Despite what parents say or perhaps even would like to think, they pick favorites. This was certainly true of Jacob and Esau. Esau was a large hairy strapping lad who enjoyed the hunt and the manlier things in life. He was the elder and the favorite of their father. Jacob on the other hand was baby faced. His no-shave Novembers resulted in a mild case of peach fuzz and his place was by his mother's side in the kitchen (clearly her favorite). In this society the eldest son always received the full value of the birthright meaning that all the family wealth would go to Esau and none to Jacob. One day Esau returns hungry from a long hunt. Jacob in all his intellect tells Esau he can have some soup in exchange for his birthright. Esau in all of his stupidity obliges. Jacob now holding the birthright upon the urging of his mother covers his arms in goat fur to confuse his blind father into offering his blessing to him instead of Esau his older twin brother. Isaac their father falls for it and gives Jacob his blessing. Esau is filled with rage, but eventually the two are reconciled.
My birthright is my family farm. It has been passed down five generations each time being sold within the family. One day I will buy it from my father and become the six generation continuing a tradition that began before the civil war. I will continue to improve the farm as my forefathers did and one day I will hopefully pass it on to one of my children who shows an interest in it. Its an unspoken law that it stays within the family being passed down from generation to generation, thus far from father to son.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Horst,_Gerrit_Willemsz._-_Isaac_blessing_Jacob_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
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