Jacob and Esau were born as twins, though they could hardly have been any more different. They tended to fight. A lot. They began fighting at birth when Esau was being born first, and Jacob grabbed his brother’s heel. Esau‘s fighting could have been avoided, but it wasn’t, which had great consequences.
The first (major) thing that happened between them I will mention is when Esau came back from the woods from a long unsuccessful hunt and was unbearably hungry. Jacob was brewing up an excellent stew, and Esau was desperate to eat it. He asked for some, but instead of being a decent human being and giving the man some soup, he told Esau that he would have to give Jacob his inheritance. For a bowl of soup.
Let me repeat that, Esau traded all of his riches to come for a BOWL OF SOUP!!!!!
The second time that Jacob cheated his brother is when he stole Esau’s blessings. Their father, Isaac, was coming very close to death and could no longer see. He asked Esau to go on a hunt to kill a creature that gave the key meat in his favorite stew (man, this family and their stew). Then he would bless Esau, since he was their firstborn. But Jacob and his mother conspired together, making the soup and tricking the father into thinking that Jacob was Esau. Isaac blessed Jacob. Esau came back from his hunt to find that his younger brother had been promised a great nation, good fields, and great riches. That would have all rightfully been given to him. Of course, Esau begins to scheme about killing Jacob.
Luckily for Jacob, his mother hears Esau’s schemes and warns him. He runs away and starts using his father’s blessings to get a foothold on life. He gets lots of animals and raises a family (It’s a big soap opera between all of them.) But Jacob’s luck would not hold for long. One day, Jacob was going on a lively walk when “Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming toward him with four hundred men. So Jacob divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two handmaidens. When Jacob heard that his brother Esau was coming to meet him with 400 armed men, he assumed the worst” (Genesis 33:1). Jacob decided that he would just stroll down to Esau, bring gifts, and hope that Esau wouldn’t kill him. And you know what? Esau accepted the gifts, and the brothers reconciled.
Jacob and Esau may have made peace, but it came at a price. They both had many descendants that all started countries that all hate each other today. “The Israelites and the Edomites might have been family, but they were also enemies. Though the two brothers seem to both have been given land by the Lord, the battle that began at birth seems to have continued on through the generations” (Bucher). Jacob’s country was modern-day Israel. Right now, most of those people hate each other because of a big dispute over Esau deserving more, Jacob stole his land, blah, blah, blah. So, Even though they reconciled in the end, Jacob and Esau’s fighting had their punishments.
Works Cited
Berean Standard Bible, Bible Hub Ministry, 2021, https://biblehub.com/bsb/genesis/33.htm.
Bucher, Meg. “Who Are the Edomites in the Bible.” Bible Study Tools, July 9, 2021, https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/who-are-the-edomites-in-the-bible.html.
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