Hebrews 12:16Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

But was Esau a fornicator? He does not say here that Esau was a fornicator. Rather, he sets this in contrast to the words, “Pursue peace with all and holiness.” The word “profane” applies to him.

Therefore let no one be, like Esau, a defiler, that is, a glutton, an incontinent man, devoted to the world, and one who despises spiritual goods.

Such a man, like Esau, for one morsel renounced his birthright. That is, through his own carelessness he gave away the honor given by God, and for a small pleasure lost the greatest honor and glory.

This applies properly to them, the Hebrews, and is characteristic of base and impure people. Not only the adulterer is impure, but also the glutton, who is a slave of the belly.

He does not say that Esau was a fornicator. Stop here: let there be no fornicator among you. Although he hints that some among them were vile, he does not wish to accuse them openly. He feigns ignorance so that they may be corrected. Then he says again, "or profane, like Esau," that is, insatiable, worldly, defiling and trampling on spiritual things. For he surrendered the privilege of the birthright given him by God, and that for a single meal (Gen 25). This is profaneness: contempt for divine things. Here he shows them how evil negligence is. The elder, falling into faintheartedness and failing to resist the desire to eat, became the younger.

Let none of you be a fornicator or profane, like Esau, “who for one morsel sold his birthright” (Gen 25:31). But if the door was shut for him, it is not shut for us.

Jacob saw that Esau despised his birthright and began to devise how to acquire it for himself, trusting in God, who had said, “The elder shall serve the younger” (Gen 25:23).

One day Jacob was cooking lentils, and Esau came from hunting, weary, and said to Jacob, “Give me to taste some of that red, red food,” that is, give me a little taste of the lentils.

Jacob said to him, “Sell me your birthright this very day” (Gen 25:31), and take it all for yourself. Esau swore and sold his birthright, and Jacob gave him what had been cooked, and he ate.

By "Esau's fornication" the Apostle meant gluttony, for because of it Esau gave up the blessing of the firstborn. Yet one would not err by calling Esau's unlawful marriage fornication, since he took foreign women as wives.

“Lest there be any fornicator.” That is, let there not be one. Among them some could naturally be such.

“Or profane, like Esau.” Here he calls the glutton and incontinent man profane, one who sells great honor and God’s favor for a small pleasure.

“Who for one morsel sold his birthright.” He sold the honor of his firstborn status. He sold the grace that he possessed as the firstborn son.

“For one morsel,” that is, for the reddish lentil stew, to Jacob his brother. For this reason he was called Edom, since Edom means redness (Gen 25:30).

On the words, "lest there be any fornicator or profane person, like Esau" (Heb 12:16). If you know precisely that satiety begets passions and gluttony draws one toward lust, then I think you asked in vain how the words may be explained: "lest there be any fornicator or profane person, like Esau." By them Scripture accuses Esau because, for the sake of satisfying his belly, he became a betrayer of the rights of the firstborn. By showing that he was a glutton, Scripture thereby showed sufficiently that he was also a fornicator and profane person.

The Apostle exhorts the Christians from among the Hebrews to be watchful and prudent, lest any of them be deprived of the grace of God.

Imprudence and negligence in preserving the good things received can be born from the thought that, even if we lose them, we can always regain them again.

To cut off such a frivolous attitude toward the gifts of grace, the Apostle brings forward Esau as an example. After frivolously renouncing his birthright, Esau could in no way later regain it. He could not inherit the blessing that was given to Jacob and, in general, was given to the firstborn.

Although Esau wished to receive the blessing of the firstborn and begged his father for it with tears, his father said to him, “I have blessed Jacob, and he shall be blessed” (Gen 27:33).

The Apostle then states directly the thought expressed figuratively. He exhorts Christians to have peace, in relation to all people, and holiness, in relation to God. He also exhorts them to watch that nothing evil appear in the Church.

The phrase ρίζα πικρίας, as is clear from the original text of Deut 29:18, means a poisonous plant. As there it signifies an apostate from Jehovah, so here it signifies an apostate from Christ.

Through the appearance of the root of bitterness, the community loses its halo of holiness, μιαίναιαθαι. In the Church there must not be people who sacrifice the highest interests in order to satisfy base needs, people like Esau.