Who Is Sick Here
In his book, Search the Scriptures – A Physician Examines Medicine in the Bible, Dr. Robert B. Greenblatt, a respected endocrinologist, says we have given Esau a “bum rap.” Greenblatt believes Esau was suffering from hypoglycemia, low blood sugar.
Do you remember the story? Esau came in from a hunt hungry, weak, and faint. Jacob was brewing a pot of pottage, and Esau asked for some. Jacob said he would feed his brother if Esau would give him his birthright. Esau reasoned, “I’m dying, what good is a birthright?” (Genesis 25ff) Thus, a one-sided deal was struck. Ever since, people everywhere have spoken shamefully of Esau selling his birthright for a “bowl of soup.”
Greenblatt notes Esau had all the symptoms of hypoglycemia---hunger, craving sweets, fatigue. We assume Esau’s claim to be “at the point of death” is an exaggeration. However, Greenblatt insists it could have been literally true. Furthermore, he maintains Jacob’s protein rich pottage would have been an excellent antidote.
If Greenblatt’s diagnosis is correct, that adds a whole new dimension to this story. Not only did Jacob scam his brother, but he also unknowingly took advantage of a brother who was ill. It likely would not have changed anything for Jacob to know his brother was sick. Jacob, lived up to his name, “supplanter.” He took advantage of everyone he could---his brother, his mother, his father, his uncle, his wives, everyone. One could easily conclude both brothers were ill. Esau was physically sick. Jacob was mentally and spiritually ill.
Greenblatt’s new dimension to the story is interesting and may add to our disdain for Jacob, but historically it means nothing. Jacob went on to become Israel and the father of the Hebrew nation.
However, there is a note in this ugly story we must not miss. Years later, Jacob, who had misused his brother and family, suffered similarly at the hands of his own children. Ten of Jacob’s twelve sons kidnapped Jacob’s favorite child, Joseph, and sold him into Egyptian slavery. They told their father a wild animal had killed him. Perhaps they learned their chicanery from their father Jacob. Today, we would say, “What goes around comes around.” The Bible says it like this, “Be sure your sins will find you out.” (Numbers 32:23)
