“And he said, ‘Is he not rightly called Yaakov? For he has supplanted me these two times — he took away my birthright, and now he has taken away my blessing.’ And he said [to Yitzhak], ‘Have you not reserved a blessing for me?’” (Bereshit 27:36)
We find that the HaKadosh Baruch Hu changed the names of Abraham, Sarah, and Yaakov. Abraham was originally called Abram, and God added to his name to call him Abraham. Sarah was first Sarai, and God changed her name to Sarah. Likewise, Yaakov’s name was changed to Israel. Yet the Talmud (Brachot 13a) notes that in the case of Abraham and Sarah, their former names were entirely abandoned and are never to be used again. But Yaakov, even after being called Israel, retained his original name as well. We must understand why his first name remained.
This may be explained as follows: the name Yaakov alludes also to the fact that he took the birthright from Esav. Thus, whenever the name Yaakov is mentioned, it recalls that the birthright originally belonged to Esav, but he himself sold it to Yaakov. In other words, Esav brought about his own loss — he sold his birthright for a bowl of lentils and despised it, as the verse explicitly states: “And Esav said: ‘Behold, I am going to die; what is this birthright to me?’ ... And Esav sold his birthright to Yaakov ... And Esav despised the birthright.” (Bereshit 25:32–34)
Therefore, HaKadosh Baruch Hu desired that the name Yaakov remain, so that it would serve as a perpetual reminder of Esav’s disgrace — that he had the birthright and foolishly cast it away. There is no greater shame or folly than that.
Zera Shimshon, Parashat Bereshit, art. 9
