It’s easy
to vilify Jacob in this. I mean, it’s pretty absurd to sell stew for a
birthright. Even worse to do so while his brother is hungry (although that’s
the only time he’ll ever agree to that kind of discounted price, I’m sure).
Jacob comes off as kind of predatory in this, and that he doesn’t care about
family at all.
But it’s
the behind-the-scenes stuff that we need to remember, here. So let’s look at
the facts.
1.
Esau spends all his time dressed in animal skins
hunting. He can be gone for days at a time.
2.
He can spend that entire time and not bring home
any game.
3.
He’s dad’s favorite.
4.
Jacob is Rebekah’s favorite.
5.
Jacob spends all his time at home, tending to
things there.
It might be easy to conclude that
Jacob is a slacker who doesn’t do anything while Esau is out trying to make
something of himself. But, in fact, the opposite is true. Isaac’s possessions
consist mostly of fields and flocks. Esau is out playing hunter (and I do mean
playing at it instead of actually accomplishing it) having boyhood adventures
and living a responsibility-free life.
Jacob, on the other hand, is at
home taking care of things, including the very mundane task of cooking food wot
they can, you know, not starve. He is behaving responsibly, including
overseeing the fields and flocks while Esau is goofing off.
Then there is the idea of legacy,
which is a powerful motivator in the ancient world.