(21) Isaac pleaded with the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD responded to his plea, and his wife Rebekah conceived. (22) But the children struggled in her womb, and she said, “If so, why do I exist?” She went to inquire of the LORD, (23) and the LORD answered her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
Two separate peoples shall issue from your body;
One people shall be mightier than the other,
And the older shall serve the younger.” (24) When her time to give birth was at hand, there were twins in her womb. (25) The first one emerged red, like a hairy mantle all over; so they named him Esau. (26) Then his brother emerged, holding on to the heel of Esau; so they named him Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born. (27) When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the outdoors; but Jacob was a mild man who stayed in camp. (28) Isaac favored Esau because he had a taste for game;-e but Rebekah favored Jacob. (29) Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the open, famished. (30) And Esau said to Jacob, “Give me some of that red stuff to gulp down, for I am famished”—which is why he was named Edom. (31) Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” (32) And Esau said, “I am at the point of death, so of what use is my birthright to me?” (33) But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. (34) Jacob then gave Esau bread and lentil stew; he ate and drank, and he rose and went away. Thus did Esau spurn the birthright.
Of the dew of heaven and the fat of the earth,
Abundance of new grain and wine. (29) Let peoples serve you,
And nations bow to you;
Be master over your brothers,
And let your mother’s sons bow to you.
Cursed be they who curse you,
Blessed they who bless you.” (30) No sooner had Jacob left the presence of his father Isaac—after Isaac had finished blessing Jacob—than his brother Esau came back from his hunt. (31) He too prepared a dish and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father sit up and eat of his son’s game, so that you may give me your innermost blessing.” (32) His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” And he said, “I am your son, Esau, your first-born!” (33) Isaac was seized with very violent trembling. “Who was it then,” he demanded, “that hunted game and brought it to me? Moreover, I ate of it before you came, and I blessed him; now he must remain blessed!” (34) When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst into wild and bitter sobbing, and said to his father, “Bless me too, Father!” (35) But he answered, “Your brother came with guile and took away your blessing.” (36) [Esau] said, “Was he, then, named Jacob that he might supplant me these two times? First he took away my birthright and now he has taken away my blessing!” And he added, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” (37) Isaac answered, saying to Esau, “But I have made him master over you: I have given him all his brothers for servants, and sustained him with grain and wine. What, then, can I still do for you, my son?” (38) And Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, Father? Bless me too, Father!” And Esau wept aloud.
הלעיטני LET ME SWALLOW — I will open my mouth and you pour a lot in. The word is really used of feeding animals as we find the word in the Mishna, (Shabbat 155b) “One may not fatten up a camel on the Sabbath but one may pour food (מלעיטין) into its mouth. ”
(11) King David dedicated these to the LORD, along with the other silver and gold that he dedicated, [taken] from all the nations he had conquered: (12) from Edom, Moab, and Ammon; from the Philistines and the Amalekites, and from the plunder of Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah. (13) David gained fame when he returned from defeating-g Edom in the Valley of Salt, 18,000 in all. (14) He stationed garrisons in Edom—he stationed garrisons in all of Edom-h—and all the Edomites became vassals of David. The LORD gave David victory wherever he went.
תני א"ר יהודה בן ר' אלעאי ברוך ר' היה דורש (בראשית כ״ז:כ״ב) הקול קול יעקב והידים ידי עשו קולו של יעקב צווח ממה שעשו לו ידי עשו בביתר.
It was taught: Rabbi Yehudah bei Rabbi Ilai Baruch said: “Rabbi [Yehudah HaNasi] used to offer this homily: ‘The voice is the voice of Jacob but the hands are the hands of Esau’ (Gen 27:22): The voice is the voice of Jacob crying out because of what the hands of Esau did to him at Beitar.”
And the older shall serve the younger: God uses ambiguous language deliberately. If He had wished to say explicitly that the elder shall be a slave to the younger, He would have used the Hebrew formulation verav ya’avod la’tza’ir, and had He wished to say unequivocally the reverse, He would have said – verav ya’avod ba’tzair. Here two ways are used. One will serve the other and it depends on the times.