The seed of Esau, as long as Isaac was alive, upheld circumcision among themselves, but once he died they abolished circumcision. They told a parable: to what is the matter like? To a king who gave his crown to his beloved friend and said: let this rest upon your head and upon the head of your sons forever. The friend placed it on his head until the time he entered his eternal home, and once he entered his eternal home the king said: I will go and see the son of my friend, whether his father's crown rests upon his head. He went and found it cast onto the dunghill. He turned back in great wrath, as it is said (Judges 5:4-5), "LORD, when You went forth from Seir... the mountains flowed before the LORD." To what were the wicked Esau, his son Eliphaz, his grandson Amalek, and Jeroboam, Nebuchadnezzar, and Haman the Agagite likened? To one who found a garment on the road, seized it in his hand, brought it into the city, and proclaimed: whose lost garment is this? All the townspeople gathered and said: see what a righteous, pious man he is; at once they made him their head and chief, one year, two, three, four, five, until he destroyed the entire city. Thus were the wicked likened. Was it not as the reward for three tears that Esau shed before his father that they gave him Mount Seir, from which blessing-rains never cease? Was it not as the reward for Jeroboam, who paid heed to the king, that they gave him ten tribes? Was it not as the reward for Merodach, who showed honor to our Father in heaven, that Nebuchadnezzar came from him? Was it not as the reward for Agag, who wept and groaned in prison saying woe, lest his seed perish, that Haman came from him?
Esau's Line Casts Off the Crown When Isaac Dies
Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 116:4
זַרְעוֹ שֶׁל עֵשָׂו כָּל זְמַן שֶׁהָיָה יִצְחָק קַיָּים קִיְּמוּ עֲלֵיהֶם אֶת הַמִּילָה, וְכֵּיוָן שֶׁמֵת בִּטְּלוּ אֶת הַמִּילָה, מָשְׁלוּ מָשָׁל לְמָה הַדָבָר דוֹמֶה לְמֶלֶךְ שֶׁנָּתַן כִּתְרוֹ לְאוֹהֲבוֹ, אָמַר לוֹ זֶה יְהֵא מוּנָח בְּרֹאשְׁךָ וּבְרֹאשׁ בָּנֶיךָ לְעוֹלָם, הִנִּיחוֹ אוֹהֲבוֹ בְּרֹאשׁוֹ עַד שָׁעָה שֶׁנִּכְנַס לְבֵית עוֹלָמוֹ, וְכֵיוָן שֶׁנִּכְנַס לְבֵיִת עוֹלָמוֹ אָמַר הַמֶּלֶךְ אֵלֵךְ וְאֶרְאֶה בֶּן אוֹהֲבִי, מָה אִם יִהְיֶה מוּנָח כֶּתֶר אָבִיו בְּרֹאשׁוֹ, הָלַךְ וּמְצָאוֹ שֶׁהוּא מֻשְׁלָךְ בָּאַשְׁפָּה הָלַךְ לַאֲחוֹרָיו בְּקֶצֶף גָּדוֹל, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שופטים ה, ד ה) "ה' בְּצֵאתְךָ מִשֵּׂעִיר וְגוֹ' הָרִים נָזְלוּ מִפְּנֵי ה'". לְמָה נִדְמֶה עֵשָׂו הָרָשָׁע וֶאֱלִיפָז וַעֲמָלֵק בְּנוֹ וְיָרָבְעָם וּנְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר וְהָמָן הָאֲגָגִי, לְאֶחָד שֶׁמָּצָא כְּסוּת בַּדֶּרֶךְ תָּפְשָׂה בְּיָדוֹ וְהִכְנִיס לְתוֹךְ הָעִיר וְהָיָה מַכְרִיז וְאוֹמֵר, אֲבֵדָה זוֹ שֶׁל מִי נִתְקַבְּצוּ כָּל בְּנֵי הָעִיר וְיָצְאוּ לִקְרָאתוֹ אָמְרוּ רְאִיתֶם אִישׁ פְּלוֹנִי כַּמָּה צַדִּיק הוּא, כַּמָּה חָסִיד הוּא, מִיָּד עָמְדוּ וַעֲשָׂאוּהוּ רֹאשׁ וְקָצִין עֲלֵיהֶם שָׁנָה, בִּשְׁתֵּי שָׁנִים וּבְשָׁלֹשׁ שָׁנִים בְּאַרְבַּע בְּחָמֵשׁ עַד שֶׁהֶחֱרִיב אֶת כָּל הָעִיר כֻּלָּה, לְכָךְ נִדְמוּ הָרְשָׁעִים. לֹא בִּשְׂכַר שָׁלֹשׁ דְּמָעוֹת שֶׁהוֹרִיד עֵשָׂו לִפְנֵי אָבִיו נָתְנוּ לוֹ אֶת הַר שֵׂעִיר שֶׁאֵין גִשְׁמֵי בְּרָכָה פּוֹסְקִין מִמֶּנּוּ לְעוֹלָם. לֹא בִּשְׂכַר יָרָבְעָם שֶׁהִקְשִׁיב דָּבָר לִפְנֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ נָתְנוּ לוֹ עֲשֶׂרֶת שְׁבָטִים. לֹא בִּשְׂכַר מְרוּדָךְ שֶׁנָּהַג כָּבוֹד בְּאָבִינוּ שֶׁבַּשָּׁמַיִם יָצָא מִמֶנּוּ נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּאר. לֹא בִּשְׂכַר אֲגָג שֶׁהָיָה בּוֹכֶה וּמִתְאַנֵחַ בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁהָיָה חָבוּשׁ בְּבֵית הָאֲסוּרִין וְאָמַר אוֹי לוֹ שֶׁמָא יֹאבַד זַרְעוֹ יָצָא מִמֶנוּ הָמָן.