In the tumultuous aftermath of Abraham’s passing, destinies collide as Isaac sends his son Jacob to study the ancient ways under Shem and Eber, while Esau rejects this path, retreating into the wilds of Canaan. Esau’s relentless hunts turn sinister as he sharpens his wits and cunning, stalking both prey and men, until he meets his fateful rival—Nimrod, the mighty hunter king of Babel. With a bold stroke, Esau beheads the towering king, seizing his enchanted garments, symbols of dominion, and returns home exhausted, driven by both ambition and desperation.
Amid this chaos, a pivotal exchange occurs: Esau, weakened and weary, trades his birthright for a bowl of Jacob’s red pottage, sealing his fall from glory. In this decisive moment, “Edom” is born, and Jacob, now the elder, ascends. The death of Nimrod, prophesied and inevitable, unravels his empire, splintering it into chaos as his mighty reign crumbles under the weight of Esau’s sword. Like all great empires, it falls, as echoed in Shelley’s famous lines: “Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!” Yet, Jacob’s rise heralds a new age, where the threads of fate twist, reshaping history in the hands of the sons of Isaac.
Major Characters
Minor Characters
Insignificant Characters
Watch an explainer video for the Exploitation chapter:
Genesis
20%
Jasher
63%
Jubilees
17%
Exposition
Salah died
Genesis 11:15
Jasher 28:17
Isaac sends Jacob to the house of Shem and Eber
YHWH blesses Isaac and Isaac dwells at the Well Lahairoi
Genesis 25:11
Jasher 26:39
Jubilees 24:1
Abraham’s grandchildren born
The dwellings of the children of Jokshan and Midian
Rising Action
A famine occurs in the land
Esau and Nimrod go hunting
Climax
Esau battles Nimrod and his men
Esau takes the garments of YHWH
Falling Action
Esau sells his birthright to Jacob for red pottage
Genesis 25:29-33
Jasher 27:11-12
Jubilees 24:3-5
Esau sells his burial plot from the cave in Machpelah to Jacob
Esau eats the red pottage which results in his name changing to Edom
Genesis 25:34
Jubilees 24:6-7
Resolution
Nimrod’s death and it’s results
Jubilee: 44
Year: 2127
Salah died
Genesis 11:15
15 And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
Jasher 28:17
17 And after this Shelach the son at Arpachshad died in that year, which is the eighteenth year of the lives of Jacob and Esau; and all the days that Shelach lived were four hundred and thirty-three years and he died.
Isaac sends Jacob to the house of Shem and Eber
Jasher 28:18
18 At that time Isaac sent his younger son Jacob to the house of Shem and Eber, and he learned the instructions of the Lord, and Jacob remained in the house of Shem and Eber for thirty-two years, and Esau his brother did not go, for he was not willing to go, and he remained in his father’s house in the land of Canaan.
Jasher 28:19-21
19 And Esau was continually hunting in the fields to bring home what he could get, so did Esau all the days.
20 And Esau was a designing and deceitful man, one who hunted after the hearts of men and inveigled them, and Esau was a valiant man in the field, and in the course of time went as usual to hunt; and he came as far as the field of Seir, the same is Edom.
21 And he remained in the land of Seir hunting in the field a year and four months.
Year: 2137
YHWH blesses Isaac and Isaac dwells at the Well Lahairoi
Genesis 25:11
11 And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi.
Jasher 26:39
39 And it was after the death of Abraham that God blessed his son Isaac and his children, and the Lord was with Isaac as he had been with his father Abraham, for Isaac kept all the commandments of the Lord as Abraham his father had commanded him; he did not turn to the right or to the left from the right path which his father had commanded him.
Jubilees 24:1
1 And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that the Lord blessed Isaac his son, and he arose from Hebron and went and dwelt at the Well of the Vision in the first year of the third week [2073 A.M.] of this jubilee, seven years.
Year: 2136-2149
Abraham’s grandchildren born
Jasher 25:12-13
12 And the sons of Ephah were Methach, Meshar, Avi and Tzanua, and the sons of Epher were Ephron, Zur, Alirun and Medin, and the sons of Chanoch were Reuel, Rekem, Azi, Alyoshub and Alad.
13 And the sons of Abida were Chur, Melud, Kerury, Molchi; and the sons of Eldaah were Miker, and Reba, and Malchiyah and Gabol; these are the names of the Midianites according to their families; and afterward the families of Midian spread throughout the land of Midian.
The dwellings of the children of Jokshan and Midian
Jasher 25:8-10
8 But the children of Sheba and Dedan, children of Jokshan, with their children, did not dwell with their brethren in their cities, and they journeyed and encamped in the countries and wildernesses unto this day.
9 And the children of Midian, son of Abraham, went to the east of the land of Cush, and they there found a large valley in the eastern country, and they remained there and built a city, and they dwelt therein, that is the land of Midian unto this day.
10 And Midian dwelt in the city which he built, he and his five sons and all belonging to him.
A famine occurs in the land i
Jubilees 24:2
2 And in the first year of the fourth week a famine began in the land, [2080 A.M.] besides the first famine, which had been in the days of Abraham.
Esau and Nimrod go hunting
Jasher 27:1-6
1 And Esau at that time, after the death of Abraham, frequently went in the field to hunt.
2 And Nimrod king of Babel, the same was Amraphel, also frequently went with his mighty men to hunt in the field, and to walk about with his men in the cool of the day.
3 And Nimrod was observing Esau all the days, for a jealousy was formed in the heart of Nimrod against Esau all the days.
4 And on a certain day Esau went in the field to hunt, and he found Nimrod walking in the wilderness with his two men.
5 And all his mighty men and his people were with him in the wilderness, but they removed at a distance from him, and they went from him in different directions to hunt, and Esau concealed himself for Nimrod, and he lurked for him in the wilderness.
6 And Nimrod and his men that were with him did not know him, and Nimrod and his men frequently walked about in the field at the cool of the day, and to know where his men were hunting in the field.
Esau battles Nimrod and his men
Jasher 27:7-9
7 And Nimrod and two of his men that were with him came to the place where they were, when Esau started suddenly from his lurking place, and drew his sword, and hastened and ran to Nimrod and cut off his head.
8 And Esau fought a desperate fight with the two men that were with Nimrod, and when they called out to him, Esau turned to them and smote them to death with his sword.
9 And all the mighty men of Nimrod, who had left him to go to the wilderness, heard the cry at a distance, and they knew the voices of those two men, and they ran to know the cause of it, when they found their king and the two men that were with him lying dead in the wilderness.
Esau takes the garments of YHWH
Jasher 27:10
10 And when Esau saw the mighty men of Nimrod coming at a distance, he fled, and thereby escaped; and Esau took the valuable garments of Nimrod, which Nimrod’s father had bequeathed to Nimrod, and with which Nimrod prevailed over the whole land, and he ran and concealed them in his house.
Esau sells his birthright to Jacob for red pottage
Genesis 25:29-33
29 And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint:
30 And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.
31 And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.
32 And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?
33 And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.
Jasher 27:11-12
11 And Esau took those garments and ran into the city on account of Nimrod’s men, and he came unto his father’s house wearied and exhausted from fight, and he was ready to die through grief when he approached his brother Jacob and sat before him.
12 And he said unto his brother Jacob, Behold I shall die this day, and wherefore then do I want the birthright? And Jacob acted wisely with Esau in this matter, and Esau sold his birthright to Jacob, for it was so brought about by the Lord.
Jubilees 24:3-5
3 And Jacob sod lentil pottage, and Esau came from the field hungry. And he said to Jacob his brother: ‘Give me of this red pottage.’ And Jacob said to him: ‘Sell to me thy [primogeniture, this] birthright and I will give thee bread, and also some of this lentil pottage.’
4 And Esau said in his heart: ‘I shall die; of what profit to me is this birthright?
5 ‘And he said to Jacob: ‘I give it to thee.’ And Jacob said: ‘Swear to me, this day,’ and he sware unto him.
Esau sells his burial plot from the cave in Machpelah to Jacob
Jasher 27:13-14
13 And Esau’s portion in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham had bought from the children of Heth for the possession of a burial ground, Esau also sold to Jacob, and Jacob bought all this from his brother Esau for value given.
14 And Jacob wrote the whole of this in a book, and he testified the same with witnesses, and he sealed it, and the book remained in the hands of Jacob.
Esau eats the red pottage which results in his name changing to Edom
Genesis 25:34
34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.
Jubilees 24:6
6 And Jacob gave his brother Esau bread and pottage, and he eat till he was satisfied, and Esau despised his birthright; for this reason was Esau’s name called Edom, on account of the red pottage which Jacob gave him for his birthright.
Jubilees 24:7
7 And Jacob became the elder, and Esau was brought down from his dignity.
Nimrod’s death and its results ii
Jasher 27:15-17
15 And when Nimrod the son of Cush died, his men lifted him up and brought him in consternation, and buried him in his city, and all the days that Nimrod lived were two hundred and fifteen years and he died.
16 And the days that Nimrod reigned upon the people of the land were one hundred and eighty-five years; and Nimrod died by the sword of Esau in shame and contempt, and the seed of Abraham caused his death as he had seen in his dream.
17 And at the death of Nimrod his kingdom became divided into many divisions, and all those parts that Nimrod reigned over were restored to the respective kings of the land, who recovered them after the death of Nimrod, and all the people of the house of Nimrod were for a long time enslaved to all the other kings of the land.
Notes
i
This famine was difficult to place so I decided to place it based on the death of Salah which is found in Genesis 11:15 and Jasher 28:17. In those verses, Salah died in the year 2127 and that’s when YHWH told Isaac to leave Gerar and dwell in Hebron. Since Jubilees 24:12 says that Isaac dwelled in Gerar for 21 years, this means that the famine probably lasted that long which would place the beginning of the famine in 2106. The issue with placing the famine in that year is that Jasher 28:1 and Jubilees 24:1-2 both state that the famine occurred after Abraham’s death which was in 2124. If that is the case, then I would place the famine in the year 2141 which is 7 years after Isaac had dwelled in Hebron based on Jubilees 24:1-2 but the problem with this is that Salah died 14 years prior. A third alternative is that there were 2 famines.
i
Jasher 27:15 says that Nimrod lived for 215 years, but it makes more sense for him to have lived for 452 years based on the ages of his contemporaries.
