mess of pottage
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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 Esau ''Ēsaû''; la, Hesau, Esau; ar, عِيسَوْ ''‘Īsaw''; meaning "hairy"Easton, M. ''Illustrated Bible Dictionary'', (, , 2006, p. 236 or "rough".Mandel, D. ''The Ultimate Who's Who in the Bible'', (.), 2007, p. 175 is the elder son o ...
's sale of his birthright for a meal (" mess") of lentil stew ("
pottage Pottage or potage (, ; ) is a term for a thick soup or stew made by boiling vegetables, grains, and, if available, meat or fish. It was a staple food for many centuries. The word ''pottage'' comes from the same Old French root as ''potage'', whi ...
") 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 Stomer's painting of the same title (c. 1640).See ''Old Testament figures in art,'' by Chiara de Capoa, ed. by Stefano Zuffi, tr. by Thomas Michael Hartmann (Los Angeles : Getty Museum, 2003), pp. 111–112.


Biblical usage

Although this phrase is often used to describe or allude to Esau's bargain, the phrase itself does not appear in the ''text'' of any English version of Genesis. Its first attested use,See Middle English Dictionary s.v. "mes n."
/ref> already associated with Esau's bargain, is in the English summary of one of
John Capgrave John Capgrave (21 April 1393 – 12 August 1464) was an English historian, hagiographer and scholastic theologian, remembered chiefly for ''Nova Legenda Angliae'' (New Reading from England). This was the first comprehensive collection of lives o ...
's sermons, c. 1452, " acobsupplanted his broþir, bying his fader blessing for a mese of potage."John capgrave, "A Treatise of the Orders under the Rule of St. Augustine," in ''John Capgrave's Lives of St. Augustine and St. Gilbert...,'' ed. by J. J. Munro, EETS 140 (London, 1910), p. 145. In the sixteenth century it continues its association with Esau, appearing in Bonde's ''Pylgrimage of Perfection'' (1526) and in the English versions of two influential works by
Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' w ...
, the ''
Enchiridion Enchiridion is a small manual or handbook. It can refer more specifically to: * '' Enchiridion of Epictetus'', a short manual of Stoic ethical advice * The ''Enchiridion de metris'' of Hephaestion, an ancient treatise on poetic meters * ''Enchiri ...
'' (1533)Desiderius Erasmus, ''A booke called in latyn Enchiridion militis christiani, and in englysshe the manuell of the christen knyght,'' (London : Wynkyn de Worde, 1533). and the ''Paraphrase upon the New Testament'' (1548):Desiderius Erasmus, ''The first tome or volume of the Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the Newe Testamente'' .v. Luke, chap. 4(London : Edward Whitchurche, 1548) "th'enherytaunce of the elder brother solde for a messe of potage". It can be found here and there throughout the sixteenth century, e.g. in Johan Carion's ''Thre bokes of cronicles'' (1550)''The thre bokes of cronicles, whyche Iohn Carion ... gathered wyth great diligence of the beste authours'' (London, 1550). and at least three times in Roger Edgeworth's collected sermons (1557).''Sermons very fruitfull, godly, and learned, preached and sette foorth by Maister Roger Edgeworth'' (London, 1557): "Esau...for a messe of potage sold his first frutes." Within the tradition of English Biblical translations, it appears first in the summary at the beginning of chapter 25 of the
Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning" ...
in the so-called
Matthew Bible ''The Matthew Bible'', also known as ''Matthew's Version'', was first published in 1537 by John Rogers, under the pseudonym "Thomas Matthew". It combined the New Testament of William Tyndale, and as much of the Old Testament as he had been able ...
of 1537 (in this section otherwise a reprint of the Pentateuch translation of William Tyndale), "Esau selleth his byrthright for a messe of potage";''Matthew's Bible : a facsimile of the 1537 edition,'' (Peabody, MA : Hendrickson, 2009). thence in the 1539
Great Bible The Great Bible of 1539 was the first authorised edition of the Bible in English, authorised by King Henry VIII of England to be read aloud in the church services of the Church of England. The Great Bible was prepared by Myles Coverdale, worki ...
and in the Geneva Bible published by English Protestants in Geneva in 1560.''The Geneva Bible : a facsimile of the 1560 edition'' (Peabody, MA : Hendrickson, 2007). According to the OED, Coverdale (1535) "does not use the phrase, either in the text or the chapter heading..., but he has it in 1 Chronicles 16:3 and Proverbs 15:7."
OED DRAFT REVISION Dec. 2009, s.v. mess n.(1), sense 2.
Miles Smith (bishop), Miles Smith used the same phrase in "The Translators to the Reader", the lengthy preface to the 1611 King James Bible, but by the seventeenth century the phrase had become very widespread indeed and had clearly achieved the status of a fixed phrase with allusive, quasi-proverbial, force.


Examples of usage

In different literary hands, it could be used either earnestly, or mockingly.See ''A Dictionary of Biblical tradition in English Literature,'' ed. by David Lyle Jeffrey (Grand Rapids : Eerdmans, 1992), s.v. "birthright."
Benjamin Keach Benjamin Keach (29 February 1640 – 18 July 1704) was a Particular Baptist preacher and author in London whose name was given to Keach's Catechism. Biography Originally from Buckinghamshire, Keach worked as a tailor during his early years ...
(1689) falls into the former 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."Benjamin Keach, ''Distressed Sion Relieved'' (London, 1689), line 3300. 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!".Henry Ellison "Skepticism" in ''Stones from the Quarry'' (1875).
Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
' lament in ''
Das Kapital ''Das Kapital'', also known as ''Capital: A Critique of Political Economy'' or sometimes simply ''Capital'' (german: Das Kapital. Kritik der politischen Ökonomie, link=no, ; 1867–1883), is a foundational theoretical text in materialist phi ...
'' has been translated using this phrase: The worker "is compelled by social conditions, to sell the whole of his active life, his very capacity for labour, in return for the price of his customary means of subsistence, to sell his birthright for a mess of pottage." Swift and Byron use the phrase satirically: "Thou sold'st thy birthright, Esau! for a mess / Thou shouldst have gotten more, or eaten less."Byron, "The Age of Bronze," lines 632–3. Cp. Jonathan Swift, "Robin and Harry," line 36: "Robin ... swears he could get her in an hour, / If Gaffer Harry would endow her; / And sell, to pacify his wrath, / A birth-right for a mess of broth." The Hindu nationalist
V. D. Savarkar Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (), Marathi pronunciation: inaːjək saːʋəɾkəɾ also commonly known as Veer Savarkar (28 May 1883 – 26 February 1966), was an Indian politician, activist, and writer. Savarkar developed the Hindu nationali ...
borrowed the phrase, along with quotations from
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
, for his pamphlet
Hindutva Hindutva () is the predominant form of Hindu nationalism in India. The term was formulated as a political ideology by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1923. It is used by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), the ...
(1923), which celebrated Hindu culture and identity, asking whether Indians were willing to 'disown their seed, forswear their fathers and sell their birthright for a mess of pottage'. Perhaps the most famous use in American literature is that by Henry David Thoreau: "If I should sell both my forenoons and afternoons to society, as most appear to do, I am sure that for me there would be nothing left worth living for. I trust that I shall never thus sell my birthright for a mess of pottage. I wish to suggest that a man may be very industrious, and yet not spend his time well. There is no more fatal blunderer than he who consumes the greater part of his life getting his living."Thoreau, Henry David
Life without principle
(1854)
Another prominent instance of using the phrase in American fiction is
James Weldon Johnson James Weldon Johnson (June 17, 1871June 26, 1938) was an American writer and civil rights activist. He was married to civil rights activist Grace Nail Johnson. Johnson was a leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peop ...
's famous protagonist Ex-Coloured Man who, retrospectively reflecting upon his life as a black man passing for white, concludes that he has sold his "birthright for a mess of pottage".James Weldon Johnson, ''The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man'' (New York, 1989), p. 211. By a conventional
spoonerism A spoonerism is an occurrence in speech in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched (see metathesis) between two words in a phrase. These are named after the Oxford don and ordained minister William Archibald Spooner, w ...
, an overly propagandistic writer is said to have "sold his birthright for a pot of message," a bit of enduring wordplay documented as early as 1850.
Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his '' Discworld'' series of 41 novels. Pratchett's first no ...
has his character Sergeant Colon say this in ''Feet of Clay'', after Nobby of the Watch has guessed that the phrase is "a spot of massage".
Theodore Sturgeon Theodore Sturgeon (; born Edward Hamilton Waldo, February 26, 1918 – May 8, 1985) was an American fiction author of primarily fantasy, science fiction and horror, as well as a critic. He wrote approximately 400 reviews and more than 120 sh ...
had one of his characters say this about
H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''
Roger Lancelyn Green Roger Gilbert Lancelyn Green (2 November 1918 – 8 October 1987) was a British biographer and children's writer. He was an Oxford academic who formed part of the Inklings literary discussion group along with C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkie ...
(in 1962) ascribed it as a saying of Professor Nevill Coghill,
Merton Professor of English Literature There are two Merton Professorships of English in the University of Oxford: the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature, and the Merton Professor of English Literature. The second was created in 1914 when Sir Walter Raleigh's chair was ...
at the University of Oxford, who was born 49 years after its first documented appearance in print. The phrase also appears in Myra Brooks Welch's poem "
The Touch of the Master's Hand "The Touch of the Master's Hand", also sometimes called ''The Old Violin'', is a Christian poetry, Christian poem written in 1921 by Myra Brooks Welch. The poem tells of a battered old violin that is about to be sold as the last item at an auction ...
," in which "a mess of pottage – a glass of wine – a game" stand for all such petty worldly pursuits, contrasted to life after a spiritual awakening. The phrase also appears in the 1919 African-American film '' Within Our Gates'', as used by the preacher character 'Old Ned' who having ingratiated himself by acting the clown with two white men turns away and states, "again, I've sold my birthright. All for a miserable mess of pottage."


Notes

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External links


Translators to the Reader
Figures of speech Biblical phrases