Who sold his birthright for a bowl of stew?

Who sold his birthright for a bowl of stew? Esau sold his birthright to his twin brother Jacob in the Book of Genesis. Returning from the fields famished, Esau agrees to surrender the privilege in exchange for Jacob’s red lentil stew.

A birthright was more than a symbolic title. In the biblical setting, the firstborn son held a leading position in the family and traditionally received a larger inheritance. Genesis uses Esau’s impulsive bargain to explain how Jacob gained the firstborn’s status despite being the younger twin.

The story is followed by a separate deception involving Isaac’s blessing. Rebekah helps Jacob disguise himself as the hairy Esau so that the blind Isaac blesses him. Esau therefore loses both the birthright he traded and the blessing Jacob obtained through trickery, creating intense hostility between the brothers.

Esau is also associated with the name Edom, meaning “red,” and is presented as the ancestor of the Edomites. The phrase “a mess of pottage” comes from this episode, though the biblical text specifically describes lentil stew.