These are the descendants of Yi•tzᵊkhâqꞋ Bën-Avᵊrâ•hâmꞋ.
Yi•tzᵊkhâqꞋ was 40 years old when he took Ri•vᵊq•âh Bat-Bᵊtu•eilꞋ (the A•ram•iꞋ from Pa•danꞋ A•râmꞋ, sister of Lâ•vânꞋ the A•ram•iꞋ) for his woman.
Pa•danꞋ A•râmꞋ to Bᵊeir ShëvꞋa & Sin•aiꞋ |
And Yi•tzᵊkhâqꞋ petitioned ä' in the presence of his wife, for she was barren; and ä' was petitioned effectively, for his woman Ri•vᵊq•âh conceived. And there was such a jostling inside her womb that she wondered what was wrong. So she went to ask ä'.1
And the Words of ä' to her were:1 "Two goy•imꞋ are in your belly, and two nations shall be separated from your bowels. One nation shall become stronger than the other nation: and the rav shall serve the younger."
When her time came to deliver, she gave birth to twins. The first twin to appear was a•dᵊm•on•iꞋ, he was like a hairy cloak all over. So they named him Ei•sauꞋ. Then his twin brother was pulled out holding onto Ei•sauꞋ's â•qeivꞋ, so they named him Ya•a•qovꞋ. Yi•tzᵊkhâqꞋ was 60 years old when the twins were born.
As the youths grew up, Ei•sauꞋ became an outdoorsman specializing in trapping, while Ya•a•qovꞋ was wholesome, settling in tents. Yi•tzᵊkhâqꞋ loved Ei•sauꞋ for the delicious meals prepared from his game, but Ri•vᵊq•âh loved Ya•a•qovꞋ.
One day, as Ya•a•qovꞋ was simmering a pot of lentil stew over the fire, his older brother, Ei•sauꞋ, came in dead-tired and ravenously hungry from an unsuccessful trapping trip in the outdoors. "Please, a mountain of the â•domꞋ for me," Ei•sauꞋ implored his younger brother, pointing at the lentil stew, "this â•domꞋ, 'cause I'm dead-tired." (So Ya•a•qovꞋ nicknamed his hairy, a•dᵊm•on•iꞋ, older brother "Ë•dōmꞋ".2)
One would expect the younger twin to rush to offer a meal to his senior twin. However, the younger brother seemed to sense the opportunity for payback for years of his big brother's rugged outdoorsman tyranny over him, exacerbated by his father's blatant preferential treatment toward his rugged outdoorsman, older son — and how that made Ya•a•qovꞋ unsure of his own inheritance. "Today's price for â•domꞋ," Ya•a•qovꞋ replied, "is your double-portion inheritance rights as the eldest son."
"Look," replied Ei•sauꞋ, "I, myself, was going to die without any inheritance. So why should this double-portion preferential treatment be mine?"
"Swear to me today!" Ya•a•qovꞋ insisted. So Ei•sauꞋ swore to him selling his birthright. Then Ya•a•qovꞋ gave Ei•sauꞋ bread and the lentil stew. So Ei•sauꞋ ate and drank, then got up and left.
Thus, Ei•sauꞋ discounted the eternal spiritual significance of his inheritance.
Optional parental preparation:
Questions you might anticipate that your child might raise and be prepared to discuss: