Esau and Jacob

Esau and Jacob were twin brothers. Much good was preached about Jacob. Praise about him who valued the birthright of first born and cleverly made Esau to sell his birthright for a bowl of of stew. Praise about him for other stories written in the Bible.

In our society, if I were to meet two persons who ensemble both of them, I would preferably more comfortable making friend with Esau. Esau's personality is straightforward. You can predict what his mind is thinking because he doesn't play trick. I would be very careful with Jacob who is so clever (cunning is a word more appropriate to describe) to take advantage of others, even his own wives and children.

I love the verse in Gen 33:9 when Esau told Jacob that what he had was sufficient, he didn't want anything from Jacob. Esau was so happy to see his brother. From the verses, Esau seemed to have forgotten what his twin brother did to him when they were young. However, Jacob was conscious that the unethical conduct he did to his brother was hard to be forgiven for a normal person. Esau has gotten over that and lived happily after his brother left. The Bible didn't mention whether Esau remained a hunter only. However, I would assume that he had his own herds of goat, eves, camels, cows... for he said "what I have is sufficient".

Looking at Jacob, his life was miserable. He had to leave his house to run away from his brother after stealing his birthright. Jacob was a man who preferred to stay at home. Running away must not be a good feeling for him. He ended up with 4 wives who often fought with each other. His daughter was molested, his beloved son was sold by his other sons, he had to sell off his belongings in exchange of food during famine, and he died away from home.

When I read Genesis, I don't see how Jacob benefited from getting the birthright. I would rather be Esau.

Anyway, I gather that I should not envy what is not supposedly mine. If I really want what I do not have yet, I should do it in an ethical way. Otherwise, I would suffer more. As what the Ten Commandment said, "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."