Who in the Bible sold his birth right for a Mess of Pottage?
Mess of pottage two white men turns away and states, "again, I've sold my birthright. All for a miserable mess of pottage." Mess of pottage A mess of pottage is something immediately attractive but of little value taken foolishly and carelessly in exchange for something more distant and perhaps less tangible but immensely more valuable. The phrase alludes to Esau's sale of his birthright for a meal ("mess") of lentil stew ("pottage") in and connotes shortsightedness and misplaced priorities. The mess of pottage motif is a common theme in art, appearing for example in Mattia Bortoloni's "Esau selling his birthright" (1716) and Mattias
Mess of pottage camp: "I know not.. / whether those who did our Rights betray, / And for a mess of Pottage, sold away / Our dear bought / Freedoms, shall now trusted be, / As Conservators of our Libertie." As does Henry Ellison (1875) "O Faith .. The disbelieving world would sell thee so; / Head turned with sophistries, and heart grown cold, / For a vile mess of pottage it would throw / Away thy heritage, and count the gold!". Karl Marx' lament in "Das Kapital" has been translated using this phrase: The worker "is compelled by social conditions, to sell