And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red [pottage]; for I [am] faint: therefore was his name called Edom.
30. Feed me with ] i.e. “let me, I pray thee, swallow a little of.”
that same red pottage] Heb. the red pottage, this red pottage. Esau’s words repeat the adjective “red”: either this was the name by which the pottage was known, or else Esau in his faintness and weariness is represented as simply pointing and gasping out “that red, red mess 1 [22] .”
[22] “The phrase ‘mess of pottage’ does not occur in the A.V. of 1611, but is used proverbially of the means whereby Esau sold his birthright (Genesis 25.). The actual phrase was used in the heading to this chapter of Genesis in the Bibles of 1537 and 1539, and in the Geneva Bible of 1560. Coverdale, in his Bible of 1535, used the phrase in other passages, viz. in 1Ch 16:3 and Pro 20:7, but not in Genesis 25. See A New English Dictionary (Oxford University Press),” Spectator, Nov. 29, 1913.
therefore was his name called ] A separate tradition accounting for the origin of the name “Edom”: see note on Gen 25:25.
Edom ] That is, Red.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 30. I am faint] It appears from the whole of this transaction, that Esau was so completely exhausted by fatigue that he must have perished had he not obtained some immediate refreshment. He had been either hunting or labouring in the field, and was now returning for the purpose of getting some food, but had been so exhausted that his strength utterly failed before he had time to make the necessary preparations.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Red pottage; red by the infusion of lentiles, or saffron, or some other things of that colour. The word is doubled in the Hebrew text, to show how vehemently he desired it.
Edom, which signifies red; as he was at first so called from the colour of his hair, so now that name was confirmed and given to him afresh upon this occasion: q.d. He was rightly called Edom, or red, not only historically for his colour, but prophetically for this accident.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And Esau said to Jacob, feed me, I pray thee, with that same red [pottage],…. Or, “with that same red l, red”; not knowing what it was, or what it was made of, and therefore only calls it by its colour; and the word being doubled, may denote that it was very red; or he, being in haste and greedy of it through hunger, repeats it in a quick and short way: this pottage was made of lentiles, as we learn from Ge 25:34; which sort of food was much in use with the Egyptians, Egypt abounding with lentiles; and particularly Alexandria was famous for them, from whence they were carried into other countries, as Austin m relates. The lentiles of Pelusium, a city in Egypt, are made mention of by Virgil n and Martial o, for which that place was famous; where, as Servius says p, lentiles were first found, or where they grew the best; and, in the Misnah q, an Egyptian lentil is spoken of, as neither large nor small, but middling. Pliny r speaks of two sorts of it in Egypt, and says he found it in some authors, that eating of these makes men even tempered, good humoured, and patient; and observes s, that they delight in red earth, or where there is much ruddle, or red ochre, from whence they may receive a red tincture; and the pottage made of them is of such a colour. And Dr. Shaw t says, that lentiles dissolve easily into a mass, and make a pottage or soup of a chocolate colour, much used in the eastern countries: and, as Scheuchzer observes u, coffee is of the bean kind, and not unlike a lentil, and makes a red decoction. The colour of it took with Esau, as well as it was sweet and savoury, as Athenaeus w reports; and especially, he being faint and hungry, desires his brother to give him some of it, and even to feed him with it:
for I [am] faint; so faint that he could not feed himself, or however wanted immediate sustenance, and could not wait till other food he had used to live upon was dressed:
therefore was his name called Edom; not from his red hair, but from this red pottage; for Edom signifies “red”, and is the same with the names Pyrrhus and Rufus.
l – “de rufo, rufo isto”, Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius; so Piscator, Schmidt. m Comment. in Psal. xlvi. tom. 8. p. 174. n Virgil. Georgic. l. 1. ver. 228. o Martial. l. 13. epigr. 9. p In Virgil. ut supra. (Georgic. l. 1. ver. 228) q Misn. Celim. c. 17. sect. 8. r Nat. Hist. l. 18. c. 12. s lbid. c. 17. t Travels, p. 140. Ed. 2. u Physica Sacra, vol. 1. p. 78. w Deipno Sophist. l. 4. c. 14, 15.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
30. Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage (34) Although Esau declares in these words that he by no means desires delicacies, but is content with food of any kind, (seeing that he contemptuously designates the pottage from its color only, without regard to its taste,) we may yet lawfully conjecture that the affair was viewed in a serious light by his parents; for his own name had not been given him on account of any ludicrous matter. In desiring and asking food he commits nothing worthy of reprehension; but when he says, Behold I am at the point to die, and what profit shall this birthright do to me? he betrays a profane desire entirely addicted to the earth and to the flesh. It is not, indeed, to be doubted that he spake sincerely, when he declared that he was impelled by a sense of the approach of death. For they are under a misapprehension who understand him to use the words, “Behold I die,” as if he meant merely to say, that his life would not be long, because, by hunting daily among wild beasts, his life was in constant danger. Therefore, in order to escape immediate death, he exchanges his birthright for food; notwithstanding, he grievously sins in so doing, because he regards his birthright as of no value, unless it may be made profitable in the present life. For, hence it happens, that he barters a spiritual for an earthly and fading good. On this account the Apostle calls him a “profane person,” (Heb 12:16,) as one who settles in the present life, and will not aspire higher. But it would have been his true wisdom rather to undergo a thousand deaths than to renounce his birthright; which, so far from being confined within the narrow limits of one age alone, was capable of transmitting the perpetuity of a heavenly life to his posterity also. (35) Now, let each of us look well to himself; for since the disposition of us all is earthly, if we follow nature as our leader, we shall easily renounce the celestial inheritance. Therefore, we should frequently recall to mind the Apostle’s exhortation, “Let us not be profane persons as Esau was.”
(34) Literally the passage would run, “Feed me, I pray thee, with that red, that read,” the word pottage being understood. “the repetition of the epithet, and the omission of the substantive, indicated the extreme haste and eagerness of the asker. His eye was caught by the color of the dish; and being faint with hunger and fatigue, he gave way to the solicitations of appetite, regardless of consequences.” — Bush.
(35) It is to be remembered that the birthright included not merely earthly advantages, but those also which were spiritual. Till the tribe of Levi was accepted by God, in lieu of all the first-born of Israel, the eldest son was the priest of the family as well as its natural head. And this was probably the part of the birthright which Esau treated with peculiar contempt, and for which the Apostle Paul styles him a “profane person.” — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Gen 25:30 And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red [pottage]; for I [am] faint: therefore was his name called Edom.
Ver. 30. Feed me, I pray thee, with that red, red. ] He doubleth it, and could not, for haste and hunger, tell what to call it, to show his greediness. a And saith, “Feed me,” or let me swallow at once; as camels are fed by casting gobbets into their mouth. He thought he should never have enough Our proverb is, As hungry as a hunter: but this hunter hath no he with him, and is therefore branded for a “profane” Heb 12:16 sensualist, Edom. The word used for a glutton, Deu 21:20 is used for a vile person, or a worthless person. Jer 15:19
a Geminatio indicat vehementiam appetitus – Pareus.
red. Hebrew red red. Figure of speech Epizeuxis (App-6). (No superlative in Hebrew) Figure of speech = that delicious red [food].
Lentiles. See Gen 25:34.
Edom = Hebrew. red, ruddy. A reference also to Gen 25:25.
with that same red pottage: Heb. with that red, with that red pottage, This, we are informed – Gen 25:34, was of lentiles, a sort of pulse.
Edom: i.e. red, Gen 36:1, Gen 36:9, Gen 36:43, Exo 15:15, Num 20:14-21, Deu 23:7, 2Ki 8:20
Reciprocal: Gen 30:14 – Give me Gen 32:3 – Edom Jer 49:7 – Edom Eze 32:29 – Edom
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge