ejd@petrus.UUCP (Ed J. Donofrio) (08/09/85)
I thought someone might like to discuss the meaning of Brother Esau. Sorry that I chose the song some people agreed they would most likely go take a pee during, but when I was at Ventura I was with someone who knew more about the bible than I. This is how the story was relayed to me if anyone is interested. It seems that the story is that Esau was the older brother of Jacob. Esau was the athlete and hunter and also his father's favorite son. While Jacob was younger, a good cook and gardener, and his mother's favorite son. One day Esau is out hunting and comes back exhausted and collapses. He begs Jacob to give him something to eat. Jacob makes Esau promise that if he gives him something to eat that Jacob will inherit Esau's birthright and be heir to the estate of his father Isaac. Esau concedes his birthright in trade for some food. When father Isaac is dying he asks his wife to bring him Esau so he can bestow the family blessing on him. Isaac is supposed to have some God given power about blessings. But the mom brings him Jacob instead who now has Esau's birthright and blessing. Just before Isaac dies he finds out about the switch and calls Esau to give him a different blessing. He blesses Esau, that Esau is now undefeatable and will live by the sword as Jacob's guardian. Okay what I'm curious about is that before I heard this I saw an interview with Bobby that said it was his most political song and that it alludes to the plight of the Vietnam Vet. Does someone else see the correlation between the biblical story and the plight of the vietnam vet? --Ed Donofrio