to the Masorah (Wikisource, CC BY-SA 4.0), via Sefaria, without the cantillation marks. On this site the four-letter Name is written ה׳.
