“And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.” Genesis 25:27 KJV
Chapter Three
Esau
Part. 1 – A Cunning Hunter
To understand the true nature of the conflict between Esau and Jacob, we need to begin by examining and understanding the nature of each man. It should not be overlooked that as the boys grew up, Esau became known as “a cunning hunter.” What should be overlooked is how many teachers and preachers have interpreted this phrase to mean that Esau was a rugged big game hunter. James Montgomery Boice, in his Expositional Commentary of Genesis says this about Esau.
“Esau could be described as a man’s man. He was tall, good-looking, skillful. He became a man of the outdoors and spent time hunting game.” [1]
Where in the text Boice is able to find or determine that Esau was also “tall and good looking” is a mystery. It is pure conjecture. His commentary is useful to show how easily one may be misdirected from what the given text says about his character. Rather than speculate about the character of important Biblical people, commentators should look to how the Scriptures themselves describe these individuals.
Proper biblical study would first look to understand these words – cunning and hunter – in relation to their first usage in the Scripture and then determine if there is a parallel that can be drawn between the usages. The first mention of a hunter -dyu tsayid – in Scripture is in reference to Nimrod, the son of Cush, grandson of Ham, great-grandson of Noah. Genesis 10:9 states, “He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.”
The noted Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, in his Antiquities of the Jews, had this to say about Nimrod.
“Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah, a bold man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it was through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness. He also gradually changed the government into tyranny, seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence on his power. He also said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach! and that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers!”[2]
H.C. Leupold, in his Exposition of Genesis, reveals the following about Nimrod:
The course that our interpretation of these two verses takes will be determined very largely by the meaning of the word “Nimrod.” For the meaning of the verbform nimrodh, without a doubt, is “let us revolt.” Now the other words employed are, if left by themselves, either good or evil in their connotation, depending on the connection in which they appear. Gibbor may mean “hero” or “tyrant.” “Hunter” (gibbor tsßyidh) may be a harmless hunter of the fields, or he may be one who hunts men to enslave them. The phrase, “in the sight of Yahweh,” in itself expresses neither approval nor disapproval. But each of these terms acquires a bad sense in the light of the name “Nimrod.” The tendency of this Cushite must have been to rise up against, and to attempt to overthrow, all existing order. In fact, he must have used this motto so frequently in exhorting others to rebellion, that finally it was applied to him as a name descriptive of the basic trait of his character.[3]
It appears from these accounts that Nimrod was a rebellious despot who had contempt for the plans of Yahweh and had desired to establish for himself an earthly kingdom. We will soon see very similar traits in the character of Esau.
“And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. Genesis 25:27 KJV
To better understand the word translated as cunning in the KJV and as skillful in the NIV and NAS – yada – we should again look at the context of its first usage and determine if it would fit the description of Esau as found in Genesis 25:27.The first usage of the word yada in Scripture is found in Genesis 3:5 and involves the serpent testing Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The serpent said,
“For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” NIV
We may recognize in this passage that what it was “to know” was not necessarily a good thing. In fact, when Adam and Eve followed the advice of the serpent and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they deeply regretted the knowledge that they had gained. They had fallen prey to the serpent and his art of cunning.
Genesis 3:1 says this about the serpent, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made.” The Hebrew word translated as crafty is, `aruwm. As used in Scriptures it can have both positive and negative connotations, depending on its usage. We should be able to clearly distinguish its negative intention from this passage as well as when looking at other usages that are clearly designed to reflect back to this very passage.
We will first look at the story of Job to see how the word `aruwm – crafty is used and to whom it alluded. In the 15th Chapter of the book of Job we find him being questioned by a group of friends. They accuse Job of unrighteousness when he attempted to defend his character. Job’s friend Eliphaz scolded him saying,
“Your sin prompts your mouth; you adopt the tongue of the crafty.“[4]
It should be clear that Eliphaz is referring to the serpent when he says to Job, “you adopt the tongue of the crafty,”[5] and that by accusing Job of lying, Eliphaz is accusing him of speaking the native tongue of the serpent.
Jesus also equates lying to the nature of the serpent when in John 8:44 he says,
“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
It is worth noting that `aruwm, or crafty, comes from the root word, Mre `aram. It is from this same root that we find the word, `ormah, which is translated as craftily in Exodus 21:14.
“If, however, a man acts presumptuously toward his neighbor, so as to kill him craftily, you are to take him even from My altar, that he may die.”
Before moving on, it is important to place this verse within its larger context to see its relationship to another concept that directly relates to the character of Cain, the character of Nimrod and to the character of Esau.
Exodus 21:12-14 states, “He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. But if he did not lie in wait [tsadah] for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place to which he may flee, however, a man acts presumptuously toward his neighbor, so as to kill him craftily [`ormah] you are to take him even from My altar, that he may die.”[6] Brackets mine.
Looking at these verses we can clearly see that to kill him craftily involves premeditation; to lie in wait for one’s victim. This was the plan of the serpent in the garden, to lie in wait and cunningly lure its’ victims into disobedience. Cain was told to beware the power of the adversary in Genesis 4:7,
If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well , sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.[7]
Jewish legend states that Esau did exactly that – lie in wait – prior to killing Nimrod and two companions one day as they were out hunting in a field.[8] Legend also states that it was jealousy between the hunters that led Esau to murder Nimrod.[9]
It should not be difficult to see that Esau shared specific character traits with the rebel Nimrod. He, too, was described as a hunter, tsayid[10], a cunning hunter; the root of the word tsayid refers to lying in wait[11] –– perhaps it may even have implied to be crouching at the door.
[1] James Montgomery Boice, Genesis, A New Beginning, pg 728
[2] Flavius Josephus, the Antiquities of the Jews, Book One, Chapter 4, 2
[3] H.C. Leupold, Exposition of Genesis, Genesis 10:8-9
[4] Job 15:5 NIV
[5] ibid
[6] Exodus 21:12-14, NAS
[7] Genesis 4:7, KJV
[8] Book of Jasher, Chapter 27:7, Artisan Publishers
[9] Targum pseudo-Jonathan to Genesis xxv. 27; “Sefer ha-Yashar,” section “Toledot,” p. 40b; Pirḳe R. El. l.c.; comp. Gen. R. lxv. 12
[10] James Strong, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Hebrew dyc 6718
[11] Ibid, Hebrew dwc 6679
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