As an identical twin myself, I find Jacob's treatment of his brother extremely offensive!
Bible Reading: Genesis 25
24: And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25: And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. 26: And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them. 27: And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. 28: And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob. 29: And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: 30: 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. 31: And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. 32: And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?
John's Midrash
Chapter 25 of Genesis concerns itself with the birth of twin sons, Esau and Jacob to Rebekah and Isaac. This passage has particular relevance to me, because I too am a twin, as perspicacious readers of BSD are well aware. Esau is described as being red and hairy, whereas Jacob is not similarly described. Later, in Genesis 27, Jacob declaims, “Esau, my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man.” So unlike Jim and me, these two are fraternal, not identical, twins.
Nonetheless, as a twin, I feel I do have a right to comment on the abject wretchedness of Jacob’s behavior towards his brother. Regardless of whether you are identical or not, if your twin comes to you in a state of starvation and you have some soup, you simply give it to him. You do NOT demand some huge recompense in return, which is just what Jacob did when Esau comes begging for food. Jacob, being the second born, is jealous of Esau’s right of primogeniture and demands it in exchange for some “pottage”. Even as a fetus Jacob seems to have been a greedy little grasper; he apparently grabs onto Esau’s heel in the birth canal, presumably jockeying for position even before birth.
Another quite interesting aspect of this Chapter is the eerie parallels between these two brothers and their very early ancestors Cain and Abel. Cain and Jacob were farmers whereas Abel and Esau either hunted or raised meat. And in each story, meat was clearly preferred by the respective patriarchal father figure. God respected Abel’s meat offering but had no respect for Cain’s “fruit of the ground”. Isaac “loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.” Both of the farmers ended up being jealous of their meat-producing brothers and then did them harm. Cain murdered his brother; Jacob extorted a birthright from his.
One could argue that there are two archetypes here, the hunter/meat producer as typified by Abel and Esau, and the more civilized farmer type as exemplified by Cain and Jacob. The former archetype is closer to an animal nature whereas the latter might be associated with human progress through exercise of the mental faculties. And it is this latter type of man that seems to strive to overcome the former, by hook or by crook. God has already made it quite clear in the story of Babel that He is wary of this progressive tendency in man, yet these stories show that there may not be a lot he can do about it.