Esau

In Genesis, Esau (Hebrew: עֵשָׂו ), was the eldest son of Isaac and Rebekah and the twin brother of Jacob in the Bible. A hunter, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a single meal after not finding food that day and being hungry. Esau was also very hairy, a fact that Jacob and his mother took advantage of when it came time for Isaac to give the blessing on his sons. Isaac had gone blind, so Jacob pretended to be Esau by putting hairy animal skins on his arms that his father touched and believed it was Esau. After that, Jacob was forced to flee for his life when his brother came back and realized what had happened.

The Bible follows the story of Jacob more than Esau, but it is known that Esau had become a powerful man with with many men at arms. His brother Jacob eventually met him in humility and the two brothers reconciled so that Esau did not kill Jacob when he saw him, although the Jacob stayed away from his brother after that.

In the New Testament in the Book of Hebrews Esau is scorned as a "profane person" for selling his birthright for a single meal. (Hebrews 12:16)

Esau is the ancestor of the Edomites, a Semitic people that resided mainly in Aravah and the Negev Desert. The Bible records that he had 5 sons (I Chr 1:35) and traces his descendants for three generations (I Chr 1:36-37). While the Israelites never forgot their kinship with the Edomites, they were often at odds. The Edomites were eventually lost to history, whereas the children of Jacob (renamed Israel) still trace their roots back to their great forefather today.