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 .