Esau

Esau was the elder of the twin sons of Isaac and Rebekah, born red and covered with hair, and the ancestor of the Edomites. Even before their birth the LORD told Rebekah that “two nations are in your womb… and the older shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23). Esau grew into “a skillful hunter, a man of the field,” loved by Isaac, while Jacob was a quiet man favoured by Rebekah (Genesis 25:27-28). Also called Edom (“red”), he embodied the earthy, impulsive temperament that shaped his story.

Two episodes proved decisive. Coming in famished from the field, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of red stew, “thus Esau despised his birthright” (Genesis 25:29-34). Later, by Rebekah’s scheme, Jacob disguised himself and stole the blessing Isaac meant for Esau, who cried out bitterly and resolved to kill his brother once their father had died (Genesis 27:34-41). Jacob fled to Haran, and the brothers were parted for twenty years.

Their reunion is one of Scripture’s moving scenes of reconciliation. Jacob, fearful and praying, sent gifts ahead; but Esau “ran to meet him and embraced him… and they wept” (Genesis 33:4), receiving his returning brother with unexpected grace. The two parted in peace, Esau settling in the hill country of Seir, south and east of the Dead Sea (Genesis 36:8), where his descendants became the nation of Edom — a recurring adversary of Israel against whom the prophets pronounced judgment.

The New Testament draws two lessons from Esau. Paul cites God’s choice of the younger over the elder, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated” (Romans 9:10-13, quoting Malachi 1:2-3), as a paradigm of God’s sovereign electing grace, which rests not on human works but on his call. And Hebrews holds up Esau as a solemn warning against worldliness — “that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal,” and afterward “found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears” (Hebrews 12:16-17). Esau thus stands as the cautionary picture of the profane heart that trades eternal blessing for momentary appetite.