Esau, Trapped Like a Wild Animal: Genesis 25:29-34

I am currently posting a series of podcasts on social media entitled, “The Birds and the Bees.” But the episodes in the podcasts have nothing to do with human reproduction. Instead, I focus on the animals throughout both Old and New Testaments which cooperate with their Creator far better than human beings. God uses these animals to implement His will when humans refuse to do so. The list of animals, both wild and domesticated, includes bears, donkeys (many of these examples), cows, birds, the animals in the Ark, and even pigs. Pigs? Yup, even pigs. Pigs will sometimes be intolerant of evil when people grant make room for it in their lives. Pigs show more wisdom than people.

Esau Portrayed as an Animal 

But the Bible also goes out of its way to portray certain human beings as animals.[1] The author of Genesis, for example, portrays Esau, a circumcised child of the covenant (Gen 17:23-25), twin brother to Jacob, son of Isaac and Rebekah, but a son without faith, as a wild animal. Multiple clues in the Hebrew Bible identify Esau as controlled by the instincts and appetite of a wild animal, vulnerable to being trapped by a clever hunter. Because his palate, one of his natural appetites, governed his heart, he was easily trapped by a gastronomic masterpiece.

His Body is Covered with Hair like an Animal

When Esau was born, his tiny, newborn body is described as a reddish hairy garment (Gen 25:25; 27:11). Baby Esau was covered with hair, like an animal, even at birth. And his twin brother Jacob came out of his mother’s womb clutching Esau’s heel (25:26). Jacob as a newborn infant, was not passive, but active, just like he was in utero. This active effort on baby Jacob’s part foreshadows his later efforts to trap his animal-like brother Esau to gain first-place and the birthright.

He is Hunted as an Animal is Hunted

When they were grown boys, we read that Jacob cooked some stew (25:29). Sounds quite innocent, right? When the Hebrew word for “cook” is pronounced, it sounds like the Hebrew word for “hunter.” The two Hebrew words sound similar when enunciated, like a pun. This phonological connection is commonly used in Old Testament stories to make a point. In this story, the pun is intentionally used by the author to portray Jacob the cook as a clever hunter, a trapper. By cooking some tasty stew, Jacob was setting a clever trap for his animal-like brother. By cooking, Jacob was hunting wild game, exploiting the animal-like appetites of his brother. Jacob’s trap was disguised as a kitchen.

Jacob knew his brother and his brother’s weakness. He knew that Esau, though a child of the covenant by way of circumcision, lacked saving faith in God, lacked the faith of his grandfather Abraham. He knew that though Esau was the first-born, entitled to the birthright, he did NOT value the spiritual birthright. Esau considered the birthright of no good—no benefit, no value, no worth to him (25:32). Ironically, Esau’s birthright was his most valuable possession. He possessed an untapped oil well in his backyard, but he only considered it a path of dirt. Without genuine faith, he devalued what was precious in God’s sight.

So, when Jacob cooked a pot of stew, he was acting as a clever hunter, setting a trap for an animal-like human.

So, the real hunter in the story was not Esau, the “skillful hunter” (25:27), but clever Jacob. He knew how to catch Esau, portrayed as wild game.

Like an Animal, His Trap is Baited with Food

The bait in the trap to entice Esau was Jacob’s delicious stew. Food is frequently the bait we use to lure animals into a trap. Fishermen used food (chum) on the hook to lure and catch the fish. Without bait, the hook goes undisturbed. When I need to catch local racoons in a cage, I use sardines as the bait. The smell of stinky sardines is just too much to resist for the appetite of the hungry animal. The animal, driven by natural appetites, cannot resist the smell and sight of food. Food is the hungry animal’s weak point. Trappers exploit the animal’s weakness and use food as bait. Fishermen exploit the fish’s weakness and use food as bait. Jacob the trapper, baits his trap with tasty stew to exploit his animal-like brother’s weakness.

On the outside, Esau looked like a modern-day Marlboro Man, a celebrated character in Yellowstone, a man’s man, hairy, wearing Levi jeans, western hat, rugged looking, a celebrity cowboy, or a country-western singer. But it’s all just a mask, a façade.  

Jacob knew that Esau’s persona, his rugged, exterior outfit was fake. Esau was weak, a powerless slave to natural appetites, vulnerable to temptation and easy prey. Esau could hunt wild-animals, but internally he was a weakling, unable control his appetites. Esau’s appetites controlled him. He couldn’t resist the food in the trap. He is pathetic. He is a weakling. He is vulnerable. He’s no better than a wild, hairy racoon in the woods or a large-mouth bass in the water.

He is at risk: he had natural appetites, but no hunger for God

Jacob knew his brother’s weakness, his animal-like, natural appetite and controlling hunger for food, just like Isaac his father. He knew that Esau, when hungry, would be at risk, vulnerable to the smell and sight of delicious food. Esau was an easy-target because he was controlled by his natural appetites. He had no appetite for God, no appetite for the birthright, the privilege of being part of the “seed of the woman” (Genesis 3:15), but he had a slavish appetite for food. Jacob knew vulnerable Esau would take the bait in his kitchen trap.

So, the real hunter in the story was not Esau, the “skillful hunter” (25:27), but clever Jacob. He knew how to catch faithless Esau, portrayed as wild game.

He gulps down food like a wild animal

Esau came in from the fields without bagging any quarry (25:29). His stomach was empty, his quiver still full of unused arrows, and his hunting knife bloodless, still encased in its sheath. He is vulnerable for a well-laid trap.

Jacob’s cooking pot was full of tasty stew. Jacob baited his trap with delicious food for his animal-like brother. And, unsurprisingly, Esau said to Jacob: “Today, let me gulp down some of that red stuff, that red stuff” (25:30). Like a hungry wild dog, Esau wants to gulp, to cram Jacob’s delicious stew down his throat.

After Jacob made his swear an oath to ensure the transaction of the birthright, that is exactly what he did. Esau gulped down the bread and stew like an animal. Without hesitation, without asking himself, “Is this a good trade?” or, “Is this the wise choice to make?” or, “Will I suffer painful consequences if I relinquish my heritage?”

In four staccato verbs, “Esau gulped, drank, arose, and went out” (25:34).

Three of these same Hebrew verbs, occurring in the same order, also distinguish the last supper for another seed of the serpent: King Saul. After taking food from a sorceress, whose voice he listened to because he no longer could hear the voice of the Lord, Saul “ate, arose, and went out” (1 Sam. 28:25).[2] King Saul, though his roots were in the covenant community like Esau—a child of the covenant—a ruler who started out well, is finally identified as a seed of the serpent along with Esau.

These two characters who began in the covenant community, but eventually emerged as seeds of the serpent, foreshadow another participant in a future covenant community: Judas, chosen by Jesus as a member of the twelve apostles. He, too, finally emerges as a seed of the serpent at the last supper: “As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered him … As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night” (Jn. 13:27, 30). It was Saul’s last meal before death just as it was for Judas.

Esau is one of many in Scripture and life who suffer failure in God’s sight because of natural appetites. Adam failed in eating. Noah failed in drinking. Isaac failed in the priority of taste in his mouth. Now Esau, like Adam, also fails in choosing to eat over retaining the spiritual birthright.[3]  

So, to return to the case of animal-like Esau, Jacob lured and trapped his animal-like brother with a mere morsel of bait. Easy-peasy. Beans on the fisherman’s hook. And Esau gulped it down. He swallowed the bait-covered hook. Esau the animal, full of beans.

Esau’s choice showed the nature of his heart

The Genesis author does something quite rare, and adds a comment, one loaded with emphasis. “So, Esau despised his birthright” (Gen. 25:34).

He interprets Esau’s actions of selling his valuable birthright for the temporary satisfaction of his natural appetite. Esau’s actions, his choice, his decision, showed that internally, he treated his birthright with contempt. His choice that day, showed that he viewed his spiritual birthright—his connection to the seed of the woman--as worthless. He was displaying the traits of an animal, a creature without genuine faith, even though he was a circumcised child of the covenant.

This is the mark of the professing Christian, but one who is without saving faith: the habit of surrendering spiritual privileges and blessings for the temporary satisfaction of fleshly desires. Later, he married two Hittite wives (Gen. 26:34). The Hittites are listed among the perverted Canaanites tribes. By marrying Hittites, Esau once again shows his true nature, circumcised (undergoing religious rituals), but without saving faith.   

Esau easily relinquished an eternal heritage, his connection to the seed of the woman, for momentary satisfaction and pleasure. By morning, he would be hungry again and his birthright was gone forever. He could never get it back, even though later, he wept for it. His tears and cries were ignored (Heb. 12:16-17). Esau lived to satisfy his natural appetites and this is why he despised the things of God, the things of real value, and sold it for a cheap, few moments of pleasure. He foreshadows King Saul who gradually emerges as another seed of the serpent, though he began well within the covenant community.

Esau’s choice foreshadowed his eternal destiny

The author of the NT epistle to the Hebrews looks back at Esau’s bargain basement sale and, under the Spirit’s inspiration, concludes that Esau is one who will never see the Lord.  

14 Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, because without it no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God, that no one be like a bitter root springing up and causing trouble, and through it many become defiled. 16 And see to it that no one becomes an immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that later, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, because it was too late for repentance, although he pursued the blessing with tears. Hebrews 12:14-17; cf. Galatians 5:19-21.

Thank you for reading.

NOTES:

[1] The Philistine the heavyweight, top gun Goliath, is also portrayed as a mere animal. “The LORD, who rescued me from the hand of the lion and the hand of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” 1 Samuel 17:37a.

[2] The recursion between Saul and Esau would, admittedly, be stronger if all four of the verbs used with Esau’s meal had been repeated with Saul’s meal, rather than just three. Nonetheless, it must be pointed out that these Hebrew verbs are only used in this order in these two passages in the Hebrew Bible. The rarity of the three verbs in this order is striking and conspicuous. The author shows integrity and historicity by only recording what actually happened.

[3] Esau is one of a long line of people who are portrayed as eating a last supper just prior to their death. For example, Adam ate and was expelled from access to the tree of life and God’s presence. He died. Esau finished his supper and was expelled from access to the birthright. Saul ate his last supper and was put to death the next day. Judas ate his last supper and after betraying Jesus, went out and hanged himself.