sell (one's) birthright for a mess of pottage
(redirected from sold our birthright for a mess of pottage)sell (one's) birthright for a mess of pottage
To exchange something of great, important, or fundamental value for some financial gain that proves to be of little, trivial, or no value but which appears to be attractive or valuable on first reckoning. An allusion to Esau in Genesis 25:29–32, who sells to Jacob his birthright to his family's estate for a bowl of lentil stew (pottage). If we allow our obsession with job creation to undermine the health of the environment, humanity will ultimately end up selling its birthright for a mess of pottage.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
- birthright
- sell (one's) birthright for a bowl of soup
- sell (something) for a mess of pottage
- sell something for a mess of pottage
- all the tea in China
- the best things come in small packages
- big things come in small packages
- package
- best things come in small packages, good things come in small packages
- good things come in small packages