THE JACOB-ESAU NARRATIVES

14. JACOB'S TRICKERY IN THE HOME

Now Isaac prayed to Jehovah in behalf of his wife, because she had no children; and Jehovah heard his prayer, so that when the time came for her to become a mother, she gave birth to twins. The first was from birth ruddy, all over like a hairy mantle; so they named him Esau [Hairy]. Afterwards his brother came holding Esau's heel with his hand; so he was named Jacob [Supplanter].

As the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the fields, but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed about the tents. Isaac loved Esau, for he was

fond of game; but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Once when Jacob was preparing a stew, Esau came in from the fields, and he was faint; so he said to Jacob, 'Let me swallow some of that red stew, for I am faint.' Therefore his name was called Edom [Red]. But Jacob said, 'Sell me first of all your right as the first-born.' Esau replied, 'See, I am at the point of death now! So of what use is this birthright to me?' Jacob said, 'Swear to me first.' So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and stewed lentils, and when he had had something to eat and drink, he got up and went away. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

15. JACOB'S UNSCRUPULOUS AMBITION

When Isaac was so old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see, he called Esau his oldest son and

said to him, 'My son'; and he replied, 'Here I am.' Then Isaac said, 'See, I am old and do not know how soon I may die. Now therefore take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out into the fields and hunt game for me and prepare for me savory food such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, in order that I may bless you before I die.'

Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went into the fields to hunt game in order to bring it, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, I just now heard your father say to your brother Esau, "Bring me game and prepare for me savory food that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of Jehovah before I die." Now, my son, do as I tell you: Go to the flock and bring me from there two good kids, and I will make of them savory food for your father, such as he loves. Then you shall bring it to him, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.' But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, 'You know that my brother Esau is a hairy man, while I am smooth. Perhaps my father will feel of me; then I shall appear to him as a mocker, and I shall bring a curse upon me and not a blessing.' But his mother said to him, 'Upon me be your curse, my son; only obey me and go, bring the kids to me.' So he went and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food such as his father loved.

Rebekah also took the fine clothes of her older son Esau, which she had with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. Then she put the skins of the kids upon his hands and upon the smooth part of his neck, and she placed the savory food and the bread which she had prepared in his hand, and he went to his father and said, 'My father'; and Isaac replied, 'Here I am; who are you, my son?' Jacob

said, 'I am Esau your oldest son. I have done as you commanded me. Arise, if you will, and sit and eat of my game, that you may bless me.' Isaac said to his son, 'How very quickly you have found it, my son.' He answered, 'Yes, because Jehovah your God gave

me success.'

Then Isaac said to Jacob, 'Come here, my son, that I may feel of you to find out whether you are really my son Esau or not.' So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, and he felt of him and said, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.' Yet he did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's. So he blessed him.

And he said, 'Are you really my son Esau?' Jacob replied, 'I am.' Then Isaac said, 'Bring it to me, that I may eat of my son's game, in order that I may bless you.' So he brought it to him, and he ate. He also brought him wine, and he drank.

Then his father Isaac said to him, 'Come near now and kiss me, my son.' And as he came near and kissed him, he smelled the smell of his garment, and blessed him and said:

See, the smell of my son

Is as that of fields blessed by Jehovah.
May God give you dew from heaven,
A share in the earth's fertile places,
And plenty of corn and wine.
May peoples be subject to you,
And nations bow down to you.

Be master over your brothers,

Let your mother's sons bow down before you,
Cursed be all who curse you,

And blessed be all who bless you.

As soon as Isaac had given Jacob his blessing, and Jacob was on the point of leaving his father, Esau his

But Isaac his father said

brother came in from his hunting. He also had made savory food and was bringing it to his father. So he said to him, 'Father, arise and eat of your son's game, that you may bless me.' to him, 'Who are you?' He answered, 'I am your son, your oldest, Esau.' Then Isaac trembled violently and said, 'Who then is he that has hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate plentifully before you came, and blessed him? Also blessed shall he be !'

When Esau heard the words of his father, he uttered a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, ‘Bless me, even me also, O my father.'

But Isaac said, 'Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing.' Esau said, 'Is it not because he was named Supplanter that he has supplanted me these two times: my birthright he took, and now he has taken my blessing!' Then he said, 'Have you reserved a blessing for me?' Isaac answered Esau, 'See, I have made him your master and all his relatives I have given to him as servants, and with grain and new wine I have furnished him the means of support. What then can I do for you, my son?' Esau said to his father, 'Is that the only blessing you have, my father?' and Esau began to weep aloud. Then Isaac his father answered him:

You shall live far from earth's fertile places,
And away from the dew of heaven;
And by your sword you shall live,
And your brother you shall serve.
But whenever you shall break loose,

You shall break off his yoke from your neck.

16. THE DREAM OF A TROUBLED FUGITIVE

Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing which his father had given him. And Esau said to himself, ‘The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill Jacob my brother.'

When the words of her older son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, 'Your brother Esau is going to take vengeance on you by killing you. Now therefore, my son, listen to me: flee to my brother Laban at Haran and stay with him for a time until your brother's anger is averted and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send and bring you back. Why should I lose both of you in one day?'

Then Jacob set out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. And when he arrived at a certain place, he passed the night there, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones from its place and put it under his head and lay down to sleep. Then he dreamed and saw a ladder set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. Jehovah also stood beside him and said, 'I am Jehovah, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your descendants. See, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you again to this habitable land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.'

When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said, 'Surely Jehovah is in this place, and I knew it not.' And he was filled with awe and said, 'How awe-inspiring is this place; it is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.'