a. Jacob cheats his brother Esau (25:19-34)

Thematically important is the fact that Jacob (as well as Esau) is born out of barrenness (v.21; cf. 11:30). If the promise is to pass on to the next generation, it must come (as it did the first time) through the power and grace of God. The promise depends on the Promise-Giver. However, the gift is given in conflict (vv.22-23). Jacob’s character is immediately apparent. His name confirms the initial impression. The word Jacob is a wrestling term for one who wrestles with another man to take his place. Jacob’s whole life will be marked by such conflict. That conflict permeates the entire family (vv.27-28) and disrupts the established law of primogeniture.

The contrast between the sins is nowhere more clearly seen than in the exchange between them in the matter of food and birthright (vv.29-34). Esau too readily sacrifices the promise for the more immediate satisfaction of temporal needs (cf. Heb 12:16-17). He sells out too cheaply. Jacob, on the other hand, is cognizant of a future safeguarded by privilege and shrewdly schemes to secure it. The wordplay on red, stew, and Edom (v.30), each containing the same Hebrew letters, implies an association of ideas. Esau and the Edomites are destined for pottage while Jacob and the Israelites are destined for birthright (cf. Brueggemann, 218).