Genesis 25:32-33

25:32 “Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die! What use is the birthright to me?” ¹  25:33 But Jacob said, “Swear an oath to me now.” ²  So Esau ³  swore an oath to him and sold his birthright ⁴  to Jacob.

Genesis 43:33

43:33 They sat before him, arranged by order of birth, beginning with the firstborn and ending with the youngest. ⁵  The men looked at each other in astonishment. ⁶ 

¹ tn Heb “And what is this to me, a birthright?”

² tn Heb “Swear to me today.”

³ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ sn And sold his birthright. There is evidence from Hurrian culture that rights of inheritance were occasionally sold or transferred. Here Esau is portrayed as a profane person who would at the moment rather have a meal than the right to inherit. He will soon forget this trade and seek his father’s blessing in spite of it.

³ tn Heb “the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth.”

⁴ sn The brothers’ astonishment indicates that Joseph arranged them in this way. They were astonished because there was no way, as far as they were concerned, that Joseph could have known the order of their birth.