Genesis 27:17 | 55
Lord was with you; so we said,‘ There ought to be a sworn agree ment be tween us’— be tween us and you. Let us make a trea ty with you 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we did not harm you but al ways treat ed you well and sent you away peace ful ly. And now you are blessed by the Lord.”
30
Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. 31 Ear ly the next morn ing the men swore an oath to each oth er. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they went away peace ful ly.
32
That day Isaac’ s ser vants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said,“ We’ ve found wa ter!” 33 He called it Shi bah, a and to this day the name of the town has been Be er she ba. b
Jacob Takes Esau’ s Blessing
34
When Esau was for ty years old, he mar ried Ju dith daugh ter of Be e ri the Hit tite, and also Base math daugh ter of Elon the Hit tite. 35 They were a source of grief to Isaac and Re bek ah.
27
When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no lon ger see, he called for Esau his old er son and said to him,“ My son.”“ Here I am,” he an swered.
2
Isaac said,“ I am now an old man and don’ t know the day of my death. 3 Now then, get your equip ment— your quiv er and bow— and go out to the open coun try to hunt some wild game for me. 4 Pre pare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my bless ing be fore I die.”
5
Now Re bek ah was lis ten ing as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open coun try to hunt game and bring it back, 6 Re bek ah said to her son Ja cob,“ Look, I over heard your fa ther say to your broth er Esau, 7‘ Bring me some game and pre pare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my bless ing in the pres ence of the Lord be fore I die.’ 8 Now, my son, lis ten care ful ly and do what I tell you: 9 Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can pre pare some tasty food for your fa ther, just the way he likes it.
10
Then take it to your fa ther to eat, so that he may give you his bless ing be fore he dies.”
11
Ja cob said to Re bek ah his moth er,“ But my broth er Esau is a hairy man while I have smooth skin. 12 What if my fa ther touch es me? I would ap pear to be trick ing him and would bring down a curse on my self rath er than a bless ing.”
13
His moth er said to him,“ My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.”
14
So he went and got them and brought them to his moth er, and she pre pared some tasty food, just the way his fa ther liked it. 15 Then Re bek ah took the best clothes of Esau her old er son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Ja cob. 16 She also cov ered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goat skins.
17
Then she hand ed to her son Ja cob the tasty food and the bread she had made.
a
33 Shibah can mean oath or seven. b
33 Beersheba can mean well of the oath and well of seven.
26:33 Shibah The name of the well( shiv’ ah in Hebrew) sounds like the Hebrew term for“ oath”( sheva). Sheva was part of the name Beersheba— the place of this covenant and the earlier one between Abimelek and Abraham( 26:23; see 21:31 and note). See the table“ Covenants in the Old Testament” on p. 469. 26:34 forty years If Esau is 40, Isaac would now be 100 years old( 25:20,26). This indication of age provides context for 27:1, where Isaac is aged and blind. Judith Nothing else is known of her; she does not appear in the list of Esau’ s wives( 36:2 – 3). the Hittite See note on 23:3. Basemath The Hebrew term used here often is used for a spice. It may indicate involvement with the spice trade. 26:35 They were a source of grief Marrying outside the clan( and therefore the divinely chosen lineage) reflects Esau’ s indifference to the covenant with Yahweh, as did the surrendering of his birthright( 25:29 – 33).
27:1 – 29 Earlier Jacob manipulated( or entrapped) Esau into selling him his birthright( see 25:27 – 34 and note). Now Rebekah conspires with Jacob to place him in a position to receive Isaac’ s blessing in place of Esau. Hearing that Isaac is preparing to bless Esau, Rebekah instructs Jacob to get some goats for her to prepare( vv. 1 – 10). When Jacob protests that his father will recognize him because Esau is hairy, she gives him Esau’ s clothes and puts the goat skins on him( vv. 11 – 17). The ruse works, and Isaac blesses Jacob instead of the firstborn Esau( vv. 18 – 29).
27:1 Esau At this point, Isaac is likely unaware that
Esau surrendered his birthright to Jacob( 25:31 – 34). The emphasis on the meal here and in the ensuing narrative suggests that it was not incidental to the blessing. It may have been viewed as a ritual element in the father’ s passing of blessing to the eldest son. 27:4 give you my blessing Esau has already sold his birthright( bekhorah _ in Hebrew) to Jacob( 25:29 – 34). The blessing( berakhah in Hebrew) is closely related but is distinct from the birthright. The birthright specifies property and wealth passed from one generation to the other— this has already been given to Jacob by Esau and such an action would be irrevocable by Isaac( 25:27 – 34). The blessing focuses on future wealth and posterity— most profoundly seen in receiving Yahweh’ s covenant blessings. Compare note on 27:12. 27:6 I overheard your father say See note on 24:34 – 48. 27:11 hairy man See note on 25:25. 27:12 curse In the ancient Near East, curses were considered powerful if they had divine support— a real threat in this instance since God chose Isaac as his covenant recipient and the one who would pass on the blessings of the covenant to his heirs( 26:1 – 5). This makes Rebekah’ s promise that she would take any curse upon herself a serious matter( v. 13)— she would be taking on the opposite of the covenant promises( a lack of divine support). 27:15 best clothes This may refer to special clothing worn for festivals and important ceremonies. This would heighten the credulity of Isaac, since he would naturally assume that only Esau would know what was transpiring.