Why Esau Emerged First and the Tale of Diocletian the Swineherd

Another explanation: why did Esau come out first? So that he would come out full of blood and his filth would come out with him, like a bath attendant who scours the bathhouse and afterward washes the king's son; so why did he come out first? So that he and his filth would come out together. A noblewoman asked Rabbi Yose ben Halafta: why did Esau come out first? He said to her: the first drop was Jacob's. A parable: if you place two pearls in a single tube, does not the one you put in first come out last? So the first drop was Jacob's. "Red" [admoni], as if one who sheds blood. When Samuel saw David ruddy, as it is written, "and he sent and brought him, and he was ruddy" (1 Samuel 16:12), he was immediately afraid, saying: this one too sheds blood like Esau. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "with beautiful eyes" (1 Samuel 16:12): Esau kills by his own judgment, but this one kills by the judgment of the Sanhedrin. Diocletian the king was tending swine in this region of Tiberias, and whenever he reached Rabbi's school, the schoolchildren would come out and strike him. After some days he became king and settled in Paneas, and sent letters to Tiberias on the eve of Sabbath, at dusk, saying: I command that the leaders of the Jews stand before me on the morning of the first day of the week. He charged the messenger and said: do not give the letters to them until just before sunset on the eve of Sabbath [so they could not travel]. Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman went down to bathe and saw Rabbi standing before the great academy with his face troubled. He said to him: why is your face troubled? He said: such and such was sent to me from the kingdom. He said to him: come and bathe, for your Creator will work a miracle for you. As they entered to bathe, a certain spirit [Argentin] came laughing and dancing before them. Rabbi wished to rebuke it, but Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman said to him: leave it, for sometimes it appears for miracles. It said to them: eat and drink, for your God will work a miracle for you, and I will present you before him on the morning of the first day, at the close of Sabbath. At the close of Sabbath, after the lesson, it took them and stood them before the gates of Paneas. They entered and said: behold, we stand before the gates. He said: lock the gates. It took them and stood them on the city wall. They entered and told him. He said: I command that they soak three days in the baths, then come up and bathe and come to me. They went and soaked three days in the baths, and Argentin entered and mixed wine before them, and they bathed and came to him. He said to them: because your God works miracles for you, you make light of the king? They said to him: we made light of Diocletian the swineherd, but to Diocletian the king we are subject. He said to them: even so, do not despise even a small Roman or even a small soldier. "All of him like a hairy mantle" (Genesis 25:25): all of him fit for the mantle. "All of him like a hairy mantle," "then was the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold broken together" (Daniel 2:35), and they became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors. What caused them to become summer chaff? Because they stretched out their hands against the mighty ones [of Israel]. "And they called his name Esau" (Genesis 25:25): here is the worthless thing [shav] that I created in My world. Rabbi Yitzhak said: you have given a name to your swine, so I too will call My firstborn son a name, "thus says the LORD: My firstborn son is Israel" (Exodus 4:22).