Page:A critical and exegetical commentary on Genesis (1910).djvu/464

 may render: some of that red seasoning (strictly 'obsonium').—'Ĕdōm]] a play on the word for 'red'. The name is "a memento of the never-to-be-forgotten greed and stupidity of the ancestor" (Gu.).—31. Jacob seizes the opportunity to secure the long-coveted 'birthright,' i.e. the superior status which properly belonged to the first-born son.

The rare term denotes the advantages and rights usually enjoyed by the eldest son, including such things as (a) natural vigour of body and character (Gn. 49$3$, Dt. 21$17$: ), creating a presumption of success in life, (b) a position of honour as head of the family (Gn. 27$29$ 49$8$), and (c) a double share of the inheritance (Dt. 21$15ff.$. By a legal fiction this status was conceived as transferable from the actual first-born to another son who had proved himself more worthy of the dignity (1 Ch. 5$1f.$). When applied to tribes or nations, it expresses superiority in political might or material prosperity; and this is the whole content of the notion in the narrative before us. The idea of spiritual privilege, or a mystic connexion (such as is suggested in Heb. 12$16f.$) between the birthright and the blessing of ch. 27, is foreign to the spirit of the ancient legends, which owe their origin to ætiological reflexion on the historic relations of Israel and Edom. The passage furnishes no support to the ingenious theory of Jacob's (''Bibl. Arch.'' 46 ff.), that an older custom of "junior right" is presupposed by the patriarchal tradition.

32. Esau's answer reveals the sensual nature of the man: the remoter good is sacrificed to the passing necessity of the moment, which his ravenous appetite leads him to exaggerate.— does not mean 'exposed to death sooner or later' (IEz. Di. al.), but 'at the point of death now.'—34. The climax of the story is Esau's unconcern even when he discovers that he has bartered the birthright for such a trifle as a dish of lentil soup.— (2 Sa. 17$28$, 23$11$, Ezk. 4$9$), still a common article of diet in Egypt and Syria, under the name 'adas: the colour is said to be 'a darkish brown' (DB, iii. 95a).—The last clause implies a certain moral justification of the transaction: if Esau was defrauded, he was defrauded of that which he was incapable of appreciating.

the first after Ar. 'idām = 'seasoning or condiment for bread' (cf. v.$34$): so Boysen (cited in Schleusner$2$, i. 969), T. D. Anderson (ap. Di.). This is better than (Dri. al.) to make the change in both places, G and V (de coctione hac rufa) seem to differentiate the words.—31. ] = 'first of all,' as $33$, 1 Sa. 2$16$, 1 Ki. 1$51$ 22$5$ (BDB, 400 b).