Eisav's zechus of living in Eretz Yisrael and a fascinating chizkuni on gid ha'nasheh

1) The Midrash writes that Yaakov feared Eisav because Eisav 1) remained in Eretz Yisrael and 2) was able to be mekayein kibud av during Yaakov's long stay in Charan.  Even though, as Rashi writes  עם לבן גרתי – גרתי בגימטריא תרי״ג. אמ׳ יעקב לעשו: אע״פ שהייתי בבית לבן והייתי טרוד בעבדותי, שמרתי תרי״ג מצות, that Yaakov kept tarya"g mitzvos while in Lavan's house, and even though Eisav was a rasha, Yaakov was still fearful because those zechuyos of fulfilling yishuv Eretz Yisrael and kibud av are so great they might tip the scales in his favor.

Perhaps this is why Yaakov makes a point of buying a plot of land once he gets to Shechem: וַיִּ֜קֶן אֶת־חֶלְקַ֣ת הַשָּׂדֶ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֤ר נָֽטָה־שָׁם֙ אׇהֳל֔וֹ (33:19).  Ibn Ezra comments there: והזכיר זה הכתוב להודיע כי מעלה גדולה יש לארץ ישראל, ומי שיש לו בה חלק, חשוב הוא כחלק העולם הבא.   Yaakov wanted his own stake in having the zechus of Eretz Yisrael.

There is an amazing Netziv at the end of the parsha, where you have the list of names and genealogy of Eisav.  If you look at 36:45, you will find that Eisav had 5 children:

וַתֵּ֧לֶד עָדָ֛ה לְעֵשָׂ֖ו אֶת־אֱלִיפָ֑ז וּבָ֣שְׂמַ֔ת יָלְדָ֖ה אֶת־רְעוּאֵֽל

 וְאׇהֳלִֽיבָמָה֙ יָֽלְדָ֔ה אֶת־[יְע֥וּשׁ] (יעיש) וְאֶת־יַעְלָ֖ם וְאֶת־קֹ֑רַח אֵ֚לֶּה בְּנֵ֣י עֵשָׂ֔ו אֲשֶׁ֥ר יֻלְּדוּ־ל֖וֹ בְּאֶ֥רֶץ כְּנָֽעַן׃

Yet if you look a few pesukim later (36:10), only 3 of those children are mentioned:

 וְאֵ֛לֶּה תֹּלְד֥וֹת עֵשָׂ֖ו אֲבִ֣י אֱד֑וֹם בְּהַ֖ר שֵׂעִֽיר

 אֵ֖לֶּה שְׁמ֣וֹת בְּנֵֽי־עֵשָׂ֑ו אֱלִיפַ֗ז בֶּן־עָדָה֙ אֵ֣שֶׁת עֵשָׂ֔ו רְעוּאֵ֕ל בֶּן־בָּשְׂמַ֖ת אֵ֥שֶׁת עֵשָֽׂו

What happened to the 3 children that are missing?

Netziv:

א מנה עמהם את יעוש ויעלם וקרח, כי מנה הכתוב תחילה רק אלה שהיו כבר לאלופים הרבה. והנראה שלא זכו להיות אלופים אלא אלו שנולדו בארץ ישראל וזכותא דא״י גרם להם, משום הכי לא זכו בני יעוש ויעלם וקרח להיות אלופים כי לא נולדו בארץ ישראל.

Those  children were not born in Eretz Yisrael and therefore, because they lacked the zechus of Eretz Yisrael, they never developed into the "aluphim," the full tribes/clans, that the other children became.

Even the children of Eisav, who I don't think we would even count as Jewish, benefitted somehow from the zechus of Eretz Yisrael!

2) Turning to kibud av, the Chizkuni has a fascinating explanation of why Bnei Yisrael cannot eat gid ha'nasheh:

כלומר בדין הוא שיש לקנוס ולענוש בני ישראל מאכילת גיד הנשה שהניחו את אביהם הולך יחידי,1 כדכתיב ויותר יעקב לבדו (בראשית ל״ב:כ״ה), והן היו גיבורים והיה להם להמתין אביהם ולסייעו אם יצטרך, והם לא עשו לו לויה והוזק על ידם. ומכאן ואילך יהיה להם לזכר ויהיו זריזים במצות לויה, ולכך ליוה יעקב את יוסף.

What was Yaakov, an old man, doing all alone shlepping things in the middle of the night when he had young, strapping children there who could help him?  Their failure to fulfill the mitzvah of leviya, of escorting their father, earned Bnei Yisrael the punishment of not being allowed to eat the gid so that they would forever remember the lesson.

Maybe the reason Shimon and Levi attacked Shchem without consulting Yaakov is because they remembered when they were not there for their father and left him alone, so now they went to the opposite extreme and took matters into their own hands so as to not burden him. 

The Midrash writes that when Yosef revealed himself, he sent his brothers home with wagons to signal to their father that he remembered of the sugya of eglah arufah that they had been learning together.  You bring an eglah arufah when a murder victim is found on the road because the city that is closest needs a kaprah for failing to provide safe escort.  In light of Chizkuni maybe we can explain that Yosef chose davka this sugya because the mitzvah of leviya became a hallmark of Yaakov and his family after they learned their lesson here.