(10) “The lads grew; Esau was a man who knows hunting, a man of the field; Jacob was a simple man, a dweller in tents” (Genesis 25:27).
“The lads grew” – Rabbi Levi said: This is analogous to a myrtle and a thorn bush that grew adjacent to one another. When they grew and blossomed, this one produced its fragrance and that one produced its thorns. So, all thirteen years, both of them would go to school and both of them would come from school. After thirteen years, this one would go to study halls, and that one would go to houses of idol worship. Rabbi Elazar said: A person must be responsible for his son until age thirteen. From there on, he must say: ‘Blessed that He has absolved me from the punishment of this one.’
“Esau was a man who knows hunting [tzayid]” – he would ensnare [tzad] people with his mouth. You [say you] did not steal; who stole with you? You [say you] did not kill, who killed with you?27The Romans, the descendants of Esau, would ignore the denials of the accused.
Rabbi Abahu said: He was a field person, a hunting person.28The verse does not say he worked the field or engaged in hunting, but rather, he was “a man of the field.” He hunted in the house and hunted in the field. In the house, [he said]: ‘How does one prepare salt?’29He asked about separating teruma and tithes from salt and straw, in an effort to create a devout impression, although he knew that there is no such obligation. In the field, [he said:] ‘How does one prepare straw?’
Rabbi Ḥiyya said: He abandoned himself like a field.30Engaging in homosexual relations. Israel said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, is it not enough that you subjugated us to seventy nations, but even to this one, that engages in relations like a woman?’ The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘I, too, will exact retribution against him with that expression.’ That is what is written: “The heart of the valiant of Edom will be on that day like the heart of a woman in anguish” (Jeremiah 49:22).
“Jacob was a simple man, a dweller in tents” – two tents; the study hall of Shem, and the study hall of Ever.
“Isaac loved Esau because of the game in his mouth, and Rebecca loved Jacob” (Genesis 25:28).
“Isaac loved Esau because of the game in his mouth” – good meat for his mouth and a good cup for his mouth.
“And Rebecca loved Jacob” – the more she would hear his voice, the more she would add love onto her love for him.

The Gemara asks: What is the significance of the phrase in the verse “And Lotan’s sister was Timna”? The Gemara explains: Timna was the daughter of kings, as it is written: “The chief of Lotan” (Genesis 36:29), and: “The chief of Timna” (Genesis 36:40), and each chief is a member of a monarchy, albeit without a crown. That is why they are called chief and not king. Timna sought to convert. She came before Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and they did not accept her. She went and became a concubine of Eliphaz, son of Esau, and said, referring to herself: It is preferable that she will be a maidservant for this nation, and she will not be a noblewoman for another nation. Ultimately, Amalek, son of Eliphaz, emerged from her, and that tribe afflicted the Jewish people. What is the reason that the Jewish people were punished by suffering at the hand of Amalek? It is due to the fact that they should not have rejected her when she sought to convert. Therefore, the verse is significant.