to give · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Esau
לְעֵשָׂ֗וle.'e.Sav
H6215
Esav · preposition + proper noun, a man's name
bread
לֶ֚חֶםLe.chem
H3899
food (for man or beast) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
pottage
וּנְזִ֣ידu.ne.Zid
H5138
something boiled · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
lentiles
עֲדָשִׁ֔ים'a.da.Shim
H5742
a lentil · noun, common masculine plural absolute
eat
וַיֹּ֣אכַלvai.Yo.khal
H398
to eat (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
drink
וַיֵּ֔שְׁתְּvai.Ye.shet
H8354
to imbibe (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
up
וַיָּ֖קָםvai.Ya.kom
H6965
to rise (in various applications · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
way
יָלַךְyâlak
H3212
to walk (literally or figuratively)
Esau
עֵשָׂ֖ו'e.Sav
H6215
Esav · proper noun, a man's name
despised
וַיִּ֥בֶזvai.Yi.vez
H959
to disesteem · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
birthright
הַבְּכֹרָֽהha.be.kho.Rah
H1062
the firstling of man or beast · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Hebrews 12:16-17 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Philippians 3:18-19 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
Isaiah 22:13 And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall…
Matthew 26:15 And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.
1 Corinthians 15:32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to…
Psalms 106:24 Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word:
Zechariah 11:13 And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and…
Matthew 22:5 But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Genesis 25:29–end
We have here a bargain made between Jacob and Esau about the birthright, which was Esau's by providence but Jacob's by promise. It was a spiritual privilege, including the excellency of dignity and the excellency of power, as well as the double portion, Gen 49:3. It seemed to be such a birthright as had then the blessing annexed to it, and the entail of the promise. Now see,
I. Jacob's pious desire of the birthright, which yet he sought to obtain by indirect courses, not agreeable to his character as a plain man. It was not out of pride or ambition that he coveted the birthright, but with an eye to spiritual blessings, which he had got well acquainted with in his tents, while Esau had lost t…
Esau said . . . I am at the point to die--that is, I am running daily risk of my life; and of what use will the birthright be to me: so he despised or cared little about it, in comparison with gratifying his appetite--he threw away his religious privileges for a trifle; and thence he is styled "a profane person" (Heb 12:16; also Job 31:7, Job 31:16; Job 6:13; Phi 3:19). "There was never any meat, except the forbidden fruit, so dear bought, as this broth of Jacob" [BISHOP HALL].
Next: Genesis Chapter 26
Adam Clarke on Genesis 25:34
Pottage of lentils - See note Gen 25:29.
Thus Esau despised his birthright - On this account the apostle, Heb 12:16, calls Esau a profane person, because he had, by this act, alienated from himself and family those spiritual offices connected with the rights of primogeniture. While we condemn Esau for this bad action, (for he should rather have perished than have alienated this right), and while we consider it as a proof that his mind was little affected with Divine or spiritual things, what shall we say of his most unnatural brother Jacob, who refused to let him have a morsel of food to preserve him from death, unless he gave him up his birthright? Surely he who bought it, in such circumsta…
Jacob saw that the right of the firstborn was despised by Esau, and he contrived to take it from him, trusting in God who had said, "The elder shall serve the younger." Jacob boiled some lentils, and "Esau came home famished after hunting and said to Jacob, 'Let me eat some of that red pottage,' " that is, "Let me eat some of your lentils." "Jacob said to him, 'Give me your birthright and you may take all of them.' After Esau swore to him and sold him his birthright, Jacob then gave Esau [the lentils]." To show that it was not by reason of his hunger that Esau sold his birthright, Scripture says, "After he had eaten he arose and went away, and Esau despised his birthright." Therefore Esau did not sell it because he was hungry, but rather, since it had no value to him, he sold it for nothing as if it were nothing.
Listening to this, however, let us learn the lesson never to neglect the gifts from God or forfeit important things for worthless trifles. I mean, why, tell me, should we be obsessed with a desire for money when the kingdom of heaven and those ineffable blessings are within our grasp, and why prefer blessings that endure forever and ever to those that are passing and scarcely last until evening? What could be worse than the folly of being deprived of the former through lust after the latter and never being able to enjoy them in a pure fashion? What good, after all, tell me, is such wealth? Are you not aware that acquisition of great wealth brings us nothing else than an increase in worry, anxiety and sleeplessness? Do you not see that these people (in particular those possessing great wealth) are, so to say, everyone's slaves, and day in and day out are in fear even of shadows? This, you see, is the source of plotting, envy, deep hatred and countless other evils. Often you would see the person with ten thousand talents of gold hidden away calling blessed the one behind the shop counter who prepares his own meals by hand.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
First-born — Sons enjoyed certain special privileges (Deut. 21:17; Gen. 25:23, 31, 34; 49:3; 1 Chr. 5:1; Heb. 12:16; Ps. 89:27). (See BIRTHRIGHT.) The “first-born of the poor” signifies the most miserable of the…
Food — Originally the Creator granted the use of the vegetable world for food to man (Gen. 1:29), with the exception mentioned (2:17). The use of animal food was probably not unknown to the antediluvians.…
Jacob — One who follows on another’s heels; supplanter, (Gen. 25:26; 27:36; Hos. 12:2-4), the second born of the twin sons of Isaac by Rebekah. He was born probably at Lahai-roi, when his father was…
Lentiles — (Heb. ‘adashim), a species of vetch (Gen. 25:34; 2 Sam. 23:11), common in Syria under the name addas. The red pottage made by Jacob was of lentils (Gen. 25:29-34). They were among the provisions…
Lentils — (Heb. ’adashim), a leguminous plant bearing seeds resembling small beans. The red pottage which Jacob prepared and for which Esau sold his birthright was made from them. (Genesis 25:34) There are…
Birthright · General references — General references
Esau · Sells his birthright for a single meal — Sells his birthright for a single meal
Firstborn · . — .
Gluttony · .Esau — .Esau
Herbs, & C · Mentioned in scripture: Lentiles — Mentioned in scripture: Lentiles
Jacob · Obtains Esau’s birthright for just one bowl of stew — Obtains Esau’s birthright for just one bowl of stew
Lentiles · General scriptures concerning
John Gill on Genesis 25:34
Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles,.... This shows what the pottage was made of, of which see Genesis 25:30; and that Jacob gave to Esau more than he asked and bargained for, bread as well as pottage; but neither of them until the bargain was made and swore to, and be had got the birthright secured unto him; as cunning as Esau, and as simple and plain as Jacob were, the latter outwitted the former, and was too crafty for him:
and he did eat, and drink, and rose up, and went his way; following his former course of life, without any remorse of conscience, reflection of mind, or repentance for what he had done; for though he afterwards carefully sought the blessing with tears h…
Then Jacob gave. Although, at first sight, this statement seems to be cold and superfluous, it is nevertheless of great weight. For, in the first place, Moses commends the piety of holy Jacob, who in aspiring to a heavenly life, was able to bridle the appetite for food. Certainly he was not a log of wood; in preparing the food for the satisfying of his hunger, he would the more sharpen his appetite. Wherefore he must of necessity do violence to himself in order to bear his hunger. But he would never have been able in this manner to subdue his flesh, unless a spiritual desire of a better life had flourished within him. On the other side, the remarkable indifference of his brother Esau is emph…
The difference in the characters of the two brothers was soon shown in a singular circumstance, which was the turning-point in their lives. Esau returned home one day from the field quite exhausted, and seeing Jacob with a dish of lentils, still a favourite dish in Syria and Egypt, he asked with passionate eagerness for some to eat: "Let me swallow some of that red, that red there;" אדם, the brown-red lentil pottage. From this he received the name Edom, just as among the ancient Arabians persons received names from quite accidental circumstances, which entirely obscured their proper names. Jacob made us of his brother's hunger to get him to sell his birthright. The birthright consisted after…
Esau eagerly took Jacob’s bait and fell into the trap. He ate and left too quickly to have been near death (25:32). The final comment on the passage explains that Esau showed contempt for his birthright, considering it worthless (Heb 12:16). It is foolish to sacrifice spiritual blessings to satisfy physical appetites (cp. Gen 3:6).
Rashi on Genesis 25:26
ואחרי כן יצא אחיו וגו AND AFTERWARDS HIS BROTHER CAME OUT, ETC. — I have heard a homiletical midrash that expounds it according to its simple meaning: It was with justice that he was grabbing him to hold him back. Jacob was conceived from the first drop and Esau from the second. Go and learn from a tube with a narrow opening - put in it two stones, one after the other. The one that goes in first will come out last, and the one that goes in last will come out first. It comes out that Esau, who was conceived last, came out first, and Jacob, who was conceived first, came out last. And [so] Jacob came to hold him back, so that the first for birth would be the same as the first for conception; an…
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
