Midrasch zu Bereschit 25:30

[(Gen. 25:30:) PLEASE LET ME GULP DOWN SOME OF THIS RED RED STUFF.] What is the meaning of LET ME GULP DOWN? R. Johanan said: From you and from those like you, < i.e., > from the righteous who are like you.¹³Gen. R. 63:12. The repetition of RED suggests that ESAU was not only making demands of Jacob, but that such demands would be repeated against the righteous in future generations.

Another interpretation: LET ME GULP DOWN. "Give me" is not written here, but LET ME GULP DOWN. He said to him: LET ME GULP DOWN < SOME >. He gave him < some > in a saucer. He said: You are giving it to me in a saucer. Pour from the pot < directly > into my mouth. Now the word for "gulping down" (rt.: L'T) is nothing but the word for "pouring"; for so have our masters taught (in Shab. 24:3): ONE DOES NOT STUFF THE CAMEL NOR CRAM IT BUT FEEDS IT FULLY (rt.: L'T).¹⁴Since this root never appeals in Sctipture apart from Gen. 25:30, its meaning is doubtful. The context in the Mishnah implies that the verb in question is something that one does to the camel. Thus “gulping down” must have been something that Jacob did to Esau. See Gen. R. 63:12; PRK 6:2. He therefore said (in Gen. 25:30): LET ME GULP DOWN (in the sense of POUR INTO ME).

(Ibid., cont.:) TO THE LAND OF SEIR IN THE FIELDS OF EDOM. [What is the meaning of TO THE LAND OF SEIR (rt.: S'R)?] That he makes one's hair (rt.: S'R) stand on end. TO THE FIELDS OF EDOM (rt.: 'DM).¹⁵Gen. R. 63:12; 75:4. He is red (rt.: 'DM), his food is red, his warriors are red, his attire is red, his shields are red, his land is red, the one who stands up to him is red, and the one who exacts retribution from him is red in red attire. He is red (according to Gen. 25:25): THE FIRST (i.e., Esau) CAME FORTH RUDDY. His food is red (according to Gen. 25:30): < PLEASE LET ME GULP DOWN > SOME OF THIS RED RED STUFF. His warriors are red (according to Nahum 2:4): HIS WARRIORS' SHIELDS ARE RED. His attire is red (according to ibid., cont.): AND HIS SOLDIERS ARE CLOTHED IN CRIMSON. His shields are red (according to ibid.): HIS WARRIORS' SHIELDS ARE RED. His land is red (rt.: 'DM) (according to Gen. 32:4 [3]): TO THE LAND OF SEIR IN THE FIELDS OF EDOM (rt.: 'DM). The one who stands up to him is red. This is David (according to I Sam. 16:12): SO HE SENT AND BROUGHT HIM. NOW HE WAS RUDDY. And what < else > is written about him (in II Sam. 8:14)? HE PUT GARRISONS IN EDOM. And the < the Holy One >, who exacts retribution from him, is red (according to Cant. 5:10): MY BELOVED IS BRIGHT AND RUDDY. (Is. 63:1:) WHO IS THIS COMING FROM EDOM (rt.: 'DM)? < He comes > in red attire (according to vs. 2): WHY IS YOUR CLOTHING SO RED … ?

(Numb 28:2:) “Guard to offer it to Me at its set time.” This text is related (to Prov. 13:25), “The righteous man eats to satiate his soul.” This is Eliezer who said to Rebekah (in Gen. 24:17), “Please let me sip a bit of water,” enough to sip. (Prov. 13:25, cont.:) “But the belly of the wicked is lacking.” That is Esau who said to Jacob (in Gen. 25:30), “Please stuff me (haliteini).” R. Isaac bar Zeira said, “He opened his mouth wide like a camel and said, ‘I will open my mouth and you put it in.’” It is taught there (Mishnah Shabbat 24:3), “One may not forcibly overfeed a camel on Shabbat and one may not force-feed it. However, one may place food into its mouth (malitin).” Another interpretation (of Prov. 13:25), “The righteous man eats to satiate his soul”: This is Ruth about whom it is written (in Ruth 2:14), “and she ate her fill and had some left over.” As blessing dwelt in the mouth of that righteous woman. (Prov. 13:25, cont.:) “But the belly of the wicked is lacking.” That is the gentiles. There was a story about a gentile who made a banquet for all the people of his city: R. Dustai said, “He invited me to that banquet, with all the people of his city, and his table was not lacking any of the tasty foods of the world except for perekh nuts alone. What did he do? He took the serving table that was in front of us that was worth more than sixty talents of silver and he broke it. I said to him, ‘Why did you do this?’ He said to me, ‘You say that this world is ours and the next world is yours. If we do not [get to] eat now, when will we eat [it[?’ I read [as being] about him (Prov. 13:25, cont.), ‘but the belly of the wicked is lacking.’” (Numb. 28:3:) “And you shall say to them, ‘This is the burnt offering which you shall offer to the Lord: two yearling lambs without blemish.’” Not two simultaneously, but (as in vs. 4), “The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the second lamb you shall offer at twilight.” R. Judah bar Simon said, “None ever lodged in Jerusalem with sin on their hands.³⁷Numb. R. 21:21. How so? The sacrifice of the morning atoned for the transgressions which were committed during the night, and the daily sacrifice at twilight atoned for transgressions which were committed during the day.” In any case none lodged in Jerusalem with sin on their hands, as stated (in Is. 1:21), “righteousness lodges³⁸Although the biblical context requires a past tense for this verb, the sense of the midrash assumes a present or a future. Such a translation also fits the later use of the imperfect tense used here. there (i.e., in Jerusalem).” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to the Israelites, “In this world you offer shewbread, but in the world to come I will prepare a great table for you, with the idolaters looking on in shame. It is so stated (in Ps. 23:5), “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies….” It also says (in Is. 65:13), “Behold, My servants shall eat, [but you shall go hungry]….”

20 You have one king and his name was Solomon, as stated (about the lavishness of his meals in I Kings 5:2-3), “Solomon’s daily provisions consisted of thirty kor of semolina, and sixty kor of [ordinary] flour, ten fattened oxen […].” R. Yehuda bar Zvidah said, “Solomon had a thousand wives and each and every one would make him like this every day, as she thought he would eat with her. [And] Nehemiah the governor did not [even] have the ability to reckon his meal, as stated (in Neh. 5:18), ‘And although what was prepared for each day came to one ox […].’ The Holy One, blessed be He, said, ‘My children, it is not because there is eating and drinking in front of Me that I said [it] to you. Rather it is because of the smell; that you shall be joyful and pleasant in front of Me, like a pleasing smell.’”

21 (Numb 28:2) “Guard to offer it to Me at its set time”: This text is related (to Prov. 13:25), “The righteous man eats to satiate his soul.” This is Eliezer who said to Rebekah (in Gen. 24:17), “Please let me sip a bit of water,” enough to sip. (Prov. 13:25, cont.) “But the belly of the wicked is lacking.” That is Esau who said to Jacob (in Gen. 25:30), “Please stuff me (haliteini).” R. Isaac bar Zeira said, “He opened his mouth wide like a camel and said, ‘I will open my mouth and you put it in.’” It is taught there (Mishnah Shabbat 24:3), “One may not forcibly overfeed a camel on Shabbat and one may not force-feed it. However, one may place food into its mouth (malitin).” (Prov. 13:25), “The righteous man eats to satiate his soul”: This is Ruth about whom it is written (in Ruth 2:14), “and she ate her fill and had some left over.” As blessing dwelt in the mouth of that righteous woman. (Prov. 13:25, cont.) “But the belly of the wicked is lacking”: That is the gentiles. There was a story about a gentile who made a banquet for all the people of his city: R. Dustai said, “He invited me to that banquet, with all the people of his city, and his table was not lacking any of the tasty foods of the world except for perekh nuts alone. What did he do? He took the serving table that was in front of us that was worth more than sixty talents of silver and he broke it. I said to him, ‘Why did you do this?’ He said to me, ‘You say that this world is ours and the next world is yours. If we do not [get to] eat now, when will we eat?’ I read [as being] about him (Prov. 13:25, cont.), ‘but the belly of the wicked is lacking.’”

THE VISION OF JACOB AT BETHEL
"BETTER is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof" (Eccles. 7:8). The first blessings wherewith Isaac blessed Jacob were concerning the dews of heaven, and concerning the corn of the earth, as it is said, "And God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth" (Gen. 27:28). The final blessings were the blessings of the foundation of the world, and in them there is no (interruption), either in this world or in the world to come, as it is said, "And God Almighty bless thee" (Gen. 28:3). And he further added unto him the blessing of Abraham, || as it is said, "And may he give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee and to thy seed with thee" (Gen. 28:4). Therefore (say): "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof" (Eccles. 7:8). "Better is the patient in spirit than the proud in spirit" (ibid.). "Better is the patient in spirit"—this (saying) is applicable to our father Jacob, for every day he was patient in spirit, and he spake all kinds of words of entreaty. (The words) "than the proud in spirit" (ibid.) refer to the wicked Esau, because every day he was eating the flesh of that which he had hunted. Owing to his pride he did not give any of his food to Jacob. Once he went out to hunt but he did not meet with any success. He saw Jacob eating lentil food, and he desired this in his heart, and he said to him: "Let me gulp down, I pray thee, some of that red pottage" (Gen. 25:30). Jacob said to him: Thou camest forth red at thy birth from thy mother; (now) thou dost desire to eat (this) red food; therefore he called his name "Edom" (red), as it is said, "And Esau said to Jacob" (ibid.).