Genesis 25:27-34
Gen. 25:27-34
- Locate the passage
The two boys born to Isaac and Rebekah grew into men and the twins, who already don’t look alike reveal themselves to be even less identical in their personality and choice of profession. These distinctions also endear the each to a different one of their parents.
- Genre
The passage is narrative. It records the conversation between Esau and Jacob over the selling of the birthright.
- Determine the structure of the passage
25:27-28 – The twins are very different and the parents show favorites
25:29-34 – Esau sells Jacob his birthright for a bowl of stew
- Exegete the passage
This passages raises a lot of interesting questions. Is Isaac vindictive or simply opportunistic? Is Esau overly dramatic, desperately hungry, or does he simply show too little value towards his birthright? Since, it is “his” birthright, does he not have the right to do with it as he pleases? Or, does his attitude towards the easy sale of his birthright show a disrespect? The writer of Hebrews in 12:16, suggests that Esau was immoral and godless and implies that the “giving up” (Gr. “apodidomi”) his birthright for a “single meal” revealed too little respect for the Lord and his heritage.
25:27 – The Bible clearly depicts Jacob and Esau as different. Esau was hairy and Jacob was smooth. Esau liked to hunt and Jacob was a mild man. Esau was a “man of the field” and Jacob liked “dwelling in tents.”
25:28 – Parental favoritism is unacceptable and wrong. It’s natural to be more like some children than others, but this favoritism seemed to be well-known to all; and both parents participated in it. The text seems to indicate that Isaac loved Esau for what he got out of it “because he ate of his game.”
25:29 – Both Jacob and Esau are presented as cooking food in this passage. Esau prepared meat for his father and Jacob cooked stew. In this verse, Esau came back to the tent after a long day in the field and was weary and hungry. It’s easy to root for the wrong guy in this exchange. Jacob is not completely innocent, but Heb. 12:16 suggests that Esau sinned by showing so little regard for his birthright.
25:30 – “Feed me.”
- The Hb. (“la’at”) only occurs there. It carries the idea of devouring greedily.
- Perhaps the text is not suggesting that Esau was starving, but simply selfishly wanted to satisfy his craving immediately.
25:30 – Lit. “Please let me eat from this red stuff.”
- The Hb. “adom” is the origin of the nickname, “Edom” that Esau developed as a result of this episode.
- Jacob gaining over Edom’s (Esau’s) pain foreshadows the opposite happening when the Lord held Edom responsible for rejoicing over Israel’s judgment (Obad. 1:10-12).
- The aspect of “buying favors with food” will come back to haunt Jacob (Gen. 30:14-16).
25:31-32 – Jacob’s condition for giving his brother some stew was the sale of the birthright. It seems highly unlikely that Esau was really “about to die” as he said. So, the sale seems foolish and short-sighted on his part. So, while the exchange clearly favored Jacob over Esau, the fact that the birthright meant so little to Esau suggests how little he valued his heritage.
25:34 – As happens to often, very soon after the exchange, Esau regretted his decision. But rather than repenting over his foolish decision, he responded by “despising” (Hb. “bazah”) his birthright. See Heb. 12:17.
- The staccato verbs emphasize Esau’s response: “and he ate … and he drank … and he arose … and he went … and he despised.”
- Let the structure of the text drive the sermon
- Corrupting one’s family
- Sins of the parents passed down to the children
- Jacob was unbrotherly and manipulative
- Esau was careless of his heritage and controlled by personal appetites
- The favoritism of the parents accentuated the differences between the children. It’s impossible to know, but possible that the way Isaac and Rebekah treated their children contributed directly to the way that they treated each other. It’s also not difficult to see the far-reaching consequences of the rift that develops between these two boys (nations).
- We learn from Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 12, chapter 8) that Herod was an Edomite.
- Sins of the parents passed down to the children
- Devaluing one’s heritage
- Being the firstborn of a family carried responsibilities as well as privileges. Esau’s action demonstrated how little he valued his family heritage.
- Celebrating our earthly and spiritual heritage; who God made us to be
- Exchanging God’s blessings
- It was God who ordained Esau as the first born, so selling his birthright was an insult to the plan of God. He sold God’s blessing too cheaply. So, in this passage, he sells God’s blessing, even as he later sells his father’s blessing.
- Believers should learn from Esau to rejoice in God’s blessings and avoid “selling our spiritual birthrights” for the little that the world has to offer in return.