Now Jacob cooked some stew, ¹  and when Esau came in from the open fields, he was famished.

biblegateway Gen 25:29

When Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished;

Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field, exhausted.

Once, Jacob was preparing a meal when Esau, exhausted, came in from outdoors.

biblegateway Gen 25:29

Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished.

Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted.

bibleoremus Gen 25:29

Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was famished.

One day Jacob was preparing broth when Esau came in from the country, exhausted.

biblegateway Gen 25:29

Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary.

And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he [was] faint:

biblegateway Gen 25:29

Now Jacob cooked some stew, ¹  and when Esau came in from the open fields, he was famished.

¹ sn Jacob cooked some stew. There are some significant words and wordplays in this story that help clarify the points of the story. The verb “cook” is זִיד (zid), which sounds like the word for “hunter” (צַיִד, tsayid). This is deliberate, for the hunter becomes the hunted in this story. The word זִיד means “to cook, to boil,” but by the sound play with צַיִד it comes to mean “set a trap by cooking.” The usage of the word shows that it can also have the connotation of acting presumptuously (as in boiling over). This too may be a comment on the scene. For further discussion of the rhetorical devices in the Jacob narratives, see J. P. Fokkelman, Narrative Art in Genesis (SSN).