Tag: Esau

Love and Hatred

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“I have loved you,” says the Lord.
But you say, “How have You loved us?”
“Was Esau not Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob; but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and given his inheritance to the jackals of the wilderness.”
Malachi 1:2-3 (NASB)

In Malachi 1, (and later in Romans), there’s this perplexing passage about God “hating” Esau, the brother of Jacob.

We wrestle with this text, because we are forced to ask: “am I Jacob in this passage? Or am I Esau? What does God think of me?”

The answer seems to matter, as the notion of being “hated by God” is heavy. It’s an impossible burden.

But perhaps we have a clue about the deeper meaning in Genesis 29.

Three times before we get to Jacob’s feelings about Leah, the text tells us that Jacob LOVED Rachel. We know he loves her.

Now the Lord saw that Leah was [a]unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was unable to have children.
Genesis 29:31 (NASB)

[a] Lit hated

But when we get to Leah, it doesn’t merely tell us that Leah was “unloved.” In Hebrew, it says she was HATED.

It’s in this place of hatred that God opened Leah’s womb so she could be… fruitful. Blessed. So she could live out her purpose of mothering of the nation of God’s people. She is the mother of Judah, from which Salvation enters the world.

So when the text tells us that Esau is hated… perhaps we are meant to remember Leah.

Though hatred brings us to a place of desolation and barrenness, perhaps God is telling us about redemption. About healing.

Perhaps God will make all things new.

Beauty and Work

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Leah and Rachel are described as different in appearance. Earlier, the text had contrasted Jacob and Esau also on the basis of their respective occupations (25:27, where yoshev ohalim seems to mean “raising livestock”; compare 4:20).
The Torah; A Woman’s Commentary on Genesis 29:17

It is fascinating that the Genesis narrative of “two brothers and two sisters” tells us so much about… us.

While I don’t think *everyone* is inherently sexist and view the value of women in terms of appearance and men in terms of occupation, perhaps as a society, we do.

Prior to the fall, value isn’t assigned to occupation and beauty. There was one job for humanity, and all of creation was good. It was all beautiful.

In Genesis 6, the “sons of God saw that the daughters of man were Tov,” and we get a glimpse of the powerful being drawn to women and seizing them for themselves. This is echoed in Genesis 12, and even louder in Esther.

Somehow, a woman gets defined by her appearance. This appears to be a result of the fall.

But a man’s “value” is also be seen a result of the fall. The cursed ground becomes unfruitful, and the work is in vain. Yet we labor and labor, looking for worth.

My Jewish friends have a saying: “Torah is not our book about God. It is God’s book about us.”

In it, we should see ourselves. What happens when we value beauty over character? Or equate work with worth? When we take advantage of weakness? The text shows us. We must learn.

A Kind of Sickness

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In Genesis 28, when Esau saw that Isaac blessed Jacob and that Isaac was displeased he had taken Canaanite wives, Esau went and took a wife from the family of Ishmael, thinking he might earn his father’s favor back.

His wife’s name is מַחֲלַת (Mahalath), which is linked to music and singing. But the word is actually rooted in “sickness.”

Perhaps this desperate attempt at earning his father’s love is like that; it’s a sickness that cannot be cured by our efforts.

Your God, not My God

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Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your first-born; I have done as you told me. Pray sit up and eat of my game, that you may give me your innermost blessing.”
Genesis 27:19 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

The rabbis debate Jacob’s words in Genesis 27:19. Some say he lied, similar to “she is my sister.” Lies about identity is a theme.

But some say the phase can be read, “I am; Esau is your firstborn,” being technically not a lie, but maybe a “good” kind of deception, if there is such a thing.

Isaac said to his son, “How did you succeed so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because your God יהוהgranted me good fortune.”
Genesis 27:19 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

On the other hand, the phrase, “because YOUR God,” in verse 20 may be the key to the story. Jacob has no relationship with God, yet.

His intention isn’t to honor God, so we shouldn’t try to reconcile righteousness and deception. It is only deception at this point in the story.

Paying for the Birthright

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Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.”
And Esau said, “I am at the point of death, so of what use is my birthright to me?”
Genesis 25:31-32 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

Regarding Esau selling his birthright, there’s a fascinating story in Jewish tradition.

When Esau says “I am at the point of death,” we often think he’s being dramatic about being hungry. But some have suggested that something *happened* to him — perhaps an injury.

One teaching says that this may describe a hunting accident; Esau is bleeding out, linking his nickname and the soup and his blood together – all red.

In which case, Jacob isn’t swindling Esau out of his birthright. He is offering to pay a price for it, even though he would naturally obtain the birthright anyway if Esau died.

Jacob nurses Esau back to health, but maintains the birthright because he rightly paid for it.

A Man of the Curse

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And Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me have a mouthful of that [a]red stuff there, for I am exhausted.” Therefore he was called [b]Edom by name.
Genesis 25:30 (NASB)

[a] Lit the red, this red
[b] I.e. red

The shared root is א-ד-מ (A-D-M), and it carries the meaning of earth, flesh, red, blood.

We’ve learned that the earth is cursed (Gen 3: the Fall), and that all flesh is doomed to die (Gen 7: the Flood)…

So when we encounter a man whose very name links back to earth and flesh and blood, we should know that a picture is being painted of what this man is like. This man represents the curse.

Jacob represents his opposite.

Tricking Isaac

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Now Isaac loved Esau because [a]he had a taste for game; but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Genesis 25:28 (NASB)

[a] Lit game was in his mouth.

Genesis 25:28 convinces me that Esau is a parallel to Cain, but it’s almost impossible to see this in the English.

First, the previous verse states that Esau was a “cunning hunter.” He’s crafty. Tricky. How tricky is he?

The text literally says that Isaac had “game in his mouth.” Perhaps we’re meant to see that Esau figured out that his dad loved venison, so he was constantly giving it to him to win his favor.

For Jacob, no such condition is given. He isn’t doing anything.

But furthermore, in the Hebrew, two different forms of “love” are given to us. It’s not like the Greek where we’re talking about different forms of love; instead, we have different tenses.

Isaac וַיֶּאֱהַב (vaye’ehav), or “loved” Esau. This is a past-tense word.

Rebekah אֹהֶבֶת (ovehet) Jacob. Part of the difference is the feminine pronoun (she), but the other, more critical, difference is that this is not a past-tense word. This is a present-tense word!

The text isn’t saying that Isaac loved Esau and then stopped loving him. It’s showing us that the love we’re talking about was linked to the way that Esau was winning favor.

God doesn’t look at this offering, just like with Cain. But Isaac is just a man, and can be tricked.

Isaac favored Esau because Esau knew exactly how to appease him. Esau was tricking him.

We tend to call Jacob the trickster (birthright, blessing, sheep), but I don’t know that the text supports that position.

Cunning verses Simple

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And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.
Genesis 25:27 (KJV)

The King James does the best job capturing the meaning of Genesis 25:27, giving us the difference between Jacob and Esau:

Esau is tricky. He is crafty and clever, knowing how animals think and behave.

Jacob is plain. Simple. Perhaps… not crafty at all.

Two Nations

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וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהֹוָ֜ה לָ֗הּ שְׁנֵ֤י (גיים) [גוֹיִם֙] בְּבִטְנֵ֔ךְ וּשְׁנֵ֣י לְאֻמִּ֔ים מִמֵּעַ֖יִךְ יִפָּרֵ֑דוּ וּלְאֹם֙ מִלְאֹ֣ם יֶֽאֱמָ֔ץ וְרַ֖ב יַעֲבֹ֥ד צָעִֽיר׃

And יהוה answered her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
Two separate peoples shall issue from your body;
One people shall be mightier than the other,
And the older shall serve the younger.”
Genesis 25:23 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

Genesis 25 mentions two “nations,” but the word is written in a strange way. Notice the Hebrew spelling in the highlighted section of the image.

It’s [גוֹיִם֙] and (גיים). גוֹיִם֙ is the normal spelling.

The rabbis say the normal spelling (גוֹיִם֙) means “nation.” When you spell it with no vav, two yods, and a final mem, it means “noble or powerful individuals.” It’s very different.

In paleo-Hebrew (pictograph form), the “vav” is a nail or hook, and it symbolizes binding together. The “yod” is a hand, denoting action or power. The final version of “mem” means final and established.

Symbolically, if you remove the “vav,” you’ve removed the binding-together element. It’s not people – it’s two distinct elements. Add a second “yod” and we’re talking about greater power and influence. Change the “mem” and we have something concrete and established.

I believe Rebekah is being told about the struggle of good and evil, spirit and flesh, within her. In all of us – all of humanity. This is our existential battle that’s rooted in our hearts; our actions give birth to both.

But the older (flesh) will one day serve the younger (spirit)