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The Birth of
Esau and Jacob
After Isaac and Rebecca were married
for some time, Rebecca still didn't have any children. Isaac
prayed to God for his wife and Adonai responded; Rebecca
became pregnant with twins. But the children fought in her
womb and she prayed to Adonai who
answered and said, "Two nations are in your womb; two
separate peoples will come out of you. One people will be
mightier than the other, and the older shall serve the
younger."
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They named
them Esau and Jacob; Esau was red and hairy. Jacob, which
means both cheat and heel, came out holding Esau's heel.
When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter; but
Jacob was a delicate home body who stayed in the camp. Isaac
liked Esau more because he liked game, but Rebecca liked
Jacob best.
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Jacob Gets
the Birthright
Once, when Jacob was cooking a stew,
Esau came in starving.
Esau: Give
me some of that red stuff to gulp down, for I am
starving.
Jacob: First sell me your
birthright.
Esau: I am at the point of death, so
what use is my birthright to me?
Jacob: Swear to me first.
Esau: I swear.
So Esau swore to him, and sold his
birthright. Jacob then gave Esau bread and stew; he ate and
then went away. That is how Esau gave up his
birthright.
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Jacob Gets
Isaac's Blessing
When Isaac was old,
and his eyes were too dim to see, he called to his older son
Esau.
Isaac: My
son.
Esau: Here I am.
Isaac: I'm going to die soon. Go out and
hunt some game. Make it the way I like it and I'll bless
you before I die.
Rebecca overheard
Isaac's words
Rebecca: (to
Jacob) Go to the flock and fetch me two choice kids, and
I will make them a dish for your father such as he likes.
Then take it to your father to eat, in order that he may
bless you before he dies.
Jacob: But my brother is a hairy man,
and I am smooth-skinned. If my father touches me, I shall
appear to him as a trickster and bring upon myself a
curse, not a blessing.
Rebecca: Your curse, my son, shall be
upon me. Just do as I say and go fetch them for
me.
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Rebecca
then dressed up Jacob in Esau's clothes. She covered his
hands with the skins of the kids. He went to his
father.
Jacob:
Father.
Isaac: Yes, which of my sons are
you?
Jacob: I am Esau, your first-born. Sit
up, eat, and give me your blessing.
Isaac: How did you succeed so quickly,
my son?
Jacob: Adonai your God granted me good
fortune.
Isaac: Let me touch you, my son, to see
whether you are really Esau. The voice is the voice of
Jacob, yet the hands are the hands of Esau.
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He did not
recognize him because his hands were hairy like the hands of
his brother Esau, and so Isaac blessed
Jacob.
Isaac: Are
you really my son Esau?
Jacob: I am.
Isaac: Serve me your game and I will
bless you. [Didn't he say that he already blessed
him? Is this a second blessing?] May God give you of
the dew of the heaven and the fat of the earth. Be master
over your brothers. You will have grain and wine.
Esau's
Blessing
No sooner had Jacob left the presence
of his father than Esau came back from his hunt.
Esau: Sit
up, eat my game, so that you may bless me.
Isaac: Who are you?
Esau: I am your son, Esau, your
first-born.
Isaac: (violently trembling) Who was it
then that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it
before you came! And I blessed him. Now he must remain
blessed.
Esau: (bitter sobbing) Bless me too,
Father.
Isaac: Your brother came with trickery
and took away your blessing.
Esau: First Jacob took away my
birthright, and now he has taken away my blessing. Don't
you still have a blessing for me?
Isaac: I have made him master of you. I
have given him grain and wine. What then can I still do
for you, my son?
Esau: (weeping) Have you but one
blessing, Father? Bless me too!
Isaac: Your home shall have wealth and
joy, but you will have to go to war. You will serve your
brother. But eventually you'll be able to break away from
his hold on you.
Aftermath
Esau: After
my father dies, I'm going to kill my brother
Jacob.
When the words of Esau were reported
to Rebecca, she sent for her Jacob
Rebecca: Your brother
Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you. Listen to
me, run away at once to Haran to my brother Laban. Stay with
him for a while until your brother isn't angry anymore and
he forgets what you did to him. Let me not lose you both in
one day. [Who do you think "both" refers
to?]
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Jacob
Flees
Jacob left Bersheva and set out for
Haran. He came upon a certain place and stopped there for
the night. Taking one of the stones of that place, he put it
under his head and lay down in that place. He had a dream. A
stairway was set on the ground and its top reached to the
sky, and angels of God were going up and down on it. And
Adonai was standing beside him and said, "I am Adonai, the
God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I am with
you. I will protect you wherever you go, and will bring you
back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done
what I have promised you."
Jacob: (upon
awakening) Surely Adonai is present in this place, and I
did not know it.
Early in the morning, Jacob took the
stone that he had set under his head and set it up as a
pillar, and he poured oil on top of it, and he named the
place Beit El, House of God.
Many Years
in Haran
Jacob spent many years in the land of
Haran, serving his uncle Laban, who also became his
father-in-law as he married Laban's daughters Rachel and
Leah. He had thirteen children there and became a wealthy
man, but by the end he wasn't getting along with his uncle
and he wanted to go back to the land of Canaan. But he was
still afraid that his brother Esau might be angry with him
after all these years.
Return to
Canaan
Jacob: (to a
messenger) Go to Esau and deliver this message: I stayed
with Laban for this long time. I now have cattle donkeys,
sheep and slaves. I want to end our fight.
Later
Messenger:
(to Jacob) We came to your brother Esau. He himself is
coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with
him. [Do you think the intention of Esau's and his
men is to hurt Esau? We read what is in Jacob's mind. But
what do you think is in Esau's mind?
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Jacob:
(frightened) When my
brother Esau meets you and asks you who sent you and
where you are going, and who owns these animals, answer
him, "They belong to Jacob. They are his gift to you,
Esau. And Jacob himself is right behind us." (to himself)
If I give him lots of presents, perhaps he will like
me.
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The Second
Dream
That night Jacob was left alone, and a
man
wrestled with him until the break of dawn. The man saw that
he could not prevail, but he managed to injure Jacob's
hip.
The Man: Let
me go, for dawn is breaking.
Jacob: I will not let you go unless you bless me.
The Man: What is your name?
Jacob: Jacob (which means cheater or
heel).
The Man: You shall no longer be called
Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with divine and
human, and have won.
Jacob: Tell me your name.
The Man: (leaving) You must not ask my
name.
Jacob: (to himself) I have seen a divine
being face to face, and survived.
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The sun rose upon Jacob and he
continued on, limping on his hip. That is why the children
of Israel to this day do not eat the thigh muscle that is on
the socket of the hip, since Jacob's hip socket was
hurt.
Jacob and
Esau's Reunion
The next day, Jacob went up ahead and
saw Esau and bowed to the ground seven times as he
approached his brother. Esau ran to greet him. He embraced
him and kissed him, and then they cried together.
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