Eisav
1653 BCE–c. 1506 BCE · Biblical era · The Negev
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Eisav was the elder twin of Yaakov, born to Yitzchak and Rivka after a difficult pregnancy. Rivka was told that 'two nations' were in her womb and that 'the older shall serve the younger' (Genesis 25:23). He was born red and hairy and became a skilled hunter, his father's favourite (Genesis 25:25-28). Coming back famished from the field, he sold his birthright to Yaakov for a pot of red stew. The Torah links this to his other name, Edom, 'red' (Genesis 25:30-34). At forty he married two Hittite women, to his parents' distress (Genesis 26:34-35). When Yaakov, prompted by Rivka, received the blessing Yitzchak meant for Eisav, Eisav wept and vowed to kill his brother (Genesis 27:30-41). Twenty years later the brothers met again, embraced and wept (Genesis 33:4). Together they buried Yitzchak (Genesis 35:29). Eisav settled in the hill country of Seir and is presented as the ancestor of the Edomites (Genesis 36:8-9).
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The Negevהנגב
What they did here
The text does not name the twins' birthplace. Before their birth Yitzchak 'was settled in the region of the Negeb' (Genesis 24:62), and later near Beer-lahai-roi (Genesis 25:11). The pin is regional.
About The Negev
The Negev is the arid southern region of the Land of Israel (today southern Israel). In the Torah's patriarchal narratives, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob journeyed and pastured their flocks in the Negev; in the modern era it became a major area of Jewish agricultural settlement.
In The Negev at the same time
In the same place & time
Sages whose lives overlapped with Eisav’s in the same cities, drawn from their recorded journeys.
In the same tradition
Avraham Avinu, Yishmael, Yitzchak Avinu, Yaakov Avinu, Yehudah
The world in their lifetime
Thinkers, teachers, and rulers whose lives overlapped with Eisav’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn from recorded birth and death years (reign years for rulers whose lives are undated); where only one end of a life is known, a span of about 70 years is assumed.
Works
No works attributed in the corpus yet.