Comparison Of Jacob And Esau

We've come to think of the twins Jacob and Esau as yin and yang, good guy and bad seed. But if we read the story with more sensitivity, we will note that neither character plays strictly to type. For political reasons, our tradition demonized Esau and elevated Jacob. This midrashic effort distorts our understanding of both characters and obscures a deeper lesson about covenant and blessing.

On the surface, Jacob is the classic homebody, a quiet domestic presence who contrasts Esau's hunting and gathering brawn. As the Torah says, "When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the outdoors; but Jacob was a homespun man, keeping to the tents" (Genesis 25:27). The Hebrew rendered here as "homespun" is tam, the same word used for the "simple son" of the Passover Haggadah, the one who doesn't know how to ask. The word can also mean "blameless," "upright," "mild," or "perfect."1 Jacob is anything but these qualities. He colludes with his scheming mother Rebekah to buy Esau's birthright and steal his father's blessing.
He shortsightedly trades his birthright for some stew, and he unwittingly lets his brother and mother steal Isaac's blessing. But like Jacob, Esau is not one-dimensional: he has both good and bad qualities. Being less conniving than his brother certainly can't be considered a character flaw. When Jacob's deception comes to light, Esau cries out in anguish to his father and weeps, begging for another blessing (Genesis 27:34,