In Defense of Yaakov's Purchase of the Bechora

Please note - an important follow up was made based on a question in the comments - be sure to read the comments as well!

Every time I've read the story of "Yaakov purchasing the Birthrite for a bowl of soup," it always left me with an empty feeling – something isn't right. How can this father of the Jewish people take such advantage of his poor, exhausted brother, essentially extorting a sale out of Eisav - one in which he did not wish to take part?

For starters there are a couple of hints in the Torah that Eisav really didn't feel cheated. Firstly, after eating the food the Torah tells us "And Eisav denigrated the birthrite." In other words, now that he no longer felt "exhausted" and "as if he were going to die," he still did not express any "seller's remorse." The "bechora" meant nothing to him at any time.

Secondly, when he complains in Chapter 27 that "Now I understand why his name is Yaakov, first he took my birthrite and now he took my blessing," he is tacking on a sale which never bothered him until that moment. He may have a legitimate complaint about the blessing being stolen, but that's Rivkah's problem (as she said in 27:13). His complaint about the Birthrite at that stage is similar to someone who gets fed up about something - i.e. someone always being late - who complains saying, "You're always late. And by the way, I never liked your car." The lateness is the problem, not the car. But you throw in something that never really bothered you because... why not?

      
Here is my new interpretation, inspired by the thoughts of some of the great Rishonim commentators on the Torah.

      
In 25:27, we are told two things about Eisav and Yaakov, respectively.

וַיְהִי עֵשָׂו אִישׁ יֹדֵעַ צַיִד אִישׁ שָׂדֶה וְיַעֲקֹב אִישׁ תָּם יֹשֵׁב אֹהָלִים:

* Eisav is a man who knows how to hunt; he is a man of the field

* Yaakov is an "ish tam", who is one who "dwells in tents"

      
* An "ish sadeh" – a man of the field – is a farmer.

* One who "dwells in tents" is a shepherd (based on the precedent of Bereshis 4:20)

Ergo, the first description of each refers somewhat to their respective personalities, while the second description refers to their professions.

In 25:29 -  וַיָּזֶד יַעֲקֹב נָזִיד וַיָּבֹא עֵשָׂו מִן הַשָּׂדֶה וְהוּא עָיֵף – Yaakov is cooking something when Eisav comes in from the field exhausted. A shepherd has a lot of free time, particularly when sheep are grazing. A farmer, on the other hand, has much more physical labor involved in his daily activity. That Eisav comes home exhausted – מן השדה – from the field - indicates he's been working hard.

He makes clear how exhausted he is through being unable to identify the food he asks to eat: Give me some "red red thing."

Eisav's exhaustion indicates an opportune time for Yaakov to discuss something he has wanted to discuss with Eisav. If Eisav's personality is a hunter, and a free spirit, we can suggest that in his free time from working in the field, he WAS a hard man to track down. He'd go out hunting, out for a hike, who knows?  But in other conversations with his twin brother, Yaakov knew Eisav didn't care much for the birthrite (Daat Zekenim). Chizkuni indicates Eisav had no interest in the "responsibility" side of the birthrite – serving in the Temple one day. What follows: all he was interested in was the monetary side – which is why Yaakov said to him, "Sell it to me."

While the Torah does not say explicitly that Yaakov offered him money, Radak, Chizkuni and the anthology called "Hadar Zekenim" indicate there was clearly a monetary compensation offer on the table.

      
In the words of the Hadar Zekenim commentary:

הדר זקנים על התורה בראשית פרשת תולדות פרק כה פסוק לד(לד) ויעקב נתן לעשו לחם ונזיד עדשים. וכי סלקא דעתך שעשו כל כך שוטה שמכר בכורתו ששוה דבר גדול בשביל דבר מועט. דנהי נמי שהעבודה שהיתה בבכורות היא קלה מ"מ יודע הוא שהוא בכור לירש ממון רב והוא מכר הכל כדאמרי' נהי נמי דבכירותיה זבין פשיטותיה מי זבין. וי"ל דיעקב נתן לו ממון הרבה בעבור הבכורה אך הלחם והנזיד לא היה אלא לקיים המכירה כדרך שעושין המוכרים ולוקחים זה מזה ונותנים פשוט או שנים ליין

Perhaps Eisav was in need for "Cash Now" (too bad JG Wentworth wasn't around yet). Maybe Eisav felt, why wait for my annuity to kick in? Who knows if Yitzchak will still have money by the time he dies (Ibn Ezra suggests the family was strapped for cash – though Ramban rejects the notion). In either case, finances are never guaranteed – and there were no trust funds or insurance policies to guarantee any value to the birthrite. Besides, if they were as young as 15 and were observing the death of Grandpa Avraham at age 175, they may be quite realistically believing that their father might not die for another 100 years (he ends up living 105 more years, outliving Avraham by 5 years).

Witnessing the reality of mortality may cause Eisav to say Ecclesiastically הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי הוֹלֵךְ לָמוּת וְלָמָּה זֶּה לִי בְּכֹרָה – if I'm going to die one day anyway, what's the purpose? I MAY AS WELL CASH IN NOW IF THE OFFER IS ON THE TABLE. Besides, if the Midrash that Eisav had just emerged from a fight to the death with  Nimrod is true, who's to say the next fight to the death with someone will go the same way for Eisav? He may honestly believe he'll never live to see that inheritance!

And then, the food which is shared (as indicated by the commentaries quoted here) is not the "price of the sale," but is the celebratory meal that seals the deal. Yaakov and Lavan have a similar meal at the end of next week's parsha. And it was common practice in those days to have such a meal.

      
Yaakov, therefore, did not dupe Eisav. He did not cheat Eisav. He paid him "Cash Now" for what would otherwise be his payoff when Yitzchak died. He bought Yitzchak's life insurance policy, buying out Eisav's rights as a beneficiary.

This explains why Eisav was upset later. His father is blessing him (Chapter 27) at a time that he (Yitzchak) declares "לא ידעתי יום מותי" – I don't know when I'm going to die. Since he indicates he may die soon (though he lives another 57 years), Eisav is feeling the pain of the money he spent in his relative youth, when he could have otherwise been getting it soon (or so he thinks) pending his father's imminent death.

As it happens, he sold those rights legitimately, without regretting it at the time, and his father continues to live anyway. He would not get a windfall, not now, and not in the future, and that reality comes back to bite him at a time when he is particularly vulnerable.

            
Next up, defending Yaakov's takingthe blessing