Esau arrived after a delay of four hours.[99] In spite of all the
efforts he had put forth, he had not succeeded in catching any game,
and he was compelled to kill a dog and prepare its flesh for his
father's meal.[100] All this had made Esau ill-humored, and when he
bade his father partake of the meal, the invitation sounded harsh. "Let
my father arise," he said, "and eat of his son's venison." Jacob had
spoken differently; he had said, "Arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my
venison." The words of Esau terrified Isaac greatly. His fright
exceeded that which he had felt when his father was about to offer him
as a sacrifice, and he cried out, "Who then is he that hath been the
mediator between me and the Lord, to make the blessing reach
Jacob?"—words meant to imply that he suspected Rebekah of having
instigated Jacob's act.
Isaac's alarm was caused by his seeing hell at the feet of Esau.
Scarcely had he entered the house when the walls thereof began to get
hot on account of the nearness of hell, which he brought along with
him. Isaac could not but exclaim, "Who will be burnt down yonder, I or
my son Jacob?" and the Lord answered him, "Neither thou nor Jacob, but
the hunter."
Isaac told Esau that the meat set before him by Jacob had had
marvellous qualities. Any savor that one desired it possessed, it was
even endowed with the taste of the food that God will grant the pious
in the world to come. "I know not," he said, "what the meat was. But I
had only to wish for bread, and it tasted like bread, or fish, or
locusts, or flesh of animals, in short, it had the taste of any dainty
one could wish for." When Esau heard the word "flesh," he began to
weep, and he said: "To me Jacob gave no more than a dish of lentils,
and in payment for it he took my birthright. What must he have taken
from thee for flesh of animals?" Hitherto Isaac had been in great
anguish on account of the thought that he had committed a wrong in
giving his blessing to his younger son instead of the first-born, to
whom it belonged by law and custom. But when he heard that Jacob had
acquired the birthright from Esau, he said, "I gave my blessing to the
right one!"
In his dismay, Isaac had had the intention of cursing Jacob for having
wrested the blessing from him through cunning. God prevented him from
carrying out his plan. He reminded him that he would but curse himself,
seeing that his blessing contained the words, "Cursed be every one that
curseth thee." But Isaac was not willing to acknowledge his blessing
valid as applied to Jacob, until he was informed that his second son
was the possessor of the birthright. Only then did he say, "Yea, he
shall be blessed," whereat Esau cried with an exceeding great and
bitter cry. By way of punishment for having been the cause of such
distress, a descendant of Jacob, Mordecai, was also made to cry with a
loud and bitter cry, and his grief was brought forth by the Amalekite
Haman, the descendant of Esau. At the words of Isaac, "Thy brother came
with wisdom, and hath taken away thy blessing," Esau spat out in
vexation, and said, "He took away my birthright, and I kept silence,
and now that he takes away my blessing, should I also keep
silence?[101] Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me
these two times."[102]
Isaac continued to speak to Esau: "Behold, I have made him thy lord, he
is thy king, and do what thou wilt, thy blessings will still belong to
him; all his brethren have I given to him for slaves, and what slaves
possess belongs to their owner. There is nothing for it, thou must be
content that thou wilt receive thy bread baked from thy master." The
Lord took it ill of Isaac that he cheered him with such kind words. "To
Mine enemy," He reproached him, "thou sayest, 'What shall I do for
thee, my son?'" Isaac replied, "O that he might find grace with Thee!"
God: "He is a recreant." Isaac: "Doth he not act righteously when he
honors his parents?" God: "In the land of uprightness will he deal
wrongfully, he will stretch his hand forth in days to come against the
Temple." Isaac: "Then let him enjoy much good in this world, that he
may not behold the abiding-place of the Lord in the world to
come."[103]
When it became plain to Esau that he could not induce his father to
annul the blessing bestowed upon Jacob, he tried to force a blessing
for himself by an underhand trick. He said: "Hast thou but one
blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father, else it will
be said thou hast but one blessing to bestow. Suppose both Jacob and I
had been righteous men, had not then thy God had two blessings, one for
each?" The Lord Himself made reply: "Silence! Jacob will bless the
twelve tribes, and each blessing will be different from every other."
But Isaac felt great pity for his older son, and he wanted to bless
him, but the Shekinah forsook him, and he could not carry out what he
purposed. Thereupon Esau began to weep. He shed three tears—one ran
from his right eye, the second from his left eye, and the third
remained hanging from his eyelash. God said, "This villain cries for
his very life, and should I let him depart empty-handed?" and then He
bade Isaac bless his older son.[104]
The blessing of Isaac ran thus: "Behold, of the fat of the earth shall
be thy dwelling," by which he meant Greater Greece, in Italy; "and of
the dew of heaven from above," referring to Bet-Gubrin; "and by thy
sword shalt thou live, and thou shalt serve thy brother," but when he
casts off the yoke of the Lord, then shalt thou "shake his yoke from
off thy neck," and thou wilt be his master.[105]
The blessing which Isaac gave to his older son was bound to no
condition whatsoever. Whether he deserved them or not, Esau was to
enjoy the goods of this world. Jacob's blessing, however, depended upon
his pious deeds; through them he would have a just claim upon earthly
prosperity. Isaac thought: "Jacob is a righteous man, he will not
murmur against God, though it should come to pass that suffering be
inflicted upon him in spite of his upright life. But that reprobate
Esau, if he should do a good deed, or pray to God and not be heard, he
would say, 'As I pray to the idols for naught, so it is in vain to pray
to God.'" For this reason did Isaac bestow an unconditional blessing
upon Esau.[106]