Esau said to Jacob, “I’m starved! Give me some of that red stew!” (This is how Esau got his other name, Edom, which means “red.”)
Parallel translations
- WEB Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was called Edom.
- KJV And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.
- BSB He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am famished.” (That is why he was also called Edom.)
- NKJV And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom.
- NASB and Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me have a mouthful of that red stuff there, for I am exhausted.” Therefore he was called Edom by name.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Esau begs for the red stew, and so he is called Edom.
Overview
Esau's craving for the red stew earns him the name Edom, linking him to the nation that would descend from him. His focus on immediate satisfaction reveals a heart indifferent to spiritual inheritance. The naming ties his character flaw to his lasting identity.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Num 20:14–21Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying: “Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the travail that has happened to us;
- Exod 15:15Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed. Trembling takes hold of the mighty men of Moab. All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
- Deut 23:7You shall not abhor an Edomite; for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land.
- 2 Kgs 8:20In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves.
- Gen 36:43chief Magdiel, and chief Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession. This is Esau, the father of the Edomites.
- Gen 36:9This is the history of the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir:
- Gen 36:1Now this is the history of the generations of Esau (that is, Edom).
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 25:30 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.