Lentil dish (Bible)
Lentil dish in the figurative sense denotes a momentarily tempting, but in truth inferior gift in exchange for a much higher value good. Background of this importance is the biblical (narrative Gen 25.29 to 34 LUT ), according to Jacob , the younger son of Isaac , his older brother Esau his birthright against a plate lenses bought from, as Esau exhausted from the hunt returning home. The meal is initially only referred to as “something red” ( Hebrew הָאָדֹם ha-ādom ), the term "lentil dish" ( Hebrew נְזיִד עֲדָשׁיִם nəzīd ʕădāšīm ) only occurs literally in the last verse ( Gen 25,34 LUT ). Because of the red color of the judgment, Esau is referred to as the forefather of the Edomites ( Hebrew אֱדוֹם ědōm ).
reception
In Albert Lortzing's Singspiel Der Waffenschmied (1846) this is taken up humorously:
- Stupidity seldom offers interest,
otherwise Esau would not
waive
his firstborn for a plate of thick lentils .
The novel Das Linsengericht by the Swiss writer Rudolf Jakob Humm, published in 1928, takes up the motif.