Cain and Abel (Murder)

That makes a lot of sense to me (this is the kind of Biblical discussion I can get into). I think the J/E story is more interesting, too, because they're a bit more ambiguous as characters. It's not the black and white, Cain is the ultimate evil and Abel is, er, just some guy. It's that Esau is kind of a lunkhead but not awful and Jacob is a sharpie.

The birth order is turned on its head in J/E, and the people who really care about it (Rebecca and Jacob) see Esau as an obstruction, whereas Isaac (who seems none too bright, IMO) wants to give everything to Esau simply because of birth order. The person who rectifies the situation seems to be Esau himself, either by selling his birthright or by conveniently being away while Dad is blessing his little brother.

And about the birthright sale. Who the heck sells their inheritance for a pot of soup, even really good soup and you're starving? To my mind, Esau could take or leave the birthright as he was a self-sufficient sort. He may not have even originally had the idea to conduct the transaction, more that Jacob was standing outside the tent every day with a pot of soup and saying, "How hungry are you? What'll ya give me?" and Esau brushing him off until finally, worn down and with no other trinkets to provide, hands over the birthright. It just seems like the last round of poker.

I agree with those character analyses, Jes. But, again, remember who is writing this all down. Is there an ulterior reason for making Esau appear a wimp anyway? Does Esau's general nerdiness somehow act as a mitigating circumstance in the case against Jacob who, after all, committed outright fraud on his old man by pretending to be the older brother? Again, as I hinted in my previous post, is this an attempt to belittle the legitimacy of the current king? Or is it an attempt to explain why he really is a legitimate inheritor of the scepter even though his ancestor, Jacob, may have gotten the title to the land by less than honest means?

There is quite a lot in the Bible which comes into focus only if you look at it from the POV of who wrote a particular Book and for whose edification and enlightenment it was intended.

This is what I truly find fascinating and I wish I knew more about, e. g. the political influences and the like. Esau is Edom, though, which is, what, Syria? I know or at least think I know that Moab is Jordan. And Jacob became Israel (see the other Biblical reference to wrestling; both of them involve Jacob, once in the womb with Esau and once while sleeping, with an angel, and again demanding a blessing). So who's Judah? The country, I mean, not Joseph's brother.

And -- I forget -- is Jacob the one who, while in utero, put his hand out (what a bizarre sight that must've been) and the midwife tied a red string around his finger to signify that he would be the first-born, but he drew his hand back in and ended up being born second? The Bible's got a lot about birth order, and the oldest doesn't always come out well (Cain, Abraham's brother, Terah {I think he was older and Abe was the youngest?}, Joseph's brother Rueben, Aaron, etc. Aaron's the best of the bunch with Terah and Rueben tied for second, I suppose).

Now ytou've got me going, Jespah. You're gonna force me to re-read Genesis.

Actually, I've been thinking a lot about Genesis m'self, I should reread the Pentateuch. I'd love to really get into a discussion re this, the literature and its background are quite extraordinary.