Eliyahu and Esau

When learning the Tanakh you are told to look at similar language in different places. Using the same language is the Tanakh's tool for telling you “Hey these are connected!” Oftentimes the use of similar language changes how we understand a certain word or phrase. They often have to do with similar topics, which makes it so unusual that Eliyahu and Esau are the only two men described as hairy without being given a reason for their hairiness. When I noticed this in class I immediately called out “I bet Eliyahu is descended from Esau.” Little did I know when I jokingly started looking into it that there would be lot’s of texts and more similarities between the two. For example, they not only are hairy as evidenced in Kings 2 1:8 and Genesis 25:25, but they also have bald acquaintances that ask for their inheritance. With Eliyahu it is in 2 kings 2:23

Elisha right before Eliyahu leaves on a fiery chariot he asks for a double inheritance. Later once Eliyahu leaves we get a description of Elisha from some annoying little kids,

“וַיַּעַל מִשָּׁם בֵּית־אֵל וְהוּא  עֹלֶה בַדֶּרֶךְ וּנְעָרִים קְטַנִּים יָצְאוּ מִן־הָעִיר וַיִּתְקַלְּסוּ־בוֹ וַיֹּאמְרוּ לוֹ עֲלֵה קֵרֵחַ עֲלֵה קֵרֵחַ׃”(II Kings 2:23). Right at the end of the pasuk it says “קֵרֵחַ”, although they are probably just bringing attention to it because they are making fun of him for not being Eliyahu, it is still one of if not the only physical description that we get of Elisha. Now back in Genesis 27:11 we get a description of Yaakov, “וַיֹּאמֶר יַעֲקֹב אֶל־רִבְקָה אִמּוֹ הֵן עֵשָׂו אָחִי אִישׁ שָׂעִר וְאָנֹכִי אִישׁ חָלָק׃” (Genesis 27:11). Although “חָלָק” normally means smooth, Ibn Ezra explains that “The word sa’ir means hairy. The opposite of sa’ir is chalak (smooth) (v. 11). Someone without hair on his body is possibly so called (chalak) because all parts of his body (chalakav) are the same.”(Ibn Ezra on Genesis 27:11) When looking at this it isn’t completely clear what he meant by it so another commentator clarifies in his commentary on Ibn Ezra. Rabbi Yonah Filwarg is a commentator from the 20th century who published many books. One of his more famous works is his commentaries on Ibn Ezra on Genesis. He explains that “Chelek means a part, chalak one whose entire body appears to be one part. The idea is that a hairy person has some non-hairy parts on his body; hence his body is not all the same. The smooth man’s skin is the same all over his body”(Yonah Filwarg on Ibn Ezra on Genesis 27:11).

Okay, now that we understand that Yaakov is bald like Elisha, let’s look at where Yaakov “asks” for Esau’s inheritance. In Genesis 25:29-34 we hear the story of how Yaakov got the inheritance from his older brother Esau. One pasuk that is really important is pasuk 30, “וַיֹּאמֶר עֵשָׂו אֶל־יַעֲקֹב הַלְעִיטֵנִי נָא מִן־הָאָדֹם הָאָדֹם הַזֶּה כִּי עָיֵף אָנֹכִי עַל־כֵּן קָרָא־שְׁמוֹ אֱדוֹם׃” . It is important because it says “אָדֹם”. As the Pasuk says Esau asked for “the red stuff” and was therefore called “אֱדוֹם.” This Is important to understanding how Eliyahu and Esau are similar because of a text in Zechariah.

In Zechariah 13 it talks about what will happen to false prophets and in particular pesukim 4-5 have to do with both Eliyahu and subsequently Esau. Zechariah says, “וְהָיָה  בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יֵבֹשׁוּ הַנְּבִיאִים אִישׁ מֵחֶזְיֹנוֹ בְּהִנָּבְאֹתוֹ וְלֹא יִלְבְּשׁוּ אַדֶּרֶת שֵׂעָר לְמַעַן כַּחֵשׁ׃ וְאָמַר לֹא נָבִיא אָנֹכִי אִישׁ־עֹבֵד אֲדָמָה אָנֹכִי כִּי אָדָם הִקְנַנִי מִנְּעוּרָי׃”(Zechariah 13:4-5). Starting with pasuk 5, it is noticeable that the text seems to reference Esau. Although Sefaria links it to Noach saying that he was the first man to till the soil and plant a vineyard. I disagree with this because the word that the text uses is “עֹבֵד אֲדָמָה”, even though those words by themselves are more similar to the words that the Tanakh uses to describe Noach in Genesis 9:20, I think that those words used in conjunction with “אָנֹכִי כִּי אָדָם הִקְנַנִי מִנְּעוּרָי” it is referring to Esau. If the text meant that the “red stuff” was wine, it would have used the word for wine. Instead it just calls it “אָדָם”, and wouldn’t you know it, that is the same description we get for the food that Esau sells the birthright for. In Pasuk 4 it says “אַדֶּרֶת שֵׂעָר”, those are the same words that are used to describe Esau when he is born, “וַיֵּצֵא הָרִאשׁוֹן אַדְמוֹנִי כֻּלּוֹ כְּאַדֶּרֶת שֵׂעָר וַיִּקְרְאוּ שְׁמוֹ עֵשָׂו׃”. Interestingly if you split the phrase up you get “אַדֶּרֶת” and “שֵׂעָר” both of which are important symbols for Eliyahu. His cloak is his garment and is what gets passed on once he dies, and as evidenced by how he is described to Achaziah in 2 Kings 1:8,

In the next pasuk when Achaziah says “That’s Eliyahu!”, it is a clue that he was known for having hair. That along with Elisha being made fun of for being bald tells us that hair was a symbol for Eliyahu. The אַדֶּרֶת is very clearly a symbol of his because it is there for all of the important things and is the one tangible thing that Elisha gets from Eliyahu. What is also interesting is how often the word אַדֶּרֶת is used. The word is only used 12 times in the entire Tanakh. Once when it is used to describe Esau’s hair, and five times in reference to Eliyahu’s cloak. Additionally it is used twice in Zechariah, twice in Yehoshua and once in both Ezekiel and Yonah. So as I explained at least half of the times that אַדֶּרֶת is used it is talking about Eliyahu’s אַדֶּרֶת.

Given what we know about the characters and how similar they are, it is striking how different the characters end up being. Esau ends up becoming the head of a warlike band of people called the Edomites, named for Esau because of his hair and his selling of the birthright. Eliyahu ends up being a great prophet.