The Torah tells us that Esau harbored a deep-seated hatred for Jacob because of that stolen blessing. He felt utterly cheated. And Jacob, well, he was understandably terrified of his brother's wrath. So, what did he do? He fled. According to Legends of the Jews, Jacob sought refuge in the house of Eber, the son of Shem, where he remained hidden for fourteen long years. Imagine that: fourteen years spent learning "the ways of the Lord and His commandments."
Now, what about Esau? The text says he was "vexed" – not just at Jacob, but at his own parents as well. He felt betrayed on all fronts. So, he decided to make a change. He took his wife and moved to the land of Seir. There, he married a second wife, Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite, renaming her Adah. Why the name change? Well, it’s said he believed that this marked the moment the blessing truly slipped from his grasp. It's like he was trying to rewrite his own destiny, one name at a time.
He stayed in Seir for about six months, but then Esau returned to Canaan, placing his wives in his father's house in Hebron. This didn't exactly bring peace to the family. The wives of Esau, we're told, "vexed and provoked Isaac and Rebekah." They weren’t exactly poster children for pious living. They worshipped their fathers' gods – those "gods of wood and stone" – and were, according to the text, "more wicked than their fathers." They sacrificed and burned incense to the Baalim (a plural form of the name Ba'al, referring to various local deities), and Isaac and Rebekah were just plain fed up. You can almost feel the tension simmering in their household, can't you?
Meanwhile, back at Eber's house, fourteen years had passed. Jacob, now presumably a changed man, yearned to see his parents again. He decided to return home. Here's where things get interesting. Legends of the Jews tells us that Esau had, for a time, forgotten what Jacob had done. But the moment he saw his brother returning, the old resentment flared up. All the pain, all the anger, rushed back. He was "greatly incensed against him, and he sought to slay him."
What a cliffhanger, right? What happens next? Does Esau act on his rage? Does Jacob's newfound piety protect him? These are questions that keep us turning the pages of this ancient saga, exploring the complexities of family, faith, and the enduring power of a blessing – or a curse.