This chapter starts with a list six of the sons that Abraham had with his second wife after Sarah died. One of these sons is Midian whose tribe shows up in the story later. With each son, Abraham sends them out eastward from his camp like he sent Hagar away with Ishmael.
The author also follows up with the story of Ishmael, letting us know that he had twelve sons, calling them twelve princes of twelve tribes. This is a mirror to the twelve tribes of Judah that we will read about further on, and the twelve disciples of Christ that come much later.
When Abraham dies at the age of 175 years, Isaac, Ishmael, and all his sons bury him with Sarah on the land that he purchased from the Hittites.
Isaac and Rebekah do not have kids right away. In fact, the Bible says that she was infertile like her predecessor Sarah. Isaac prayed for her and she became pregnant with twins that wrestled within her.
When Rebekah asked God about it, he said that two nations were struggling with her. One would be stronger than the other, and the younger would serve the older.
Isaac was sixty when the twins were born. The first came out covered in hair, and the second one came out holding the ankle of the first one. Esau, the elder grew up to be a man of the field, a hunter. Jacob, the younger, stayed in the tents, and was a quiet man. Isaac loved Esau because of his game and Rebekah loved Jacob.
One day, Esau returns from the fields, hungry and tired and sees that Jacob is cooking a pot of red lentils. He wants them. Jacob asks Esau to pledge him his birthright in return. Essau replies that since he’s going die of hunger, what’s it to him? The Bible says that, thus Esau despised his birthright. After that, everyone calls Esau, Edom, meaning red after the red lentils.
The thing about lentils is that they only take twenty minutes to cook. Esau wasn’t going to die, he was impatient. Imagine that you work your whole life to build a legacy and your kid trades it for fast food? Having patience is one of the major lessons of the Bible. We can’t just throw away something of value because we can’t wait.
