Do you remember back in Genesis chapter 27 after Esau was tricked out of his blessing Isaac said to Esau, “Behold, away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling, And away from the dew of heaven from above.”
If you recall, I specifically said that most Bibles will NOT say “away from the fat of the land” but usually take out the phrasing “away from” and make it to say the opposite that Esau will actually live in a fertile place where there is abundant moisture.
Out of sympathy for Esau, apparently the ancient sages removed the word AWAY from the text.
However, the earliest Hebrew manuscripts plainly show that Esau would go away from the fatness of the land.
And that is exactly where we went, to a desert named Arabah.
From this point on in the Scriptures, Esau/Edom are viewed as become increasingly wicked.
However at the same time, a certain degree of respect is accorded to Esau.
“But you are not to detest an Edomite, because he is your brother.” -Deuteronomy 23:7
So we have a paradox.
Simultaneously, Esau in the bible is cast as an unrighteous and wicked person AND as a brother who should be shown deference.
This is an issue that I will explore in a later post but just know that it is this very paradox that is the source of our misunderstanding many of the conflicts happening in the middle east today.
Now here is another interesting paradox or maybe I should say irony.
Isn’t is interesting that all of Esau’s sons were born inside the promised land but were removed away from it?
And the chosen descendants, Jacob’s sons were born outside of the promised land (in Mesopotamia) and were brought inside the promised land.
This is amazing symbolism.
I see two awesome takeaways.
First, it doesn’t matter whether or not you were born in or out of the promised land.
All those who call on the name of Lord will be saved. Period.
Second, it is possible to have known God but then walk away from Him as Esau did when he took his family and removed them from the blessing of the promised land.
I really enjoyed the article Esau’s sons LEFT the promised land while Jacob’s sons ENTERED into it.
Does this teaching come from Tom Bradfords teaching Torahclass?
Hi Derek, To answer your question, absolutely yes. I love Tom Bradford. A good portion of this blog has been inspired by his teachings as well as material I’ve read in Robert Alter’s great Torah commentary. Shalom.