Reading Jacob's beseeching God in , "O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac," a Midrash asked whether Esau (from whom Jacob sought God's protection) could not have made the same claim for God's favor. The Midrash taught that God affords God's protection to those who choose the Patriarchs' ways and act as they did, and not to those who do not. (Thus the Midrash implied that Esau would not have been able to appeal for God's protection for his father's sake, for Esau had not emulated his father's deeds.)