Genesis 25:32

32 Esau answered, Lo! I die, what shall the first begotten things profit to me? (And Esau answered, Lo! I am starving right now, and what good is my birthright to me!)

Genesis 25:32 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 25:32

And Esau said, behold, I [am] at the point to die
Or, "going to die" ^F25, 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 ^F26 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 (twml Klwh) "vadens ad moriendum", Montanus.
F26 Works, vol. 1. p. 15, 696.

Genesis 25:32 In-Context

30 he said to Jacob, Give thou to me of this red seething, for I am full weary; for which cause his name was called Edom (and for this reason he was called Edom, or Red).

31 And Jacob said to him, Sell to me the right(s) of the first begotten child. (And Jacob said to him, First sell me thy birthright/First sell me the rights of the first-born child.)

32 Esau answered, Lo! I die, what shall the first begotten things profit to me? (And Esau answered, Lo! I am starving right now, and what good is my birthright to me!)

33 Jacob said, Therefore swear thou to me. Therefore Esau swore, and sold the first engendered things. (And Jacob said, And so swear thou to me. And so Esau swore to Jacob, and sold him his birthright.)

34 And so when he had taken bread and pottage, Esau ate and drank, and went forth, and charged little that he had sold the right(s) of the first begotten child (and cared little that he had sold his birthright as the first-born son).