Ἠσαῦ G2269
Esau, the elder twin son of Isaac who sold his birthright to Jacob
Esau, son of Isaac and Rebekah, appears in three significant New Testament references. Romans 9:13 quotes Malachi's 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated,' in Paul's discussion of divine election. Hebrews 11:20 cites Isaac's blessing of Jacob and Esau as an act of faith. Hebrews 12:16 uses Esau as a warning example of a 'profane person' who 'for one morsel of food sold his birthright.' The name comes from Hebrew עֵשָׂו. The New Testament consistently presents Esau as a theological type—the one who despised his inheritance, contrasted with Jacob who valued spiritual blessing despite his moral compromises.
Senses
1. sense 1 — The single sense refers to the historical and theological figure from Genesis. All three uses invoke Esau as an example in theological argument: Romans uses him in the sovereignty-of-God discussion, while Hebrews references both his reception of blessing (faith chapter) and his rejection of birthright (warning chapter). The tension between Hebrews 11:20 (Isaac's faith in blessing Esau) and 12:16 (Esau's profanity in selling the birthright) reflects the Genesis narrative's complexity. The multilingual glosses uniformly transliterate the name, maintaining its identity across languages as a proper noun with rich intertextual significance in biblical theology. 3×
AR["عِيسُو"]·ben["এষৌ", "এষৌকে"]·DE["Esau"]·EN["Esau", "Ēsau"]·FR["Esau", "Ésaü"]·heb["עֵשָׂו"]·HI["एसाव", "एसाव।"]·ID["Esau", "Esau,", "Esau."]·IT["Esau", "ēsau"]·jav["Esau", "Ésau"]·KO["에서", "에서를"]·PT["Esaú"]·RU["Исав", "Исава"]·ES["Ēsaû"]·SW["Esau"]·TR["Esav", "Esav'dan", "Esav'ı"]·urd["عیساؤ-کو", "عیسو", "عیسو-سے"]
Related Senses
G3588 1. definite article (18298×)H0853 1. definite direct object marker (10915×)G2532 1. (8312×)H3068 1. YHWH (the divine name) (6522×)H0834a 1. relative pronoun (who/which/that) (4839×)H3588a 1. causal: because, for (3498×)G1161 1. and (2806×)H3478 1. Israel (proper name and nation) (2507×)G4771 1. you (plural address) (1853×)H1931 1. personal pronoun he/she/it (1431×)G3739 1. relative pronoun who/which/that (1149×)H1732 1. David (proper name) (1075×)H2088 1. this, this one (demonstrative) (1059×)G1063 1. (1047×)G3778 1. this thing, these things (1003×)H???? 2. (1002×)G2424 1. (924×)G3754 1. that (content clause) (881×)H2009 1. presentative particle: behold, look (881×)H0589 1. I (first person singular pronoun) (874×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
Ἠσαῦ, ὁ indecl. (Heb. עֵשָׂו, Gen.25:25), Esau: Rom.9:13 (LXX) Heb.11:20 12:16.† (From Abbott-Smith. LSJ has no entry)