56 | Genesis 27:18
18
He went to his fa ther and said,“ My fa ther.”“ Yes, my son,” he an swered.“ Who is it?”
19
Ja cob said to his fa ther,“ I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your bless ing.”
20
Isaac asked his son,“ How did you find it so quick ly, my son?”
“ The Lord your God gave me suc cess,” he replied. 21
Then Isaac said to Ja cob,“ Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know wheth er you real ly are my son Esau or not.”
22
Ja cob went close to his fa ther Isaac, who touched him and said,“ The voice is the voice of Ja cob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 He did not rec og nize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his broth er Esau; so he pro ceed ed to bless him. 24“ Are you real ly my son Esau?” he asked.“ I am,” he re plied.
25
Then he said,“ My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my bless ing.”
Ja cob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him,“ Come here, my son, and kiss me.”
27
So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said,
“ Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed.
28
May God give you heaven’ s dew and earth’ s richness— an abundance of grain and new wine.
29
May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.”
30
Af ter Isaac fin ished bless ing him, and Ja cob had scarce ly left his fa ther’ s pres ence, his brother Esau came in from hunt ing. 31 He too pre pared some tasty food and brought it to his fa ther. Then he said to him,“ My fa ther, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your bless ing.”
32
His fa ther Isaac asked him,“ Who are you?”“ I am your son,” he an swered,“ your first born,
Esau.” 33
Isaac trem bled vi o lent ly and said,“ Who was it, then, that hunt ed game and brought it to me? I ate it just be fore you came and I blessed him— and in deed he will be blessed!”
34
When Esau heard his fa ther’ s words, he burst out with a loud and bit ter cry and said to his father,“ Bless me— me too, my fa ther!”
35
But he said,“ Your broth er came de ceit ful ly and took your bless ing.”
36
Esau said,“ Isn’ t he right ly named Ja cob a? This is the sec ond time he has tak en ad van tage of me: He took my birth right, and now he’ s tak en my bless ing!” Then he asked,“ Haven’ t you re served any bless ing for me?”
37
Isaac an swered Esau,“ I have made him lord over you and have made all his rel a tives his servants, and I have sus tained him with grain and new wine. So what can I pos si bly do for you, my son?”
38
Esau said to his fa ther,“ Do you have only one bless ing, my fa ther? Bless me too, my fa ther!” Then Esau wept aloud.
39
His fa ther Isaac an swered him,
“ Your dwelling will be away from the earth’ s richness, away from the dew of heaven above.
40
You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother.
But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck.” a
36 Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he takes advantage of or he deceives.
27:20 Lord your God Jacob uses God’ s covenant name, yhwh( Yahweh), in his lie and refers to Yahweh as his father’ s God, not yet his own( see 28:21; 32:22 – 32). 27:23 he proceeded to bless him Though the deception works, the blessing here is simply permission to continue with the meal. The transfer of the actual promise is yet to occur. 27:28 heaven’ s dew This metaphor speaks of material abundance in crops and, in turn, the ability to sustain large numbers of domesticated livestock. In a region where rainfall was sparse, dew was vital for sustaining life. 27:29 Be lord over your brothers This wording describes the vast scope of the recipient’ s predominance. Since Isaac was passing on a divinely ordained covenant relationship with Yahweh, this phrase is appropriate. Compare note on 27:4.
27:30 – 46 Upon returning from hunting, Esau prepares food and brings it to his father only to find that Isaac has already blessed Jacob( vv. 30 – 33). Upset that his brother stole his blessing, Esau begs his father to bless him also( vv. 34 – 38; compare 25:34). Isaac gives Esau a blessing, albeit a rather negative one( vv. 39 – 40). After this, Esau plots to kill his brother, but Rebekah sends Jacob away to her brother, Laban( vv. 41 – 45).
27:36 has taken advantage Esau uses the Hebrew word’ aqab here, which is a wordplay on Jacob’ s name in Hebrew, ya-aqov. Ya-aqov means“ to protect,” and was given to Jacob as a name because of wordplay with a different word( see note on 25:26). Esau suggests that Jacob’ s name actually has to do with him being a person who supplants or cheats other people. Jacob is a trickster. birthright, and now he’ s taken my blessing See note on 27:4.