(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)
“Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die. What good is the birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” He swore to him. He sold his birthright to Jacob. Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew. He ate and drank, rose up, and went his way. So Esau despised his birthright.”
(Genesis 25:32-34)
Esau didn’t care about future responsibility. Esau didn’t care about his role as the spiritual head of the household. Esau didn’t care about any of that. Esau cared about the here and now. Esau cared about the lack he was experiencing in the moment. Esau refused to be forward thinking.
Jacob held out until he got what he wanted. A person’s word would hold them as binding as a signed legal contract. There would be no way to back out later if they changed their mind. Once Jacob got the promise, he gave Esau what he wanted.
Esau later blamed Jacob for this encounter. Blamed Jacob that he was unwilling to go get food somewhere else – he didn’t HAVE to have what Jacob was serving. Blamed Jacob that he refused to look past his hunger and not blow it out of proportion – he wasn’t REALLY on the point of death. Blamed Jacob that he didn’t care about his responsibilities and role – he was willing to trade ANYTHING to get what he saw and desired. Blamed Jacob that he was set on fulfilling whatever came to his mind – he had no discipline and refused to use self-control. Jacob didn’t force Esau to eat. Jacob didn’t have the only food in the whole camp. Jacob didn’t make Esau chose what he chose. Jacob took advantage of Esau’s nature and took from him, but it was Esau’s choice to let him do it.
The sage Sforno writes: ‘הולך למות, through the excessive fatigue and exertion associated with my vocation. השבעה לי, seeing that the purchase under discussion was something abstract, the oath would replace the act of physically taking possession of the object purchased and moving it. וימכור את בכורתו, in accordance with the price they had mutually agreed upon. The Torah did not bother to spell out the exact sum. ויעקב נתן לעשו, he had used the lentils or the dish containing them as the קנין חליפין, a token used to serve as symbol of the transfer of ownership of the object constituting the one being sold. Compare Ruth 4,7 where a shoe is mentioned as serving as such a token. Eisov scorned the birthright. Even after the sale he did not consider the birthright to be worth the money he received for it. Therefore it is not correct to say that he was cheated.’
The sage Steinsaltz writes: ‘And Esau said: Behold, I am going to die; I am so tired that I feel that I am about to collapse. For what do I need a birthright? Even if some sort of financial benefit will accrue from the birthright, it will be actualized only in the distant future, and Esau the hunter is not a calculating individual who makes long-term plans. Jacob said: I am not satisfied with a simple declaration that you don’t care about the birthright. Rather, take an oath to me this day that you are transferring it to me. He took an oath to him that the birthright would belong to him, and he sold his birthright to Jacob. It is possible that the stew was given in payment for the birthright. However, it can be argued that as part of the family meal, the stew was not Jacob’s to sell to his brother. If so, perhaps Esau sold the birthright for a substantial sum, which Jacob handed over immediately or promised to give at a later time. And Jacob gave Esau bread and a stew of lentils. Jacob fed Esau, in accordance with the custom to eat a meal at the conclusion of an acquisition. By serving a meal, Jacob exhibited the seriousness of the purchase of the birthright for him. He, Esau, ate and he drank, and after he recovered and realized that he was not going to die, he arose, and he went, and Esau scorned the birthright. He remembered the sale, but he considered the entire incident ridiculous, pointless, and meaningless.’
The sage Rav Hirsch writes: ‘V. 34. ויעקב נתן, not ויתן יעקב, had already given it to him at once, did not take advantage of his hunger to force him to sell. Also the real meaning of מכר is not necessarily to sell, but has also the meaning of relinquishing, giving over, abandoning צורם מכרם (Deut. 32,30) ימכר ה׳ את סיסרא (Judges 4,9). Moreover, out of this whole “sale” agreement we do not find that Jacob derived the slightest preference or advantage. On the contrary Esau became great as a rich prince while Jacob was still slaving as shepherd for Laban’s sheep. So that the בכורה gave him no material advantage at all. The question could only have been, to whom was the spiritual leadership of the house to be entrusted. To which must be added, that both of them were still just boys — according to Baba Bathra 16b, 15 years old. So that in any case the בכורה could only have been sold in boyish play. בר קפרא, too, in ב״ר, calls them משחקים, so that there can be no question of a real bargain, or a serious business deal. Esau comes home hungry in the evening, Jacob is just cooking a pottage for himself, “Quick, give me some of that delicious red stuff, my mouth is watering for it”, says Esau. Jacob gives him some and says: “Just as you are craving for this red pottage so do I crave for the בכורה. You run about the whole day in the woods, and it just strikes me, what would it be like if one day Father were to die, and the house of Abraham would be turned into a hunter’s lodge — that is why I crave for the בכורה just as eagerly as you crave for the pottage”. If we add to this, what the tradition quoted above records, that this day was the day of the death of Abraham, so that the thought must have occurred to Jacob, how would it be if, instead of my father Isaac, Ishmael would have succeeded Abraham; and he could well have been thinking, the Grandfather dies and the grandson, who is ultimately to take his place and carry on his spiritual mission, spends the whole day running about the fields a-hunting — then the whole procedure of the two boys is as understandable as it is characteristic. And as they then stood opposite each other, so have Jacob and Esau stood opposite each other throughout the centuries Jacob gladly gives up his material possessions to Esau who hankers greedily after them, if the latter will only allow him to attend to the spiritual mission of his life.’
The sage Rashi writes: ‘הנה אנכי הולך למות BEHOLD I AM IN PERIL TO DIE — The birthright is something unstable, for not always will the sacrificial duties be performed by the first-born, for the tribe of Levi will assume this. Further Esau said: What is the nature of this Service? Jacob replied, “Many prohibitions and punishments and many acts involving even the punishment of death are associated with it — just as we read in the Mishna, (Sanhedrin 22b): The following priests are liable to death: those who carry out their duties after having drunk too much wine and those who officiate long-haired. He said: If I am going to die through it, why should I desire it. ויבז עשו THUS ESAU DESPISED—Scripture testifies to his wickedness: that he despised the Service of the Omnipresent!’
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