Jacob's Birthright

Jacob, together with his older brother Esau, was born to Isaac and Rebecca after 20 years of marriage, at which time his father was 60 (Genesis 25:26), and Abraham was already 160 years old. He and his older brother Esau were markedly different in appearance and behavior. Esau was a ruddy hunter, while Jacob was a gentle man who "dwelled in tents," interpreted by many biblical commentators as a mark of his studiousness and reserved personality.

During Rebecca's pregnancy, "the children struggled together within her" (Genesis 25:22).

Esau was the firstborn. His brother Jacob was born immediately afterwards, and was grasping Esau's heel. His name, Ya'akov (יעקב), derives from the Hebrew root "עקב," "heel." Commentators explain that Jacob was trying to hold Esau back from being the firstborn, and in that way claim the Abrahamic legacy for his own self. According to the text, Jacob was favoured by his mother, while Esau was favoured by his father.

During their youth, the twins were raised in the same environment and exposed to the same teachings of their father Isaac and grandfather Abraham. One day, Esau returned from the field faint from hunger. Seizing an opportunity, Jacob informed Esau that he would sell him some lentil soup which he had just cooked, in exchange for the birthright which belonged to Esau as the older brother. Esau agreed, commenting, "I am going to die — what is this birthright to me?" The fact that Esau would sell his familial rights in exchange for soup indicates the disdain in which he held his fathers' traditions. In the words of the Bible, "Esau despised the birthright." (Genesis 25:29-34) However, there are many interpretations of this statement. Some believe he meant that if he were dead, then his brother would have the birthright anyway; why should he die? If Esau were not to sell his birthright, he may have died from starvation, giving Jacob the birthright either way.

The text further explains that since he referred to the soup as "red, red, stuff," he was given the name "Edom" (Hebrew: אדום, red one). The name Edom is thus seen as an eponym which gave rise to the national name of the Edomites.

The birthright included not only the traditional Biblical birthright, which granted superior rank in the family (Genesis 49:3), a double portion of the paternal inheritance (Deuteronomy 21:17), and the priestly office in the family (Numbers 8:17-19), but the Abrahamic blessing as well, which promised that his descendants would be a source of blessing for all the nations of the earth (Genesis 21:15-18). However, Esau, knowing that God had declared that Abraham's descendants would be enslaved for 400 years before returning to their own land (referring to the Hebrews' enslavement in Egypt) (Genesis 15:13-14), wanted to exclude himself from being part of God's chosen people.

According to the Midrash, the day on which Esau sold his birthright was the very same day that Abraham died; the lentil soup which Jacob had cooked was a food traditionally eaten at times of mourning. This sheds some light on Esau's comment that he "was going to die." The midrash further states that Esau had committed the three cardinal sins – murder, adultery and idolatry, which is why he was tired that day. Setting the scene at the time of Abraham's death would mean that Jacob and Esau were both 15 years old at that time.