he deep ravines, but soon lose
themselves in their hot, gravelly beds. A few miles further on
they emerge and again disappear, as they approach the borders of
the hot, thirsty wilderness that surrounds Mount Seir on every
side. Here in early times lived the Edomites, a nomadic people who
established themselves in this borderland of Palestine long before
the Hebrews gained a permanent foothold in the land of Canaan. The
name, Edom, is found in an inscription of a king of the eighth
Egyptian Dynasty,

In the Biblical narrative, Esau evidently is the traditional
ancestor of the Edomites, even as Jacob figures as the father of
the twelve tribes. One of the aims of these narratives, it seems
to many scholars, is to explain why the Israelites, the younger
people, who settled latest in Palestine, ultimately possessed the
land and conquered the Edomites.

The portraits of Esau and Jacob are remarkably true to the
characteristics of these two rival nations. They are also faithful
to human nature as we find it to-day. Of these two brothers which,
on the whole, is the more attractive? Which resembles his father
and which his mother? (Read the accounts of their lives, Gen.
24-27.) What noble virtues does Esau possess? What was his great
fault? Reckless men or drifters with generous impulses but with no
definite purpose, of whom gypsies and hoboes are extreme types, are
found in every age and society. Why is it that men of the type of
Esau so often in time become criminals?

II.

THE MAN WITH A WRONG AMBITION.

The modern tendency to idealize the character of Jacob, simply
because he was one of the famous patriarchs, is both unfortunate
and misleading. Although he vividly typifies certain
characteristics of his race, the Jacob of these early prophetic
accounts is portrayed with absolute fidelity and realism. His
faults are revealed even more clearly than his virtues. The
dominant motive in his life is ambition, but it is a thoroughly
selfish ambition. In the light of the stories, state in your own
words what was the exact nature of Jacob's ambition. How did it
differ from that of Abraham? What methods did he use to achieve
his ambition? Were these methods justifiable? What is your view
of the statement, "The end justifies the means"? Try to define
exactly the method of determining justifiable means. May Jacob's
action be excused because he was acting under the direction of his
mother?

Does a man wi