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.
When Jacob had cooked a stew one day, Esau came in from the field and he was exhausted.
Genesis 25:29 (NASB)
According to Baba Batra 16 Esau committed five different sins on that very day.
1) He slept with a girl who was betrothed to another man.
2) He killed a human being.
3) He scoffed at the idea of resurrection.
4) He denied the existence of G’d, and reward and punishment.
5) He despised the birthright.The Talmud finds allusions in Scripture to support all these allegations: The Torah describes Esau here as ויבא עשו מן השדה, and in connection with the prohibition of sleeping with a girl who is betrothed to another, the Torah worded this in Deut. 22,27 כי בשדה מצאה “for he found her in the field.” The choice of the words: “in the field” is not arbitrary but an allusion to what happened here.
The allusion to Esau committing murder is based on the words here כי עיף אנכי, “for I am exhausted,” and the verse in Jeremiah 4,31 כי עיפה נפשי להורגים, “for my soul is exhausted from killing.”
The allusion to Esau denying resurrection of the dead is based on Esau saying here הנה אנכי הולך למות, “here I am going towards death,” and Job 7,9 כלה ענן וילך כן יורד שאול לא יעלה, “as a cloud fades away, so whoever goes down to Sheol does not come up.”
As to Esau denying the existence of G’d and the system of reward and punishment, the sages point at the expression in our paragraph where Esau said למה זה לי, “what good is all this for me,” and the words זה אלי ואנוהו, “this is my G’d and I will glorify him;” this was the affirmation of G’d sung by the Jewish people after they had emerged from the sea and the Egyptians had been drowned in it (Exodus 15,2).
The fact that Esau despised the birthright needs no allusion as it is spelled out right here.Rabbeinu Bayha on Genesis 25:29
Everything that happened in your past doesn’t exist as fact anymore. It only exists as story. As a parable.
Friend, you are the narrator of the story of your life. You’re doing the retelling.
You can tell the story about someone who suffered, or about someone who learned and grew and was healed.
This is the line of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s slave, bore to Abraham.
Genesis 25:12 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)This is the story of Isaac, son of Abraham. Abraham begot Isaac.
Genesis 25:19 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)
Genesis 25:12 reinforced Ishmael’s mother’s identity. It is Hagar.
But Genesis 25:19 repeats Abraham’s role, rather than identity Sarah.
Why?
According to a teaching in the Midrash, it’s because nobody disputed Ishmael’s parents: it was Abraham and Hagar. But there were questions about whether or not Isaac was really the son of… Abimelech.
We, the readers, know the answer, but the people in the story needed to be convinced.
The sages say that a clue is in the word הוֹלִיד (holid) which we translate “sired” or “begot.” The numerical value is identical to דּוֹמֶה (domeh), which means “look alike.”
So the teaching is that when people saw Isaac, they all noted that he looked exactly like Abraham. There was no question: Abraham begot Isaac.
וַיִּמְלְא֥וּ יָמֶ֖יהָ לָלֶ֑דֶת וְהִנֵּ֥ה תוֹמִ֖ם בְּבִטְנָֽהּ׃
When her time to give birth was at hand, there were twins in her womb.
Genesis 25:24 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)
There’s a spelling “corruption” in Genesis 25 in the word “twin.”
The normal way to spell it is תְּאוֹמִים, te’omin. But in Genesis 25:24, it’s spelled תוֹמִ֖ם, tomin.
The rabbis say this “corruption” teaches us that only one twin will be righteous.
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)
But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why am I in this condition?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.
Genesis 25:22 (NASB)
Genesis 25:22 says that Rebekah “went to inquire of the Lord.”
The text says “she went.” Where did she go, exactly?!
If God is everywhere, why didn’t it just say “she prayed to the Lord,” like it did for Isaac in the previous verse?
This phrase “went to inquire of the Lord” is most commonly associated with going to see a prophet or a priest, so the rabbis wondered who Rebekah went to see.
Some suggested that Shem, son of Noah, was still around, providing guidance and wisdom for those who seek the Lord.
But the children struggled in her womb, and she said, “If so, why do I exist?” She went to inquire of יהוה,
Genesis 25:23 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS, 2006)
The Hebrew word used to express Rebekah’s distress in Genesis 25:22 is of uncertain meaning. It’s אָנֹכִי (anokhi), and it carries a sense of “why me?” and “it shouldn’t be this way,” but it also carries a meaning of existential crisis: “Why do I exist?”
At this point in the story, she doesn’t know that she’s having twins. She’ll learn about this in the next verse, where she’s told about the two nations that will emerge from her: one that God will love, and one that God will hate.
There are layers to the meaning.
If you believe God loves Jacob and hates Esau, the individuals, you’ll describe a God whose dedication to you is arbitrary: Maybe God will love you, and maybe not.
If Jacob and Esau are viewed as nations, the text describes a God who sees race and bloodlines. This is also abitrary and… racist? Does God love some nations and hate others, regardless of their actions?
But there’s another view.
Jacob/Esau are an echo:
Consider –
Abel/Cain
Isaac/Ishmael
(Perhaps Abraham/Nahor, the idolator?)
These are stories about brothers, one of which walks by the Spirit and trusts God, vs the other who walks by the Flesh and trusts works. But we’ve already learned that the flesh is cursed to die. Works will not work.
This is not merely a story about the people. These are parables.
This parable is about Rebekah’s internal and existential crisis: Why do I exist? Why me? Why is this happening?
This is the struggle in all of us: to walk by the Spirit or to walk by the Flesh. How will it end? Which “child” inside of us wins?
“The older will serve the younger.”
This is our hope.
Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was unable to have children; and the Lord answered him, and his wife Rebekah conceived.
Genesis 25:21 (NASB)
The rabbis note that the first part of Genesis 25:21 is written backwards. Normally, it would note the ailment (the barrenness), and then follow it with prayer.
But here, Isaac prays for Rebekah, and then the text lists the ailment. The teaching: prayer is primary. Always pray.
Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was unable to have children; and the Lord answered him, and his wife Rebekah conceived.
Genesis 25:21 (NASB)
A notable contrast between Isaac and Abraham, as it relates to their barren wives, is that Isaac prays for Rebekah. We never saw Abraham pray for Sarah.
But even more, “on behalf of his wife” is literally “in front of his wife.”
Isaac prayed for Rebekah. Who knows? The text may be telling us that he prayed with her.