Esau

About Esau

Esau, also known as Edom, was the firstborn son of Isaac and Rebekah and the twin brother of Israel (or 'Jacob') (Gen.25.25-26). He was a skillful hunter and his father's favorite son (Gen.25.27-28). Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew when he was famished (Gen.25.29-34). He married two Hittite women, causing grief to his parents (Gen.26.34-35). Esau lost his father's blessing to Jacob through deception (Genesis 27). He held a grudge against Jacob but later reconciled with him (Genesis 32-33). Esau settled in the hill country of Seir, which became known as Edom (Gen.36.8-9). He had five sons and became the father of the Edomites (Gen.36.1-43). The Edomites were later considered enemies of Israel (Num.20.14-21; 1Sa.14.47; 2Sa.8.13-14). God's love for Jacob and His rejection of Esau is used as an example of His sovereignty (Mal.1.2-3; Rom.9.13).

Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.