Jacob Obtaining Esau's Birthright (Ms. 33, fol. 36v, from the Weltchronik)

Unknown painter, Regensburg · about 1400–1410
Getty Center, Los Angeles

A page from the Regensburg Weltchronik of about 1400–1410. The painter used flat red and green grounds and outlined every figure in black.

Jacob stands behind a table with a large bowl of stew and loaves. Esau comes in from the right as a hunter — a bow and a quiver of arrows on his back — and holds out his hands.

From the text

Esau comes in from the field, famished (Genesis 25:29)

Jacob gives him bread and lentil stew (Genesis 25:34)

The artist’s own

Esau dressed as a hunter of the painter’s day

A trestle table with a white cloth

Details

Jacob

Behind the table he gestures towards his brother.

The stew

A wide bowl stands in the middle of the table.

Esau

The hunter, with bow and arrows, holds out his hands.

Unknown illuminator, Regensburg; text by Rudolf von Ems (Austrian, about 1200–1254). The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (Ms. 33 (88.MP.70), fol. 36v) · Tempera colors, gold, silver paint, and ink · Images provided here are believed to be in the public domain and are available under CC0 through Getty’s Open Content Program. (Getty record: "No Copyright", http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)

The verses

Gen 25:29–34One day, while Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the field and was famished. He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am famished.” (That is why he was also called Edom.) “First sell me your birthright,” Jacob replied. “Look,” said Esau, “I am about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?” “Swear to me first,” Jacob said. So Esau swore to Jacob and sold him the birthright. Then Jacob gave some bread and lentil stew to Esau, who ate and drank and then got up and went away. Thus Esau despised his birthright.