Esau

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Esau (Hebrew עֵשָׂו, Standard Hebrew ʿEsav, Tiberian Hebrew ʿĒśāw) is the son of Isaac and Rebekah and the older twin brother of Jacob in the biblical Book of Genesis, who, in the Torah, was tricked by Jacob into giving up his birthright (leadership of Israel) for a "mess of pottage" (meal of lentils). (Genesis 25:29-34). From this, "Esau" in western religions has metaphorically stood for anyone who is tricked into a worthless bargain. Esau was considered to be a great hunter.

The root of the name in Hebrew is derived from the word asuy denoting "completion", made and complete, since Esau was born hairy and very strong, being "completed" and not infantile. Esau has also been called Edom, which is also the name of the land where his descendents settled (Gen 36:16). The Book of Genesis connects this name with the red stew for which Esau exchanged his birthright (Genesis 25:27-34). Edom means 'red'.

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Symbolic struggle

The Biblical narrative describes Jacob and Esau in the womb of their mother Rebekah as being locked in constant struggle and combat. The narrative continues that she could not bear the pain of her pregnancy, yet is told by God that she will give birth to two nations who will always be locked in symbiotic combat each one trying to overpower the other. Later Jacob is described as a dweller of tents and Esau is a wild hunter.

The text (Genesis 25: vv 29-34) does not justify the allegation just made that Jacob tricked Esau into selling his birthright. What seems clear from the text is that Esau did not see his birthright as affecting anyone but himself while alive, hence his statement: "Behold, I am at the point to die; and what profit shall the birthright do to me?" (verse 32) It is not at all clear that he was indeed about to die and the circumstances suggest anything but; the text says that he was faint, not that he was at the point of death. A traditional explanation is that his dramatic words were exaggeration. This is borne out by the fact that the text says (verse 34) that "Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; and he did eat and drink and rose up, and went his way." Not the action of a man who had actually been close to death minutes before. And trickery by Jacob? Certainly not. To trick is "to deceive, cheat, beguile." (Chambers 1998 edition)

According to all midrashim, Esau is a very significant character in world history. Inasmuch as Jacob is considered to be the creator of the Children of Israel, it is Esau who is regarded as the forefather of Rome and the Roman Empire. The struggle between the Roman Empire and the Jews stemming from the land of Judah alternated, according to history, between cooperation and outright hate and warfare. The argument is proposed that Esau was born with red coloring in his hair and body, and the ancient rabbis have connected this with the red banner and standard favored by Rome's legions.

After Jacob tricks Esau into eschewing Isaac's blessing as leader, Esau is given the blessing that he shall "live by the sword". Some see this as another sign of Rome, famous for her unique sword made of steel - the gladius - that smashed its way to world hegemony and on the way massacred the descendants of Jacob/Israel.

Another explnation is that Esau is described by the Bible as ancestor of the Edomites, the Hebrerws' neighbors (and on many occasions, enemies) to the south. King Herod, whom many Jews considered as a usurper and destroyed of the legitimate Hasmonean dynasty, was an Edomite (though converted to Judaism). And since Herod was a collaborator with the Roman rule, the ancestor of the Roman's collaborator becme identified with the Romans themselves.

Later, when the Roman Empire turned Christian, Esau became perforce identified with Christianity and Christians. This was reinforced by the rise of Islam, whose followers outspkenly claimed Ismael as their ancestor. This created for Jews a neat symmetrical view of history, with each of the competing monotheistic religions identified with a brother of a Jewish Patriarch (Ismael, bother of Isaac, and Esau, brother of Jakob).

True Jews were identified as only those who share ancestry through all three of the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with the branches founded by Ismael and Esau being excluded from the Divine Promise to posses Eretz Yisrael. This was mainly an abstruse theological issue until the rise of Zionism, but is a potent and emotive argument for the religious extreme-right in present-day Israel.

Jews living in a Christian environment tended to attribute to Esau the cultural characteristic of their neighbors. For example, in Yiddish foksongs Esau is often depicted as an immoderate consumer of alcololic drinks, which has no Biblical basis but is evidently drawn from a widespread practice in Slavic societies (which most Jews in the same countries conspicuosly did not share in, at least until well into the Twentieth Century).

In some cases, Esau's role is expanded to being identified with all non-Jews, whatever their religion - espeically in the context of antisemitism. The Talmudic saying "It is well-known that Esau hates Jacob" (Hebrew: הלכה בידוע שעשיו שונא ליעקב) is often quoted, up to the present, by nationalist and isolationist Jewish groups assering that Jew-hatred is an endemic and incureable phenomenon of all non-Jewish socieities, and that all efforts at reconciliation with non-Jews, achieving equality in a non-Jewish environment or assimilation are futile and doomed to failure.

Israeli settlers in the West Bank often quote the same in order to assert that Palestinian hositly is endemic and has nothing to do with Israeli military occupation or land confiscation (though strictly, Muslim Palestinians should have been considered the descendants of Ismael rather than Esau).

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The descendants of Esau at the end of time

The story of the patriarch Isaac being subjected to trickery is well known. Isaac blessed his secondborn son Jacob and gave him the dominion. But another less known fact is that Isaac pronounced a leftover blessing over his son Esau. He prophesied that Esau will eventually become restless. At some point in history Esau will cast Jacob's yoke (of peaceful submission) from off his neck. The implication here is that Esau will cast off all the peaceful restraint Jacob has sought to maintain and will run wild. The blessing of Isaac is given in Genesis chapter 28:38-39. It is a prophecy that the descendants of Esau will eventually emerge into world history in a savage and spectacular way.

The Edomites were always an untamed, predacious, and godless race of people. This prophecy suggests that the children of Esau will run wild as this age comes to its tumultuous and climactic conclusion. The prophet Daniel, in Daniel 11:41 indicates that the realm of Edom will even escape the control of a mighty king who will precede Moshiach. The prophet Jeremiah predicts a future time when the peaceful law abiding people of Jacob will come into a period of special difficulties which he terms 'Jacob's Trouble'. (Jer. 30) This has been identified as the Tribulation drama of the End times.

One important aspect of the Second Coming of Christ is the arrival of Messiah at a place identified in the Old Testament prophecies as Bozrah, the name of an ancient pastoral town in Edom. The name Bozrah means "sheepfold" and this fact along with Bozrah's Edomite connection gives us the main clue explaining the return of Messiah at this particular time and place. Messiah's sheep are penned up there by the godless descendants of Esau. But all is not lost. Messiah is coming to cut them loose.

Bible students are beginning to discuss the Old Testament prophecies that tell of Messiah coming to judge the wicked at Bozrah. The prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 63 shows the returning Messiah in graphic terms. He is trampling His enemies on the Day of Judgement. The place of this divine wrath is out at Esau's sheepfolds at Bozrah. Apparently Bozrah will be another place of God's Last Judgement. It will be similar to the divine judgement carried out against the armies of the nations threatening Jerusalem from the Valley of Armageddon at end of the age.

The returning Messiah will punish the wicked at Bozrah. He will also deliver His covenant people from Esau's clutches. Apparently His covenant people will be penned up there under the jurisdiction of the descendants of Esau. The prophet Micah, in Micah 2:12-13 reveals the coming Messiah as "the Breaker". He breaks His people out of Esau's sheepfold. Bozrah is apparently a place of exile and incarceration controlled by Edomites, the descendants of Esau, in the latter days. The returning Messiah as the Shepherd of Israel enters the fold. He breaks open a Way. Then He leads His people out of Esau's sheepfold and on into a new day. This is the high drama and the divine romance of the magnificent Bozrah deliverance.

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