(_a_) Birthright.--What?
None of them any notion of sacred, spiritual aspect of it.
To all, merely material advantages: headship of the clan. All the
loftier aspects gone from Isaac, who thought he could give it for
venison, from Esau, and from the scheming Rebekah and the crafty Jacob.
(_b_) The Bargain.
It is not clear whether the transaction was seriously meant, or whether
it only shows Jacob's wish to possess the birthright and Esau's
indifference to it.
At any rate, the barter was not supposed to complete Jacob's title, as
is shown by a subsequent piece of trickery.
Isaac's blessing was conceived to confer it; that blessing, if once
given, could not be revoked, even if procured by fraud and given in
error.
The belief would fulfil itself, as far as the chieftainship was
concerned.
It is significant of the purely 'secular' tone of all the parties
concerned that only temporal blessings are included in Isaac's words.
(_c_) The Scripture judgment on all parties concerned.
Great mistakes are made by forgetting that the Bible is a passionless
narrator of its heroes' acts, and seldom pauses to censure or
praise--so people have thought that Scripture gave its vote for Jacob
as against Esau.
The character of the two men.
Esau--frank, impulsive, generous, chivalrous, careless, and sensuous.
Jacob--meditative, reflective, pastoral, timid, crafty, selfish. Each
has the defects of his qualities.
But the subsequent history of Jacob shows what heaven thought of him.
This dirty transaction marred his life, sent him a terrified exile from
Isaac's tent, and shook his soul long years after with guilty
apprehensions when he had to meet Esau.
All subsequent career to beat his crafty selfishness out of him and to
lift him to higher level.