Esau
In the retellings of Israel's ancestral stories preserved in the Book of Jubilees and the Book of Jasher, the elder son of Isaac emerges as a figure whose choices illuminate themes of inheritance, divine election, and the perils of disregarding covenantal boundaries. These texts expand the concise Genesis account by portraying him as a skilled hunter whose impulsive nature leads to lasting consequences for his descendants, the Edomites. Jubilees in particular frames his story within a broader chronology of sacred time, emphasizing how personal decisions ripple through generations under the watchful order established since creation. The sale of the birthright receives notable elaboration in Jubilees 24, where famine drives the transaction during a period of scarcity, underscoring the elder son's undervaluation of his primogeniture in exchange for immediate sustenance. The Book of Jasher adds vivid detail to his expeditions in the field, depicting him as a man of the outdoors whose associations with Canaanite women further distance him from the line of promise. This portrayal contrasts sharply with his younger twin's preference for tents and study, highlighting a tension between worldly prowess and spiritual fidelity that resonates through the pseudepigraphal literature. Within the Enochian tradition, his narrative gains added weight through Jubilees' integration of Enochic motifs concerning judgment and the separation of the righteous seed. References to his marriages and the resulting conflicts in Jubilees 25 and 27 illustrate the dangers of exogamy warned against in earlier Enochic works, positioning him as a cautionary example of how straying from ancestral purity invites strife. Such expansions invite readers to consider the patriarchs not merely as historical forebears but as archetypes in the ongoing struggle between obedience and inclination.
Biography
- Occupation
- Hunter
- Father
- Isaac
- Mother
- Rebekah
- Era
- Patriarchal
Family
Did You Know?
Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage when faint from hunting.
He lost the blessing to Jacob and later sought to kill him.
Key Chapters
Key Passages
Esau Sells His Birthright
The Book of Jubilees 24:1-7
Esau returns faint from the field and sells his birthright to Jacob for red pottage. He despises his birthright.
1nd it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that the Lord blessed Isaac his son, and he arose from Hebron and went and dwelt at the Well of the Vision in the first year of the third week of this jubilee, seven years. And in the first year of the fourth week a famine began in the land, besides the first famine, which had been in the days of Abraham. And Jacob sod lentil pottage, and Esau came from the field hungry. And he said to Jacob his brother: 'Give me of this red pottage.' And Jacob said to him: 'Sell to me thy birthright and I will give thee bread, and also some of this lentil pottage.' And Esau said in his heart: 'I shall die; of what profit to me is this birthright 'And he said to Jacob: 'I give it to thee.' And Jacob said:
Esau Loses the Blessing
The Book of Jasher 27:1-20
Isaac sends Esau to hunt venison for the blessing. Rebekah and Jacob deceive Isaac; Esau returns too late and weeps bitterly for the lost blessing.
1nd the sons of Meshech were Dedon, Zaron and Shebashni.
Esau's Wives and Hatred
The Book of Jubilees 29:1-10
Esau takes wives from the daughters of Canaan, which grieve Isaac and Rebekah. He hates Jacob for the blessing and plans to kill him after their father's death.
1nd it came to pass when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Laban went to shear his sheep; for they were distant from him a three days' journey. And Jacob saw that Laban was going to shear his sheep, and Jacob called Leah and Rachel, and spake kindly unto them that they should come with him to the land of Canaan. For he told them how he had seen everything in a dream, even all that He had spoken unto him that he should return to his father's house, and they said: 'To every place whither thou goest we will go with thee.' And Jacob blessed the God of Isaac his father, and the God of Abraham his father's father, and he arose and mounted his wives and his children, and took all his possessions and crossed the river, and came to the land of Gilead, and Jacob hid his intention from Laban and told him not. And in the seventh year of the fourth week Jacob turned (his face) toward Gilead in the first month, on the twenty-first thereof. And Laban pursued after him and overtook Jacob in the mountain of Gilead in the third month, on the thirteenth thereof. And the Lord did not suffer him to injure Jacob; for he appeared to him in a dream by night. And Laban spake to Jacob. And on the fifteenth of those days Jacob made a feast for Laban, and for all who came with him, and Jacob sware to Laban that day, and Laban also to Jacob, that neither should cross the mountain of Gilead to the other with evil purpose. And he made there a heap for a witness; wherefore the name of that place is called: 'The Heap of Witness,' after this heap. But before they used to call the land of Gilead the land of the Rephaim; for it was the land of the Rephaim, and the Rephaim were born (there), giants whose height was ten, nine, eight down to seven cubits. And their habitation was from the land of the children of Ammon to Mount Hermon, and the seats of their kingdom were Karnaim and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, and Misur, and Beon. And the Lord destroyed them because of the evil of their deeds; for they were very malignant, and the Amorites dwelt in their stead, wicked and sinful, and there is no people to-day which has wrought to the full all their sins, and they have no longer length of life on the earth. And Jacob sent away Laban, and he departed into Mesopotamia, the land of the East, and Jacob returned to the land of