In Genesis 27:36, Esau laments that Jacob, “took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” The birthright usually belonged to the oldest male heir in a family. The oldest son, usually, received double the inheritance of his younger brothers. With this double portion came the responsibility of caring for the extended family which would include the widow of the deceased and any unwed sisters. Thus, the double portion of the material inheritance was to ensure that the recipient of the birthright had the means to take care of the family.
Esau’s statement in Genesis 27:36 hints that the birthright did not necessarily confer family headship. Esau believed that Jacob had stolen both the birthright and the blessing from him. As the oldest, Esau expected to receive both.
What this passage reveals is that the birthright and the blessing were not the same thing. Presumably they often went together, but this Old Testament passage leaves the door open to the possibility that they could go to two different brothers.
What was the blessing?
“This blessing is one that transfers the leadership of the clan to the next generation.”1 This seems apparent by examining the wording of Jacob’s blessing:
28 May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine.
29 Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!” (Gen. 27:28–29 ESV)
Not only was this blessing meant to bestow prosperity, but also headship. It would make perfect sense that the son who inherited clan headship would need the material resources that went along with the birthright. However, it is within the realm of possibility that family leadership could go to one son, while the father charged a different son with seeing to the physical needs of the family.
Of course, this arrangement could leave the two brothers at odds if they failed to agree on how to handle the family assets. Unless the two brothers were of the same mind, wisdom would dictate that the blessing and birthright went to the same son. Alas, family dysfunction was no stranger to the offspring of Abraham.
Did the birthright and blessing usually go together?
I cannot say what the norm was for combining the birthright and the blessing for heirs in the ancient Near East. In fact, I cannot say if a blessing was even customary in ANE families who were not part of God’s chosen people. However, we can be certain that the blessing and the birthright were not always combined in Abraham’s family.
When Jacob was old, he gathered his sons together to tell them “what shall happen to you in days to come” (Gen. 49:1 ESV). As Jacob spoke, he specifically excluded his firstborn son Reuben from receiving a blessing or birthright. Reuben had sinned against his father and thus excluded himself from the expected inheritance.
It was Joseph who received the birthright through his sons Manasseh and Ephraim.
The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (for he was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father’s couch, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel, so that he could not be enrolled as the oldest son; (1 Chr. 5:1 ESV)
Joseph, in effect, received the double portion of his father’s inheritance because Jacob had made Joseph’s two sons equal to Joseph’s eleven brothers. So, the birthright went to Joseph (via Manasseh and Ephraim), but did Joseph also receive the blessing?
Jacob separated the birthright and blessing
While several of Jacob’s sons received a blessing, the blessing went to Judah.
The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs; the nations will obey him. (Gen. 49:10 NET)
So, it would seem safe to conclude that Jacob’s blessing conferred family leadership upon Judah. The chronicler echos this by saying, “Judah became strong among his brothers.”
though Judah became strong among his brothers and a chief came from him, yet the birthright belonged to Joseph), (1 Chr. 5:2 ESV)
Birthright and blessing were not inseparable
As we’ve seen from these examples, the birthright and blessing were not the same thing and were, at least once, given to different heirs. It is also apparent that the head of the family was not bound by tradition to bestow either upon the oldest male heir. The younger receiving what tradition would bestow upon the older is a theme that runs through the book of Genesis.