How did Esau and Jacob differ in personality and lifestyle?
Esau was a cunning hunter and a man of the field, an outdoorsman whom his father Isaac favored because he ate of his venison. Jacob was a plain man dwelling in tents, his mother Rebekah’s favorite. The twins thus had totally different personalities and lifestyles, which set up family favoritism.
Les teaches that Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a plain man dwelling in tents. He points out that they were grown young men, 24 years old at the time of the bean soup incident. Their personalities were totally different: Esau was the father’s favorite because Isaac ate his venison, and Jacob was the mother’s favorite. Les notes this favoritism created a potential for family problems. Esau came from the field faint and asked Jacob for red bean soup, which was plain old red bean soup, and his name was called Edom, meaning red.
And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.