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.
Feed me ... for I am faint. This was a request, which, addressed to a brother, one should have thought would be at once and cheerfully answered. But Jacob had a purpose to serve, and to gain it, he not only repressed all the more amiable feelings of humanity, but, taking advantage of his brother's necessities, tempted him to commit a deed which, he well knew, would subject him to the displeasure of the Almighty.
Rebekah's fond partiality for Jacob makes it extremely probable that she had imparted to him the purpose of Divine Providence to exalt him to the dignity and privileges of the first-born; and such information was not likely to be received with indifference, or easily forgotten by such a mind as Jacob's. Often musing on this prospect, he had never found a proper opportunity to seize the tempting prize until now, when, faint and exhausted, his brother presented himself at his tent-door. Jacob instantly perceived his advantage, and eagerly improved it.
Therefore was his name called Edom - i:e., Red. It quite accords with the Oriental taste to fasten upon certain incidents in the life, or upon special traits in the character, of individuals, as the foundation of a new name or soubriquet. The Arabians are particularly addicted to this habit. So are all people in an early state of society; and there is no ground to wonder, therefore, at the names of Isaac's sons being suggested by circumstances attending their birth, apparently of a trivial nature, especially as no fault can be found with them on etymological grounds.