Genesis 25:21-28

Before we go on through the rest of this, I want to point out here that we see some indications of Esau’s and Jacob’s character, even before they are born. They are in there duking it out with each other. They are obviously causing a lot of turmoil for Rebekah. She always felt like she had an upset stomach or something. But she was really worried about this, so she asked God what was going. And He gave her the answer.

But, when they came out it was obvious that this one, the non-hairy one, had his hand on the heel of his brother like he was about to ready pull him right back in for being the first out. And they saw that. They named the first one “hairy,” and the second one they called, “heel catcher,” or “supplanter.” His name indicated deception. “This kid is going to get into all kinds of trouble, and first thing out, he is already trying to pull his brother down, trying to get what his brother had.” So they called him “deceitful, supplanter; the one who is always trying to get the upper hand, looking for the advantage in everything.”

It is interesting that when the description of these two men is given in verse 27, it basically said that Esau was a single-minded one-sided person. He loved to go out and hunt. He was a man of the field. He liked to be outdoors. But Jacob—it says here a “mild man,” which is a silly translation, because it means a complete man—he liked to go into the tent and read and study books; he liked to hunt too, and cook. He was a go-getter—a complete man. He did not narrow himself down in on one thing. He was one who knew what he wanted, and went out and got it.