Genesis 25:32

Easy-to-Read Version

Esau said, "I am almost dead with hunger, so what good are these rights to me now?"

Parallel Translations

English Standard Version
Esau said, "I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?"

Update Bible Version
And Esau said, Look, I am about to die. And what profit shall the birthright be to me?

New Century Version
Esau said, "I am almost dead from hunger. If I die, all of my father's wealth will not help me."

New English Translation
"Look," said Esau, "I'm about to die! What use is the birthright to me?"

Webster's Bible Translation
And Esau said, Behold, I [am] at the point to die: and what profit shall this birth-right bring to me?

World English Bible
Esau said, "Behold, I am about to die. What good is the birthright to me?"

Amplified Bible
Esau said, "Look, I am about to die [if I do not eat soon]; so of what use is this birthright to me?"

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
He answerde, Lo! Y die, what schulen the firste gendrid thingis profite to me?

Young's Literal Translation
And Esau saith, `Lo, I am going to die, and what is this to me -- birthright?'

Berean Standard Bible
"Look," said Esau, "I am about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?"

Contemporary English Version
"I'm about to die," Esau answered. "What good will those rights do me?"

Complete Jewish Bible
"Look, I'm about to die!" said ‘Esav. "What use to me are my rights as the firstborn?"

American Standard Version
And Esau said, Behold, I am about to die: and what profit shall the birthright do to me?

Bible in Basic English
And Esau said, Truly, I am at the point of death: what profit is the birthright to me?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Esau sayde: lo, I am at the poynt to dye, and what profite shall this byrthryght do me?

Darby Translation
And Esau said, Behold, I am going to die, and of what use can the birthright be to me?

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Esau said: 'Behold, I am at the point to die; and what profit shall the birthright do to me?'

King James Version (1611)
And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright doe to me?

King James Version
And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?

New Life Bible
Esau said, "See, I am about to die. So what good is my birth-right to me?"

New Revised Standard
Esau said, "I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And Esau said, Here am I, on the point of dying, - wherefore, then, should I, have, a birthright?

Geneva Bible (1587)
And Esau sayd, Lo, I am almost dead, what is then this birthright to me?

George Lamsa Translation
And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point of death; and what profit shall a birthright be to me?

Good News Translation
Esau said, "All right! I am about to die; what good will my rights do me?"

Douay-Rheims Bible
He answered: Lo I die, what will the first birthright avail me?

Revised Standard Version
Esau said, "I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?"

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Esau said, Behold, I am going to die, and for what good does this birthright belong to me?

English Revised Version
And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall the birthright do to me?

Christian Standard Bible®
“Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?”

Hebrew Names Version
Esav said, "Behold, I am about to die. What good is the birthright to me?"

Lexham English Bible
And Esau said, "Look, I am going to die; now what is this birthright to me?"

Literal Translation
And Esau said, Behold, I am going to die, and what good is this, a birthright to me?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Esau answered: Lo, I must dye neuerthelesse, what good then shall my byrthright do me?

THE MESSAGE
Esau said, "I'm starving! What good is a birthright if I'm dead?"

New American Standard Bible
Esau said, "Look, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?"

New King James Version
And Esau said, "Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?"

New Living Translation
"Look, I'm dying of starvation!" said Esau. "What good is my birthright to me now?"

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Esau said, "Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?"

Legacy Standard Bible
And Esau said, "Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?"

Contextual Overview

²⁹ One day Esau came back from hunting. He was tired and weak from hunger. Jacob was boiling a pot of beans. ³⁰ So Esau said to Jacob, "I am weak with hunger. Let me have some of that red soup." (That is why people call him "Red.") ³¹ But Jacob said, "You must sell me your rights as the firstborn son." ³² Esau said, "I am almost dead with hunger, so what good are these rights to me now?" ³³ But Jacob said, "First, promise me that you will give them to me." So Esau made an oath to him and sold his rights as the firstborn son to Jacob. ³⁴ Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil soup. Esau ate the food, had something to drink, and then left. So Esau showed that he did not care about his rights as the firstborn son.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

at the point to die: Heb. going to die

and what: Job 21:15, Job 22:17, Job 34:9, Malachi 3:14

birthright: Exodus 22:9

Reciprocal: Genesis 37:26 - What profit Deuteronomy 21:17 - by giving Romans 3:1 - advantage

Cross-References

Exodus 22:9
"What should you do if two men disagree about a bull or a donkey or sheep or clothing or something that is lost? One man says, ‘This is mine,' and the other says, ‘No, it is mine.' Both men should go before the judges who will decide who is guilty. The one who was wrong must pay the other man twice as much as the thing is worth.

Job 21:15
And they say, ‘Who is God All-Powerful? We don't need to serve him! It will not help to pray to him!'

Job 22:17
They told God, ‘Leave us alone!' and said, ‘God All-Powerful cannot do anything to us!'

Job 34:9
I know this because he says, ‘You will gain nothing if you try to please God.'

Malachi 3:14
You said, "It is useless to worship God. We did what the Lord All-Powerful told us, but we didn't gain anything. We cried like people at a funeral to show we were sorry for our sins, but it didn't help.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Esau said, behold, I [am] at the point to die,.... Or, "going to die" y, going the way of all flesh; which he might say on account of the common frailty and mortality of man, and the brevity of life at most, or by reason of the danger of life he was always exposed to in hunting of wild beasts, as Aben Ezra suggests; or rather, because of his present hunger and faintness, which, unless immediately relieved, must issue in death. Dr. Lightfoot z thinks it was now the time of the famine spoken of in the following chapter, Genesis 26:1:

and what profit shall this birthright do to me? a dying man, or when dead? In such a case, all the privileges of it in course would devolve on Jacob; and as for the promises of the Messiah, and of the land of Canaan, made to Abraham and his seed, these seemed to be at a great distance, and if he lived ever so long might never enjoy them; and therefore judged it most advisable to consult his present interest, and have something in hand, than to trust to futurity; and, by thus saying, he signified an entire willingness to part with his birthright on the terms proposed.

y הולך למות "vadens ad moriendum", Montanus. z Works, vol. 1. p. 15, 696.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

- LIII. Birth of Esau and Jacob

20. פדן padān, Paddan, “plowed field;” related: “cut, plow.”

25. עשׂי ‛êśâv, ‘Esaw, “hairy, or made.”

26. יעקב ya‛ăqôb, Ja’aqob, “he shall take the heel.”

27. תם tām, “perfect, peaceful, plain.” The epithet refers to disposition, and contrasts the comparatively civilized character of Jacob with the rude temper of Esau.

30. אדים 'ědôm, Edom, “red.”

The ninth document here begins with the usual phrase, and continues to the end of the thirty-fifth chapter. It contains the history of the second of the three patriarchs, or rather, indeed, as the opening phrase intimates, of the generations of Isaac; that is, of his son Jacob. Isaac himself makes little figure in the sacred history. Born when his mother was ninety, and his father a hundred years of age, he is of a sedate, contemplative, and yielding disposition. Consenting to be laid on the altar as a sacrifice to God, he had the stamp of submission early and deeply impressed on his soul. His life corresponds with these antecedents. Hence, in the spiritual aspect of his character he was the man of patience, of acquiescence, of susceptibility, of obedience. His qualities were those of the son, as Abraham’s were those of the father. He carried out, but did not initiate; he followed, but did not lead; he continued, but did not commence. Accordingly, the docile and patient side of the saintly character is now to be presented to our view.

Genesis 25:19-26

The birth of Esau and Jacob. “The son of forty years.” Hence, we learn that Isaac was married the third year after his mother’s death, when Abraham was in his hundred and fortieth year. “Bethuel the Aramaean.” As Bethuel was a descendant of Arpakshad, not of Aram, he is here designated, not by his descent, but by his adopted country Aram. By descent he was a Kasdi or Kaldee. Sarah was barren for at least thirty years; Rebekah for nineteen years. This drew forth the prayer of Isaac in regard to his wife. The heir of promise was to be a child of prayer, and accordingly when the prayer ascended the fruit of the womb was given. Rebekah had unwonted sensations connected with her pregnancy. She said to herself, “If it be so,” if I have conceived seed, “why am I thus,” why this strange struggle within me? In the artlessness of her faith she goes to the Lord for an explanation. We are not informed in what way she consulted God, or how he replied. The expression, “she went to inquire of the Lord,” implies that there was some place of worship and communion with God by prayer. We are not to suppose that she went to Abraham, or any other prophet, if such were then at hand, when we have no intimation of this in the text. Her communication with the Lord seems to have been direct. This passage conveys to us the intimation that there was now a fixed mode and perhaps place of inquiring at the Lord. The Lord answers the mother of the promised seed. Two children are in her womb, the parents of two nations, differing in their dispositions and destinies. The one is to be stronger than the other. The order of nature is to be reversed in them; for the older will serve the younger. Their struggles in the womb are a prelude to their future history.

Genesis 25:24-26

The twins are born in due time. The difference is manifest in the outward appearance. The first is red and hairy. These qualities indicate a passionate and precocious nature. He is called “Esau the hairy,” or “the made up,” the prematurely developed. His brother is like other children. An act takes place in the very birth foreshadowing their future history. The second has a hold of his brother’s heel, as if he would trip him up from his very birth. Hence, he is called “Jacob the wrestler,” who takes hold by the heel.

Genesis 25:27-34

The brothers prove to be different in disposition and habit. The rough fiery Esau takes to the field, and becomes skilled in all modes of catching game. Jacob is of a homely, peaceful, orderly turn, dwelling in tents and gathering round him the means and appliances of a quiet social life. The children please their parents according as they supply what is lacking in themselves. Isaac, himself so sedate, loves the wild, wandering hunter, because he supplies him with pleasures which his own quiet habits do not reach. Rebekah becomes attached to the gentle, industrious shepherd, who satisfies those social and spiritual tendencies in which she is more dependent than Isaac. Esau is destructive of game; Jacob is constructive of cattle.

Genesis 25:29-34

A characteristic incident in their early life is attended with very important consequences. “Jacob sod pottage.” He has become a sage in the practical comforts of life. Esau leaves the field for the tent, exhausted with fatigue. The sight and smell of Jacob’s savory dish of lentile soup are very tempting to a hungry man. “Let me feed now on that red, red broth.” He does not know how to name it. The lentile is common in the country, and forms a cheap and palatable dish of a reddish brown color, with which bread seems to have been eaten. The two brothers were not congenial. They would therefore act each independently of the other, and provide each for himself. Esau was no doubt occasionally rude and hasty. Hence, a selfish habit would grow up and gather strength. He was probably accustomed to supply himself with such fare as suited his palate, and might have done so on this occasion without any delay. But the free flavor and high color of the mess, which Jacob was preparing for himself, takes his fancy, and nothing will do but the red red. Jacob obviously regarded this as a rude and selfish intrusion on his privacy and property, in keeping with similar encounters that may have taken place between the brothers.

It is here added, “therefore was his name called Edom,” that is, “Red.” The origin of surnames, or second names for the same person or place, is a matter of some moment in the fair interpretation of an ancient document. It is sometimes hastily assumed that the same name can only owe its application to one occasion; and hence a record of a second occasion on which it was applied is regarded as a discrepancy. But the error lies in the interpreter, not in the author. The propriety of a particular name may be marked by two or more totally different circumstances, and its application renewed on each of these occasions. Even an imaginary cause may be assigned for a name, and may serve to originate or renew its application. The two brothers now before us afford very striking illustrations of the general principle. It is pretty certain that Esau would receive the secondary name of Edom, which ultimately became primary in point of use, from the red complexion of skin, even from his birth. But the exclamation “that red red,” uttered on the occasion of a very important crisis in his history, renewed the name, and perhaps tended to make it take the place of Esau in the history of his race. Jacob, too, the holder of the heel, received this name from a circumstance occurring at his birth. But the buying of the birthright and the gaining of the blessing, were two occasions in his subsequent life on which he merited the title of the supplanter or the holder by the heel Genesis 27:36. These instances prepare us to expect other examples of the same name being applied to the same object, for different reasons on different occasions.

“Sell me this day thy birthright.” This brings to light a new cause of variance between the brothers. Jacob was no doubt aware of the prediction communicated to his mother, that the older should serve the younger. A quiet man like him would not otherwise have thought of reversing the order of nature and custom. In after times the right of primogeniture consisted in a double portion of the father’s goods Deuteronomy 21:17, and a certain rank as the patriarch and priest of the house on the death of the father. But in the case of Isaac there was the far higher dignity of chief of the chosen family and heir of the promised blessing, with all the immediate and ultimate temporal and eternal benefits therein included. Knowing all this, Jacob is willing to purchase the birthright, as the most peaceful way of bringing about that supremacy which was destined for him. He is therefore cautious and prudent, even conciliating in his proposal.

He availed himself of a weak moment to accomplish by consent what was to come. Yet he lays no necessity on Esau, but leaves him to his own free choice. We must therefore beware of blaming him for endeavoring to win his brother’s concurrence in a thing that was already settled in the purpose of God. His chief error lay in attempting to anticipate the arrangements of Providence. Esau is strangely ready to dispose of his birthright for a trivial present gratification. He might have obtained other means of recruiting nature equally suitable, but he will sacrifice anything for the desire of the moment. Any higher import of the right he was prepared to sell so cheap seems to have escaped his view, if it had ever occurred to his mind. Jacob, however, is deeply in earnest. He will bring this matter within the range of heavenly influence. He will have God solemnly invoked as a witness of the transfer. Even this does not startle Esau. There is not a word about the price. It is plain that Esau’s thoughts were altogether on “the morsel of meat.” He swears unto Jacob. He then ate and drank, and rose up and went his way, as the sacred writer graphically describes his reckless course. Most truly did he despise his birthright. His mind did not rise to higher or further things. Such was the boyhood of these wondrous twins.