Character And Motifs In The Esau-Jacob Story

Throughout this study, I criticized the interpretative tendency to reduce Esau to his physical appearance, his occupation and personality (through interpreting him in Gen 25:25, 27) and reduce the meaning of it to wild and foolishness. I have argued that both character and motif of Esau can reflect theological theme in the story. While the Esau-Jacob story may be encoded with the blessing only to the chosen patriarch, neither the character nor the motif of Esau can even be reduced. It is to be noted that characters and motifs construct to each other through a complex interaction. Esau’s character and motifs that surround him have an impact on the use of the blessing to the descendant of Abraham. The complex mode of presentation allows the reader to engage and interact with the fully formed

Through the character and motifs of Esau, it cannot be denied that he is a worthy and blessed son and brother. Genesis scholars’ interpretation and traditional way of reading view Esau different to Jacob by focusing on Jacob as the chosen one. So, this study brought a balance by offering a study of the biblical characterization of Esau. This reading suggested that Esau is an important character in narrator’s point of view. If one ignores the premises about Esau as a foil, then the complex picture of Esau’s character can be seen. The narrator described Esau through Jacob’s words that Esau’s face was compared to God’s face, Esau was a master and lord who offered the favor without taking revenge. What can be argued from the present study is that the portrayal of Esau in the Genesis text is not necessarily foolish foil one. In order to reveal those assumptions about Esau, the present study suggested a counter reading to the dominate interpretation of