Background.

Abraham's son, Isaac had two sons of his own.
They were twins named Esau (who came out first)
and Jacob. According to the Hebrew law, the
firstborn son was to receive the best part of the
father's inheritance. Esau was a cunning hunter
and Jacob was a simple tent dweller. Isaac loved
his firstborn son and enjoyed the food that he was
able to capture but Isaac's wife loved the
second born son, Jacob most of all.


Once, Esau went on a hunting trip and was unable to obtain food. By the time he had reached his homeland, he was nearly starved to death. His brother Jacob was cooking soup in the field when Esau stumbled upon him. Seeing the food, he begged his brother to allow him to eat or else he would die from starvation. His brother sees, not a chance to help his older brother, but an opportunity to take advantage of his misfortune.


Jacob says, "I'll sell you some of this soup for
your portion of our father's inheritance." Esau
responds, "Hey, I'm about to die. If I die what
good will my inheritance be to me?" (Genesis
25:32)

So in this manner, Jacob showed his
brotherly love by robbing a dying brother of his
birthright for a bowl of soup. Christians are taught that Esau was the one who did something wrong by not truly appreciating his birthright, ignoring the fact that it was Jacob who took advantage of his brother when he was in dire need.