A Portrait of Esav/1

A Portrait of Esav

Introduction

Esav the Enigma

Frequently, the Torah simply recounts events without pronouncing explicit moral judgment on the characters involved.  In cases where the circumstances are hazy and details are scant, the reader must then struggle to piece together assorted (and sometimes contradictory) clues in order to reveal the lessons and meanings of the characters and their stories.

Esav is a case in point.  The Torah tells us very little about his deeds and makes no definitive character evaluation.  A cursory survey of the data seems to show that much of the evidence the Torah does provide is, at most, equivocal:

• Bereshit 25:27 states that Esav was a hunter ("אִישׁ יֹדֵעַ צַיִד").  Is this an implied critique of Esav's choice of profession?¹  It is hard to know.
• In Bereshit 25:34, we read how Yaakov persuaded Esav to sell his birthright and how Esav then disdained it.  Was there a moral failing in this episode?  If yes, was it on the part of Esav or Yaakov?²
• Bereshit 26:34-35 notes that Esav married two Hittite women who caused grief to both of his parents.³  Yet, Bereshit 28:8-9 also records that when Esav realized this, he tried to rectify the situation by marrying a daughter of Yishmael.⁴
• In Bereshit 27:41, the Torah tells us that, in his anger over the stealing of his blessing, Esav contemplated killing Yaakov.  Had Esav attempted to execute this plan, it would undoubtedly have been a heinous act, but it is far from clear that he ever tried.⁵  And can one blame him for being furious at not only being swindled, but having his father add insult to injury by then giving a second blessing to Yaakov?
• When decades later, Yaakov returns to Canaan in Bereshit 32-33, Esav comes to greet him accompanied by a group of 400 men.  One possible reading is that Esav was bringing an army in order to attack Yaakov.  But if so, why would he instead embrace and kiss him?

To sum up, while the Torah presents Esav as a somewhat coarse character, it is much more questionable whether it views him as a wicked or even negative person.

Parents Playing Favorites

Sefer Bereshit is replete, from beginning to end, with sibling rivalry and parental favoritism. Yet, the story of Yaakov and Esav and their relationships with their parents stands out, as it is a case where the brothers share both a father and mother and one in which each parent favors a different child.  These preferences are proclaimed already at the very outset of the narrative in Bereshit 25:

EN/HEע/E

(כח)  וַיֶּאֱהַב יִצְחָק אֶת עֵשָׂו כִּי צַיִד בְּפִיו וְרִבְקָה אֹהֶבֶת אֶת יַעֲקֹב.

(28)  And Yitzchak loved Esav, because he ate of his hunting, and Rivka loved Yaakov.

These predilections come to the fore again, in the story of the blessings. While Yitzchak planned to bless Esav, Rivka ensured through deceitful measures that Yaakov was blessed.

• What led each parent to favor a different son?
• What is the meaning of "כִּי צַיִד בְּפִיו"?  Was Yitzchak's most important consideration purely gastronomical? 
• If Rivka was correct that Yaakov was the more appropriate choice, how could it be that Yitzchak was wholly unaware of this?

Hashem's Choice and Historical Esav

While Yaakov is selected to be the father of Hashem's chosen nation, the Torah itself never discloses Hashem's opinion of Esav.  Later prophetic works, though, are more blunt.  Malakhi begins his prophecy with the following statement:

EN/HEע/E

(ב) אָהַבְתִּי אֶתְכֶם אָמַר ה' וַאֲמַרְתֶּם בַּמָּה אֲהַבְתָּנוּ הֲלוֹא אָח עֵשָׂו לְיַעֲקֹב נְאֻם ה' וָאֹהַב אֶת יַעֲקֹב.  (ג) וְאֶת עֵשָׂו שָׂנֵאתִי וָאָשִׂים אֶת הָרָיו שְׁמָמָה וְאֶת נַחֲלָתוֹ לְתַנּוֹת מִדְבָּר.

(2) You have been loved by me, said Hashem. But you say, Where was your love for us? Was not Esav Yaakov's brother? Said Hashem: and Yaakov was loved by me. (3) But Esav I hated, and I made his mountains a desolation, and I gave his inheritance to the jackals of the wilderness.

According to Malakhi, Hashem loves Yaakov but hates Esav.  However, Malakhi does not explain what caused this preference.  Additionally, is this prophecy speaking of Esav the individual, or is it merely using his name as a symbol for the nation of Edom with whom there was historical strife and enmity?

Significantly, Esav as a symbol lived on long after his genetic descendants had been mixed into the pool of nations.  From the Idumeans during the Hasmonean period, through the Romans, and then to Christianity, Esav remained as the archetype of Israel's sworn enemy.  Undoubtedly, these associations influenced many of the approaches of the commentators throughout the generations.

¹ While various commentators understand this description to connote a trapping and deceitful mind, there is little basis for this in a literal reading of the verse.

² For elaboration, see Sale of the Birthright.

³ Both Yitzchak and Yaakov are careful not to marry a Canaanite woman.  However, it is unclear that Esav's nuptials were a violation of any prohibition.  For further discussion, see Wanted: A Wife for Yitzchak and Avraham's Many Wives.

⁴ Although Esav does not rid himself of his original wives, he seems to be making an attempt to correct his mistake, or at least to improve for the future.

⁵ Jubilees and various Midrashim describe how Esav himself or his sons later attempt to kill Yaakov, but the Torah gives no indication that this ever happened.