Why Esau Hated Blood and Despised His Birthright

Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Toldot 4:5

Curated by Arthur·Translated by Maggid (Beta)·

Another interpretation of "Surely you have hated blood" (Ezekiel 35:6): Now Esau hated blood. His father blessed him through blood, and he trusted in blood, as it is said, "And by your sword you shall live" (Genesis 27:40). Yet Scripture says to him, "Surely you have hated blood" (Ezekiel 35:6) — rather, that he hated the life of a person, which is placed within his body. Therefore he said, "What use is this birthright to me?" (Genesis 25:32).

Themes

HatredViolencePatriarchsJacobBirth

Biblical References

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Midrash Tanchuma Buber, ToldotWhy Esau Despised His Birthright and the Blood That Pursued HimWhen Esau came in from the field and cried, "Behold, I am going to die, of what use is this birthright to me?", the Sages heard more than a hungry man's grumbleMidrash AggadahJoseph Obeys Jacob Though His Brothers Hate HimWhen Israel called out to his son, the boy answered without hesitation: "Here I am." The midrash pauses on those two small words, for in them lives the whole beBook of JubileesJacob Leads Six Thousand Swordsmen Against the AmoritesBAM! Disaster strikes. "They announced this to Jacob saying: 'Behold, the kings of the Amorites have surrounded thy sons, and plundered their herds.'" Can you iBook of JubileesJacob — Esau Among the FathersE of those stories out into the light. It’s a dramatic, violent, and frankly, surprising tale found not in the Torah itself, but in a fascinating apocryphal booLegends of the JewsEsau Killed Nimrod for His Magical GarmentsEsau. We know him as Jacob's brother, the one who traded his birthright for a bowl of stew. But there's so much more bubbling beneath the surface. According to Legends of the JewsEsau Plotted to Murder Both Jacob and IsaacThe Biblical figures is often remembered as these grand, larger-than-life heroes and villains. But sometimes, when you really dig into the stories, you find det