Who Was Esau in the Bible — Meaning Explained

Esau was the elder twin of Isaac and Rebekah, born covered with red hair — hence his other name, Edom ('red'). He was a skilled hunter, a man of the field, in contrast to his brother Jacob, who was a plain man dwelling in tents. One day, Esau returned from hunting famished and found Jacob cooking red pottage. He sold his birthright — the double portion and spiritual headship — for a single meal, despising his inheritance. Years later, when Isaac was old and blind, Jacob deceived him into giving the patriarchal blessing meant for the firstborn. Esau wept bitterly and planned to kill Jacob, but the brothers were eventually reconciled when Jacob returned from Padan-aram. Esau settled in Mount Seir and became the father of the Edomites. The New Testament uses him as a warning: 'Esau have I hated' — not arbitrary hatred, but judicial rejection because he valued the temporal over the eternal, the flesh over the promise.