Esau Facts for 9-13 Year Olds

Categories: Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Esau

• Rebekah becomes pregnant with twins and the two babies “struggle together” in her womb.
• The Lord tells her that “two nations are in your womb…; the one shall be stronger than the other, the elder shall serve the younger.”
• Esau is born first, the elder.
• He is “red, all over like a hairy garment.”
• His name might mean “hairy” or “red.” “Hairy” is a play on the word Seir. “Red” means Edom. Esau becomes the ancestor of Edom in Seir.
• Jacob is his twin.
• Esau is described as “a cunning hunter, a man of the field.”
• One day, he returns from the field and is starving.
• He sees that Jacob has made a pot of red lentil soup and asks for some.
• Jacob says first he must sell him his birthright.
• A birthright recognizes the firstborn and gives him authority over the family.
• Esau says his birthright is of no use to him if he dies of hunger.
• Jacob makes him take an oath; he does.
• When Esau is forty, he marries two Hittite women.
• This greatly displeased his parents.
• One day Isaac calls Esau to him and says, “Bring me venison and prepare for me savory food, such as I like, and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”
• Rebekah overhears Isaac and, while Esau is out hunting, helps Jacob steal the blessing.
• Right after Isaac blesses Jacob, Esau returns from the field.
• Isaac tells him he has already blessed Jacob.
• Esau cries out.
• Isaac blesses Esau: “…by your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you grow restive, you shall break his yoke from your neck.”
• Esau hates Jacob and vows to kill him as soon as Isaac is gone.
• In order to save her sons, Rebekah convinces Jacob to go to her brother’s house in Haran.
• Esau marries Ishmael’s daughter hoping to please his parents.
• Then Esau moves everyone to Seir.
• Eventually, Esau has five sons.
• On his way back to the Promised Land, Jacob worries about meeting Esau.
• He sends messengers to Esau.
• The messengers tell Jacob that Esau is coming with 400 men.
• Jacob assumes the worst so he sends waves of gifts to Esau.
• He hopes to bribe Esau.
• When they meet, Esau gives him a big hug and falls on his neck and weeps.
• Initially, Esau refuses Jacob’s gifts, saying he has all he needs.
• Jacob keeps insisting and eventually Esau takes them.
• Esau forgives Jacob.
• He wants Jacob to come back to Seir where he lives.
• Jacob agrees and tells him to go on ahead because he can travel much faster.
• Esau leaves, but Jacob and his entourage go in the opposite direction.
• Esau and Jacob meet again when they come together to bury their father, Isaac.
• Esau is the ancestor of Edom, an enemy of Israel.
• In Malachi 1:2-3, God states, “Jacob, I loved but Esau I hated.” In this case God is referring to the nations, not the sons themselves.
• Hebrews 12 states that Esau is immoral and unreligious.
• According to legends found in the Babylonian Talmud, Esau dies at the hand of Jacob’s sons.
• Jewish tradition always portrays Esau in a negative light.