“Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.”
See that no one becomes like Esau, an immoral and godless person, who sold his birthright for a single meal — Esau (Genesis 25:29-34) became the type of the apostate: traded eternal blessing for immediate gratification. Godless (bebēlos, literally 'accessible to all', profane) describes one who has abandoned sacred privilege.
Church Fathers on Hebrews 12:16
“Lest there be any fornicator: or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.” And wherein was Esau a “fornicator”? He does not say that Esau was a fornicator. “Lest there be any fornicator,” he says, then, “follow after holiness: lest there be any, as Esau, profane”: that is, gluttonous, without self-control, worldly, selling away things spiritual. “Who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright,” who through his own slothfulness sold this…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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