Комментарий к Берешит 26:34

בן ארבעים שנה [AND ESAU WAS] FORTY YEARS OLD —Esau is compared to a boar, as it is said, (Psalms 80:14) “The boar from the wood doth ravage it”. The boar when it lies down stretches forth its cloven hoof as much as to say, “See, I am a clean animal” (whilst really cloven hoofs are a feature of clean animals only in conjunction with another that is lacking in the swine). In the same way these dukes of Esau rob and extort and pretend to be honorable (Genesis Rabbah 65:1). For the whole forty years Esau enticed women from their husbands and ill-treated them; when he reached the age of forty he said, “My father took a wife when he was forty and I shall do the same” (Gen. R. 65).

ויהי עשו בן ארבעים שנה, at that point Yitzchok was 100 years old seeing that he had been 60 years old at the time the twins had been born. The only reason the Torah draws our attention to the age at which Esau got married was to give us a better understanding of Yitzchok’s age when he is described as getting old, (27,1) He must have been well over 100 years old by then.

ויהי עשו בן ארבעים שנה, at that point Yitzchok was 100 years old and he did not bother to see to it that both of his sons should be provided with suitable wives. As a result,

ויהי עשו, the reason why he did not marry until he was 40 years of age was that he wanted to emulate his father who had married at the age of 40. He wanted to create the impression that he was walking in the footsteps of his father. However, he did not observe his father’s ways who had not been allowed to marry a woman of Canaanite descent. In that respect he followed his eyes, judging by external appearances, not ancestry, and personal virtues. He had not bothered to consult with his father. He was guided by the influence the family of his wives wielded in the land of Canaan, for after mentioning the names of the wives it becomes clear that the father of each was a well known personality. Seeing Esau appeared a great man to the fathers of these girls, they consented to let him marry them.

The daughter of Be’eri the Chittite. From the fact that Yitzchok did not warn him against marrying a Canaanite it is clear that he knew that Yaakov alone was to be his heir (see Rashi 28:15). Nevertheless, he loved Eisov because he thought him resourceful and decent.

ויהי עשו בן ארבעים שנה ויקח אשה את יהודית בת בארי החתי ואת בשמת, “when Esau had reached the age of forty he took as a wife Yehudit daughter of Be-eri the Hittite and Bosmas.” Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 65,1 interpreted the wording to mean that during the first forty years of his life Esau chased married women. When he attained the age at which his father had married his mother, he decided to emulate his father’s example and to take a wife also. He reasoned: “just as my father married at the age of forty, I shall do the same.” Concerning this strange attack of sudden piety on the part of Esau, Rabbi Pinchas quoted Rabbi Simon that it is strange that the pig has been mentioned only on two occasions by the prophets. Once by Moses who emphasized that it is unfit to be eaten by Jews (Leviticus 11,7), and the second time by Assaph in Psalms 80,14 “the wild boar gnaws at it and creatures of the field feed on it.” The psalmist uses the pig as an example of a creature which when “lying down” extends its hooves to display that it is a pure animal, while at all other times it unabashedly disregards civilized conduct. Esau, when getting ready to settle down, pretended to be following in the footsteps of his father by choosing the age at which his father had gotten married to emulate him. The nation descended from Esau also excels in pretending to apply civilized standards as something demanded of others while they themselves rob, plunder and murder. They have a record of perpetrating evil under the cloak of being servants of the Lord.
Both Esau’s wives were Hittites, Canaanites, members of the seven tribes whom the Jewish people have been instructed to exterminate if they do not vacate the land of Canaan first (Deut. 20,17). The Torah informs us that wicked Esau married wives belonging to a wicked people. The verse applied to the marriages of the wicked is found in Psalms 125,5: “but those who in their crookedness act corruptly, let the Lord make them go the way of the evildoers; peace on Israel.” The psalmist means that when the wicked join other evildoers the ultimate result will be peace for Israel as the wicked will self-destruct. Hail to Israel who do not act in this fashion. Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 65,3 have stated “when a starling is seen joining a raven, this is not by accident. It proves they have something in common.” [In current parlance this is the meaning of the expression “birds of a feather.” Ed.] If Esau, though biologically descended from a father who epitomized holiness nevertheless married such women, it proved that spiritually he was totally corrupt.

Mit dieser Heirat und noch dazu zugleich zweier Chitterinnen hatte Esau vollständig seine Unfähigkeit zur Tragung des Abrahamsberufes besiegelt. In einem Hause, wo gar zwei Töchter Chets walteten, war das abrahamitische Prinzip begraben. Wir haben gesehen, wie Jizchak und Rebekka es als ihre Aufgabe erkannten, sich zu isolieren, und nun denke man sich: Jizchak baut einen Altar und ׳ויקרא בשם ד, und sein eigener ältester Sohn bringt die ע"ז ins Haus. Natürlich heißt es dann, dass sie מורת רוח ׳וגו waren.

ויקח אשה, את יהודית בת בארי החתי, apparently Yitzchok did not object to his sons marrying Canaanite girls, something his father had objected to strenuously.