Jacob Part 3: Jacob Tricks Esau
Notes
Transcript
Jacob Tricks Esau
Jacob Tricks Esau
27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents.
28 Now Isaac loved Esau, because he had a taste for game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
29 When Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished;
30 and Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was called Edom.
31 But Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.”
32 Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?”
33 And Jacob said, “First swear to me”; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.
34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
"And the boys grew up." Well, we just took care of a whole bunch right there, all right. "The boys grew up, and Esau was a man having knowledge of hunted game."
The word "hunting" and "the thing that you hunt" is the same word in Hebrew, "tsayid." So it can refer to the activity and then like the animal that you have afterwards.
So Esau knew how to kill animals. He was an animal slayer. Hmm, a man of the field. "Yaaqov was a man of wholeness(Peace)." We'll explore that, "a dweller of tents.
And Yitskhaq loved Esau. Why? because that hunted game goes in his mouth.
But Rivqah loved Yaaqov."
This contrast between being an animal slayer and being a whole man, being a man of the field, versus a man of the tents. So that's a contrast between the siblings. But then you find there's a contrast between the parents in relation to the contrasting siblings. Yitskhaq really, really loved his firstborn son.
But was it really about his firstborn son?
Eh, what he really loved is Esau brings me game.
He brings me meat, meat in my mouth. I mean, what a weird way to say it, because hunted game went in his mouth.
Whereas, Rivqah loved Yaaqov.
Have I heard about a father who has a tender spot for his firstborn son, even though that firstborn son is not the chosen one? Remember Avraham when God said that no, it's not from Hagar, it's from Sarai, Queen, that the chosen line will come.
And Abraham says, well, what about Yishmael? You know, he could live before you and the promise could go on through him? And what Yahweh says is, no, I'll bless him too. But he's not the chosen line.
So interestingly, Yitskhaq is replaying this, this love, even favoritism. It's kind of going next level though 'cause Avraham gave up pretty quick after God said that to him. But this sibling rivalry and now parent rivalry channeled through the siblings, this is all going to get really complicated real quick.
So a hunter and a whole man, the beloved firstborn, and then the beloved second-born.
remember in the previous story, which parent heard that poem oracle from Yahweh? Do you remember that?
It was Rivqah, Rebekah. So she's the one who went to pray 'cause she's like, why? Why are these kids blowing up in my stomach? And so she prays and then she gets that little poem, right, about the two nations in your womb, one greater than the other, and so on. So what's interesting is that we know that Rivqah knows that. And so she loves the younger.
Why does she love the younger? The narrative just doesn't say.
Does she just got a thing for Yaaqov? Is it 'cause she knows the future based on what God said to her? There's all these unspoken things in the story. Yitskhaq loves Esau, but doesn't he know that Esau won't be the line of promise?
Maybe Rivqah never told him. I just, we have no idea.
The narrative leaves all that to your imagination and just wants you to know that these two parents have different visions of the future of the family. And Yitskhaq's is all about meat in the mouth, about the meals that his son can make.
"So Yaaqov one day happened to stew a stew." The word "stew" nazid and the verb yazed is similar wordplay to the letters at work in hunter. So he yazeds a nazid, whereas Esau likes to make that tsayid. So it's the contrasting brothers 'cause here's Jacob making a meal too. We're gonna find out it's a veggie meal, a vegetarian meal of lentil, just lentil beans. But they are spelled with similar sounding letters.
"So Jacob stews a stew, and Esau came in, you know, from the field, out hunting. And he was faint. He was about to fall over." It's hard dragging dead animals around and dressing them and so on. "And Esau said to Jacob, 'Please let me swallow that red red for I am faint.'
Let me just pause the story. So that's why one of Esau's other names is Red." Which is the word 'edom, red.
So he says, literally make me swallow 'edom, 'edom. That's his request. And then the narrator pops in and says, yeah, that's why for the rest of the Hebrew Bible, when you hear about this guy and his children, he's almost always gonna be called Edom.
"And he," that is Yaaqov, "said, 'Hmm, how about today? Right now, in fact, sell me your bekorah, your firstborn right.' And Esau said, "'What is this to me, this firstborn right, bekorah?' And Yaaqov said, 'All right, I got him right where I want him. Let's make this official.'" He pulls out like the document, just sign right here.
I just happen to have this covenant oath agreement in my pocket. "'Swear an oath to me right here, right now.' So he swore an oath to him and he sold his bekorah to Yaaqov and Yaaqov gave Esau bread and stew, no meat in that stew.
It's lentil beans. And he ate and he drank and he rose and he left. And Esau despised his bekorah."
Notice how it goes. You have a first, a little opener with just some background information. The rival siblings, the rival parents. Then you have this stew scene. You have the brother making stew. Esau comes in and he's just all about his gut. He's kind of like his dad. Yeah? Yitskhaq loved Esau 'cause hunted game in his mouth. And it's clear that Esau is all about food in his mouth too. So what he's willing to do is give up his bekorah, firstborn right, for a meal.
And Yaaqov, ever the wheeler and dealer, is just ready to take advantage of this bumbling oaf of a human, right? He's like a mouth with a small brain attached. That's Esau in this picture. He's hairy; he's a hunter. He's like an animal, yeah?
And imitating his father, he's willing to give up what is most valuable for a meal.
So that's the portrait of the story.
Esau the Animal Slayer
Esau the Animal Slayer
remember this is the second hunter, second animal slayer that we've met in the story so far. Do you remember the first?
Nimrod.
Nimrod from the line of Ham.
Esau is introduced as a hunter (עדי דיצ) , a unique description that recalls an earlier generation of the nonchosen son: Ham, whose grandson was Nimrod, the founder of Babylon and Assyria
Let's compare Esau with Ham and Nimrod.
Ham and Esau are both the non-chosen sons.
Esau and Nimrod are both animal slayers, a sign of being outside of Eden and at odds with the animals (see Gen. 9:1-5).
Esau and Nimrod are both the founding figures of nations that will later become hostile to the family of Abraham: Babylon, Assyria, and Edom.
Nimrod was a “violent warrior” (Heb. gibbor / רובג), a term used elsewhere of the Nephilim, the violent mutant offspring from the sons of elohim debacle in Gen. 6:1-4. While Esau himself is never called a gibbor, he definitely acts like one! This sets up an analogy:
Nephilim/gibborim of the generation of the flood
Nimrod/gibbor of the generation of Babylon
Esau/gibbor-like of the generation of Yaaqov
Both the Nephilim and Nimrod are carried away in a flood of God’s judgment in the forms of cosmic-flood ( Gen. 6-8) and the scattering of an empire ( Gen. 11). This leads us to assume that Esau will also be associated with some coming form of divine judgment.
It's all connected. So it's just a good example of by just putting hunter there, you already are supposed to align him with the other hunter, Nimrod, who is also from the non-chosen line. Whereas, the line of Jacob is connected to the line of Shem, which is the chosen brother of Ham.
let's say Isaac does know about the oracle given to Rivqah, then what his favor is doing, it's against the will of and purpose of God for his sons. In that case, he's willing to exchange the blessing that's supposed to be given to Jacob. He's willing to exchange the blessing for a meal. Or TO Eat
And if he doesn't know, then he's more just kind of like a human. He's just like a normal human.
Yaaqov the “Whole Man”
Yaaqov the “Whole Man”
27 When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents.
"Yaaqov was a man of wholeness."
What does that mean?
What you'll see in our English translations ESV Quiet Man
27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents.
New International Version was "Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents."
27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents.
New American Standard, "Jacob was a peaceful man."
This is a great example of why it's good to read in multiple translations over time 'cause when you notice this kind of variety, it's usually a signal of like beep, beep, beep. Like something really interesting going on here. And nobody quite knows what to do here.
So you get a variety of translations, which usually means there's a, somebody's put a little, the author's put a little rabbit hole right here that's gonna take you into deeper understanding if you're willing to go down it.
The Word hereis the word "tam," transliterated T-A-M.
It's the standard word to talk about something that is whole or complete.
So it's one of these standard words to talk about somebody's moral completeness or their moral wholeness.
1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless(שיאה םת), upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.
So here's just some examples. In the opening line of the book of Job, Job is called an 'ish tam. Same phrase, 'ish tam, a whole man. But then that's going, that's explained a little more. He's upright, he feared God, he turned away from evil.
That's interesting. Jacob is being called an 'ish tam in a story where he's like tricking his brother?
That doesn't make any sense at all.
37 Consider the blameless, observe the upright; a future awaits those who seek peace.
Psalm 37, this is just taken at random. "Consider the tam, observe the upright. A good future awaits those who seek peace." So here the person of tam is upright and has good in store for them because they're peacemakers. That does not sound like Yaaqov.
10 Bloodthirsty men hate an honest person, but the upright care about him.
Proverbs 29, "The blood thirsty hate the tam. They seek to kill the upright."
It's a puzzle put here on purpose.
I didn't have a category for this when I started reading the Bible. That biblical authors will sometimes introduce intentional puzzles and riddles into the story to force you to begin thinking about the melody, to think about the deeper layers of significance at work in a story. It's like a way that they create multiple layers of significance in a story that you've gotta do a Psalm 1 meditation.
It's a word used to describe morally upright people in a story about him not being morally upright.
Well, there's one other person in Genesis who was called a man who was tam, and that guy's name was Noah.
9 These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless (morally-whole (םימת) ) in his time; Noah walked with God.
What do we know about Noah?
Well, he was righteous. He was a man of tam in his generation. And so he became God's chosen one, and God chose him to be rescued out of the many when the many perished in the de-creation. And then he became the vehicle of blessing in God's covenant blessing to the many on the other side.
And what do I know about Yaaqov so far? Well, I know that he's the chosen one. So he fills the narrative slot that Noah filled. He's gonna go into exile and become many, and out of that many, will come the line of the snake crusher.
So in that sense, that makes sense why he would be called the man of tam because he's playing the Noah role.
But does he share Noah's character?
27 When the boys grew up, Esau became an expert hunter, an outdoorsman, but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home.
So here's two other things that are interesting in the story. Remember in these are literally the lines that we just read. Esau is called a man knowing hunted game, a man of the field. Whereas Yaaqov is a man of wholeness, a dweller of the tents. In the matching story here.
Remember this whole first part of the Jacob story is itself made up of three parts. I'll just real quick sketch here. We're in this first section here, and it's a deception story. And Yaaqov is described as an 'ish tam, a man of wholeness. On the other side here in the matching part, we have another deception story where Jacob is gonna deceive his brother and his father with food, right? So it's matching. And in that story, here's how Jacob describes himself.
11 Jacob answered Rebekah his mother, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am a man with smooth skin.
When his mom says, "Hey, you know, go to your father and I'll make you a meal and we'll get you the berakah, the blessing." And what Jacob says is, "Listen mom, this is not gonna work. My brother is a man of hair, and I am a smooth man." He says "'ish khalaq." 'Ish khalaq. Now what's interesting is about if you're a smooth man, it's like being a whole man. So maybe, so tam can mean morally whole. It can also mean physically whole. So animals that are brought to the sanctuary are supposed to be animals that are tam, or tamim, meaning they have no blemishes, they have no cracks in their skin, they don't have any spots. They're whole. When Solomon builds the temple, he builds the temple out of tam stone.
So stones that don't have any cracks. So it can all, tam is a very odd, unusual way in Hebrew to talk about somebody who's smooth.
Are you with me?
And, but lo and behold, that's how Jacob describes himself. I'm a smooth man.
No, this is what's really funny is that the word "smooth" is one of the most regular metaphors to talk about smooth talkers in the Hebrew Bible.
2 Everyone lies to their neighbor; they flatter with their lips but harbor deception in their hearts.
So here's just three examples. Psalm 12, "Everybody lies to their neighbor. They all have smooth lips with deception in the heart."
3 Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her words are smoother than oil,
Proverbs 5, "The lips of the adulterous woman drip honey. Her speech is more smooth than oil."
28 A lying tongue hates those it crushes, And a flattering mouth works ruin.
Proverbs 26, "A lying tongue hates those who it hurts. A mouth of smoothness works ruin."
So it seems to me that describing Jacob as a whole man and a smooth man is, it's like a double meaning. It's like a pun. I'm a whole man. Jacob was a whole man. Yeah, he was, from his own mouth. He was a smooth man. So you have the whole man versus the hunting man. You have the smooth man versus the hairy man.
So it's a way of marking Yaaqov, as the Noah ... but he's like an anti-Noah. He's like an antichrist.
He's the opposite of God's anointed representatives in the world. But yet, he is the chosen representative in his generation. And that is what makes this story such a puzzle.
it's a good example of the biblical authors intentionally wording things in an awkward way.
It's an invitation to think about matching parts of the story. Think about, you know, I mean, if you were like raised in this textual world, you would have the concordance in your mind, you know, and you could just do it.
Stealing the Firstborn-Right
Stealing the Firstborn-Right
So can I think of another story where you had a human who was willing to give up their firstborn right for a meal, for food?
What's this guy's name? What's the guy's name who gives up his firstborn right for food? He has two names in the story, Esau and Edom.
What's the first human character's name in the story of the Bible? 'Adam. It's the same letters as Edom. So here's an 'adam who's willing to give up his firstborn right for a meal because of a deceiver.
In the Eden story and the seven-day creation story, what humans are called is the image, the image of the invisible God, and then the royal priestly representatives when God puts the humans there to work and to keep the garden, which is the language of what priests do. And so here in this story, we're echoing back to the firstborn. So then in the slot of the image and the royal priest is a firstborn.
So the Chosen on is acting Like a snake. Yaaqov, he's operating as if the thing that God said to his mom never happened. And it's the question of did Rivqah ever tell her husband? Did she ever tell her sons? Is this something you would tell your son? You know, it's just interesting, these two stories next to each other.
Here's Yaaqov trying to deceive his way into the thing that God has already destined him to have. It's as if he's operating as if God wasn't gonna give it to him. And maybe it's 'cause he doesn't know, or maybe it's 'cause he does know, but he doesn't trust.
Isaac Deceives Abimelech
Isaac Deceives Abimelech
Bibliography
Bibliography
https://bibleproject.com/classroom/jacob
Freedman, David Noel, Gary A. Herion, David F. Graf, John David Pleins, and Astrid B. Beck, eds. in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
Freedman, David Noel, Allen C. Myers, and Astrid B. Beck. in Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 2000.
Mathews, K. A. Genesis 11:27–50:26. Vol. 1B of The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2005.
Brannan, Rick, and Israel Loken. The Lexham Textual Notes on the Bible. Lexham Bible Reference Series. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014.
Barry, John D., Douglas Mangum, Derek R. Brown, Michael S. Heiser, Miles Custis, Elliot Ritzema, Matthew M. Whitehead, Michael R. Grigoni, and David Bomar. Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016.
Cotter, David W. Genesis. Edited by Jerome T. Walsh, Chris Franke, and David W. Cotter. Berit Olam Studies in Hebrew Narrative and Poetry. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2003.
