Genesis 25:34

25:34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew; Esau ate and drank, then got up and went out. ¹  So Esau despised his birthright. ² 

Psalms 106:24

106:24 They rejected the fruitful land; ³ 

they did not believe his promise. ⁴ 

Proverbs 1:25

1:25 because ⁵  you neglected ⁶  all my advice,

and did not comply ⁷  with my rebuke,

Proverbs 1:30

1:30 they did not comply with my advice,

they spurned ⁸  all my rebuke.

Matthew 22:5

22:5 But they were indifferent and went away, one to his farm, another to his business.

Acts 13:41

13:41 ‘Look, you scoffers; be amazed and perish! ⁹ 

For I am doing a work in your days,

a work you would never believe, even if someone tells you.’” ¹⁰ 

Hebrews 12:16-17

12:16 And see to it that no one becomes ¹¹  an immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. ¹²  12:17 For you know that ¹³  later when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no opportunity for repentance, although he sought the blessing ¹⁴  with tears.

¹ sn The style here is typical of Hebrew narrative; after the tension is resolved with the dialogue, the working out of it is recorded in a rapid sequence of verbs (“gave”; “ate”; “drank”; “got up”; “went out”). See also Gen 3:1-7 for another example.

² sn So Esau despised his birthright. This clause, which concludes the episode, is a summary statement which reveals the underlying significance of Esau’s actions. “To despise” means to treat something as worthless or with contempt. Esau’s willingness to sell his birthright was evidence that he considered it to be unimportant.

³ tn Heb “a land of delight” (see also Jer 3:19; Zech 7:14).

⁴ tn Heb “his word.”

⁵ tn Heb “and.”

⁶ tn The verb III פָּרַע means “to let go; to let alone” (BDB 828 s.v.). It can refer to unkempt hair of the head (Lev 10:6) or lack of moral restraint: “to let things run free” (Exod 32:25; Prov 28:19). Here it means “to avoid, neglect” the offer of wisdom (BDB 829 s.v. 2).

⁷ tn The verbs are characteristic perfects or indefinite pasts. For the word “comply, consent,” see 1:20.

⁸ tn The verb “spurned” (נָאַץ, na’ats) is parallel to “comply, accede to, be willing” (e.g., 1:10). This is how the morally stubborn fool acts (e.g., 15:5).

⁹ tn Or “and die!”

¹⁰ sn A quotation from Hab 1:5. The irony in the phrase even if someone tells you, of course, is that Paul has now told them. So the call in the warning is to believe or else face the peril of being scoffers whom God will judge. The parallel from Habakkuk is that the nation failed to see how Babylon’s rising to power meant perilous judgment for Israel.

¹¹ tn Grk “that there not be any,” continuing from v. 15.

¹² sn An allusion to Gen 27:34-41.

¹³ tn Or a command: “for understand that.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “it,” referring either to the repentance or the blessing. But the account in Gen 27:34-41 (which the author appeals to here) makes it clear that the blessing is what Esau sought. Thus in the translation the referent (the blessing) is specified for clarity.