Esavite Nation

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According to all midrashim, Esau is a very significant character in world history. Inasmuch as Jacob is considered to be the progenitor of the Children of Israel, it is Esau who is regarded as the forefather of Rome and the Roman Empire. The struggle between the Roman Empire and the Jews stemming from the land of Judah alternated, according to history, between cooperation and outright hate and warfare. The argument is proposed that Esau was born with red coloring in his hair and body, and the ancient rabbis have connected this with the red banner and standard favored by Rome's legions.

After Jacob is given Isaac's blessing as leader, Esau is given the blessing that he shall "live by the sword". Some see this as another sign of Rome, famous for her unique sword made of steel - the gladius - that smashed its way to world hegemony and on the way massacred the descendants of Jacob/Israel.

Another explanation is that Esau is described by the Bible as ancestor of the Edomites, the Hebrews' neighbors (and on many occasions, enemies) to the south. King Herod, whom many Jews considered as a usurper and destroyed of the legitimate Hasmonean dynasty, was an Edomite (though converted to Judaism). And since Herod was a collaborator with the Roman rule, the ancestor of the Roman's collaborator became identified with the Romans themselves.

Later, when the Roman Empire turned Christian, Esau became perforce identified with Christianity and Christians. This was reinforced by the rise of Islam, whose followers outspokenly claimed Ismael as their ancestor. This created for Jews a neat symmetrical view of history, with each of the competing monotheistic religions identified with a brother of a Jewish Patriarch (Ismael, brother of Isaac, and Esau, brother of Jacob).

Jews living in a Christian environment tended to attribute to Esau the cultural characteristic of their neighbors. For example, in Yiddish folksongs Esau is often depicted as an immoderate consumer of alcoholic drinks, which has no Biblical basis but is could have been drawn from a widespread practice in Slavic societies (which most Jews in the same countries conspicously did not participate, at least until well into the Twentieth Century).

In some cases, Esau's role is expanded to being identified with all non-Jews, whatever their religion - espeically in the context of antisemitism. The Talmudic saying "It is well-known that Esau hates Jacob" (Hebrew: הלכה בידוע שעשיו שונא ליעקב) is often quoted, up to the present, by nationalist and isolationist Jewish groups assering that Jew-hatred is an endemic and incureable phenomenon of some non-Jewish socieities, and that all efforts at reconciliation with non-Jews, achieving equality in a non-Jewish environment or assimilation are futile and doomed to failure.

Idumeans

The Edomites or Idumeans, descendants of Esau, early peopled the country of Arabia Petrea. Their capital was Mount Seir, whence they expelled the aboriginal Horites, and succeeded to their possessions. Two grandsons of Esau, - Teman and Amalek,

Amalekites

The Amalekites were progenitors of separate Arab tribes. The Amalekites had at least a partial seat at Petra and the country about the head of the Red Sea till near the year 700 B.C., when they were driven thence probably in a southern direction. Mahomedan legend speaks of Amalekite tribes as the earliest inhabitants both of Medina and Mecca, and of the country lying to the south of Syria. The Amalekites are associated with the (Shemau) Lesser Hyksos invasion of Avaris in Egypt. The greater Hyksos were supposed to have founded the Greek empire after being evicted by the Egyptians () while the Trojan refugees under Aeneas founded Rome.