Genesis 27
27
Isaac Blesses Jacob
1#Ge 48:10; 1Sa 3:2When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could not see, he called Esau his oldest son and said to him, “My son.”
And he answered him, “Here I am.”
2He said, “I am old. I do not know the day of my death. 3#Ge 25:27–28Therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. 4#Ge 27:25; 48:9And prepare for me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die.”
5Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for wild game and bring it back, 6Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying, 7‘Bring me wild game, and prepare for me savory food, that I may eat and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’ 8#Ge 27:13Now therefore, my son, listen to me as I command you. 9Go now to the flock, and get me two choice young goats, so that I may prepare from them savory food for your father, such as he loves. 10Then you will take it to your father, so that he may eat and so that he may bless you before his death.”
11#Ge 25:25But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a man of smooth skin. 12#Dt 27:18Perhaps my father will feel me, and I will seem to him as a deceiver, and I will bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.”
13#Mt 27:25; 1Sa 25:24His mother said to him, “Let your curse be upon me, my son. Only listen to me and go get them for me.”
14He went and got them and brought them to his mother. Then his mother prepared savory food such as his father loved. 15#Ge 27:27Then Rebekah took the best clothes belonging to her older son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. 16Then she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. 17She put the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hands of her son Jacob.
18He came to his father and said, “My father.”
And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”
19And Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done just as you asked me. Please arise, sit and eat of my wild game, so that your soul may bless me.”
20Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?”
And he said, “Because the Lord your God brought it to me.”
21#Ge 27:12Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, so that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.”
22Jacob went near to his father Isaac, and he felt him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23#Ge 27:16; Heb 11:20He did not recognize him because his hands were hairy, just like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him. 24He asked, “Are you really my son Esau?”
And he said, “I am.”
25He said, “Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s wild game, so that my soul may bless you.”
And he brought it near to him, and he ate. He also brought him wine, and he drank. 26His father Isaac said to him, “Come near now and kiss me, my son.”
27#Heb 11:20He came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing and blessed him and said,
“See, the smell of my son
is like the smell of the field
which the Lord has blessed.
28#Dt 33:28; 33:13; Ge 27:39 Therefore, may God give you of the dew of heaven
and the fatness of the earth,
and plenty of grain and new wine.
29#Ge 12:3; Nu 24:9 Let peoples serve you,
and nations bow down to you.
Be master over your brothers,
and let your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be everyone who curses you,
and blessed be those who bless you!”
30As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had barely gone out from the presence of his father Isaac, Esau his brother came in from his hunting. 31He also had prepared savory food and brought it to his father, and said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s wild game, so that your soul may bless me.”
32Isaac his father said to him, “Who are you?”
And he said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”
33#Ge 28:3–4; Ro 11:29Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, “Who? Where then is he who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him. Yes, and he shall be blessed.”
34#Heb 12:17When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceedingly bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!”
35He said, “Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing.”
36#Ge 25:26Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now he has taken away my blessing.” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”
37#Ge 27:28–29; 2Sa 8:14Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, “I have made him your lord, and I have given to him all his brothers as servants; and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What can I now do for you, my son?”
38#Heb 12:17; Ge 27:34And Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father!” Then Esau lifted up his voice and wept.
39#Ge 27:28; Heb 11:20Isaac his father answered and said to him,
“Your dwelling shall be
away from the fatness of the earth
and away from the dew of heaven from above.
40#Ge 25:23; 2Ki 8:20–22 You will live by your sword
and will serve your brother.
When you become restless,
you will break his yoke
from your neck.”
Jacob Escapes From Esau
41#Ge 37:4; 50:3–4So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
42These words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah; and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Your brother Esau consoles himself regarding you by planning to kill you. 43#Ge 11:31; 27:8Now therefore, my son, listen to me and get up and flee to Laban, my brother in Harran. 44#Ge 31:38Stay with him a few days until your brother’s fury subsides, 45until your brother’s anger against you turns away, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send and get you from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”
46#Ge 24:3; 26:34–35Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, such as these who are of the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”
Currently Selected:
Genesis 27: MEV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Military Bible Association
Genesis 27
27
Jacob Defrauds Esau
1When Isaac was very old and blind, he called for his oldest son, Esau, and asked him, “My son?”
“I am here, father,” Esau answered.
2“As you can see, I am now an old man,” Isaac said. “And I may die any day now. 3So please take your hunting gear—your bow and arrows—and go out into the field and hunt some wild game for me. 4Then prepare me a savory meal, the food I love, and bring it to me. After I eat it, I will bless you from my innermost being before I die.” # 27:4 Or “After I eat, my soul will bless you before I die.” The repeated mention of this meal (vv. 19, 25, 31, 33) implies that it was a ceremonial meal closely connected with the act of blessing.
5Now, Rebekah was eavesdropping on their conversation. So, when Esau left for the field to hunt for game to cook for Isaac, 6she found Jacob and said to him, “I just overheard your father say to your brother Esau, 7‘Bring me some wild game and prepare a savory meal for me. Afterward I will bless you in the presence of Yahweh before I die.’ 8Listen carefully, my son, and do everything I tell you. 9Go out to the flock and bring me two of the best young goats. I’ll cook them for your father and prepare a delicious meal, the way he loves it. 10Then, you take it to him to eat and your father will bless you before he dies.” # 27:10 Rebekah thought she was pursuing the best course, for she remembered Yahweh’s promise of the older son serving the younger. She could not stand to see Esau, who had broken her heart by taking foreign wives (see Gen. 26:34), receive Isaac’s blessing. This entire episode attests to the conniving nature of man and the overriding purposes of God that cannot be thwarted by our sin.
11Jacob objected, “But my brother Esau is covered with hair, and I’m smooth skinned. 12If my father feels my hairless skin, he’ll know I’m not Esau. He’ll think I’m a trickster, and I’ll end up bringing a curse upon myself rather than a blessing!”
13“My son,” his mother said, “let any curse against you fall on me alone! Just do what I say and go and get the goats for me.”
14So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother. She prepared a delicious meal, just the way his father loved it. 15Then Rebekah picked out the best clothes # 27:15 These were probably Esau’s dress-up clothes reserved for celebrating feasts or ceremonial occasions. The Hebrew word for “clothes” is beged, which can also be translated “treachery” or “deceit.” This is a play on words, for Jacob used Esau’s clothes to deceive. The Midrash Rabbah teaches that Esau ambushed Nimrod in the field, killed him, and took his garments. Jacob wore Nimrod’s garments and deceived his father. According to the apocryphal Book of Jasher, the clothing that God robed Adam with was passed down to Noah, who gave it to his son Ham, and was eventually acquired by Nimrod. of her older son Esau and put them on her younger son Jacob. # 27:15 Jacob was about to pull the wool over his father’s eyes. Jacob would do anything just to get his father’s blessing! 16She covered Jacob’s hands and the soft part of his neck with goatskins. 17Then she handed Jacob the tasty dish and the bread that she had prepared 18and he took them to Isaac.
“Father?” Jacob said.
Isaac replied, “Which one of my sons are you?”
19Jacob answered, “It’s I—Esau—your firstborn. I have done as you asked. Please, sit up. Eat some of this delicious game you love so that you may give me your innermost blessing.” # 27:19 Or “so that your soul may bless me.”
20Isaac asked his son, “How in the world did you find game so quickly, my son?”
“Yahweh, your God, caused it to come right to me,” he replied.
21Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please, please, come closer that I may touch you, my son. I need to really know for certain that you are Esau.” 22So Jacob inched closer to his father Isaac, who felt his skin and said, “You sound like Jacob, but your hands are Esau’s.” 23Because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s, Isaac was tricked and did not recognize that it was really Jacob. As he was about to give him his blessing, 24Isaac asked him again, “Are you really my son Esau?”
Jacob answered, “I am.”
25“Then bring the food to me,” Isaac said, “and let me eat my son’s game. Then I will give you my blessing.” So, Jacob gave his father the food and he ate it. He brought him wine and he drank it. 26Then Isaac said to him, “My son, come near and kiss me.” 27So he came near and kissed him. Isaac recognized the smell of his son’s clothes and blessed him, saying,
“Ah, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a lush field that Yahweh has blessed!
28May God give you heaven’s dew, # 27:28 Dew is a frequent biblical metaphor for God’s anointing, favor, abundance, revelation-truth, renewal, and unity. In Judg. 6:36–40, Gideon’s fleece, saturated with dew, was a sign to him that God was with him. He wrung out a bowl full of dew. We are bowls, vessels of honor, full of heaven’s dew. See Num. 11:9; Deut. 33:13; Pss. 110:3; 133:3; Zech. 8:12.
the fatness of earth, # 27:28 The fatness of the earth means not only its finest produce (grain and wine) but also abundant prosperity. The earth’s finest blessings were promised to Jacob and his seed.
and an abundance of grain and new wine!
29Let peoples serve you
and nations bow down to you!
May you be master # 27:29 The Hebrew word for “master” is gebir, used for the first time in Genesis here. The word is closely related to gibbor, which means “strong,” “mighty,” “valiant,” or “one who does acts of bravery.” over your brothers
and may your mother’s sons bow down to you!
Those who curse you will be cursed
and those who bless you will be blessed!” # 27:29 The Hall of Faith (see Heb. 11) reveals a remarkable insight into this account. God commended Isaac in Heb. 11:20, saying, “The power of faith prompted Isaac to impart a blessing to his sons, Jacob and Esau, concerning their prophetic destinies.” At first glance, it does not appear to be an act of faith but rather a blunder for Isaac to bless Jacob instead of Esau. But God called it faith. All of this was contrary to Isaac’s natural inclination. Instead of doubt or unbelief, he acted by faith. It is the nature of faith to give priority to God’s will rather than our own. This is what Abraham had to do in giving up his son Isaac. Now Isaac had to give up Esau and his opinion of how God was to accomplish his purposes.
Esau’s Lost Blessing
30No sooner had Jacob left from receiving the blessing of his father Isaac, than his brother Esau arrived home from hunting. 31He too prepared a savory meal for his father and took it to him. He said to Isaac, “Sit up my father; eat some of your son’s wild game so that you can give me your innermost blessing.” # 27:31 Or “that your soul may bless me.”
32His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?”
“I’m Esau, your firstborn son,” he answered.
33When Isaac realized what had happened, he began to tremble and shake violently. He asked, “Who was it then that hunted wild game and brought it to me? I’ve already eaten it all before you came, and I gave him the blessing—yes, and he will be blessed indeed!”
34When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst into bitter weeping and uncontrollable sobbing. He said to his father, “Bless me! Bless me too, father!”
35Isaac answered, “Your brother was here and deceived me. He has taken away your blessing.”
36Esau exclaimed, “Jacob, that heel grabber # 27:36 Jacob’s name comes from the Hebrew word for “heel” and can be translated “trickster,” “heel grabber,” or “cheater.” —the name fits him perfectly! Now he has tricked me twice! He stole my birthright, and now he’s robbed me of my blessing!” Then he asked, “Father, haven’t you reserved a blessing for me?”
37Isaac replied, “You don’t understand. My blessing will empower him to be master over you. # 27:37 This demonstrates the power of a father’s prophetic blessing. It can shape the futures of his children. The words we speak over our children can make them or mar them. Be sure to speak life and blessing over your children! I have already given him all his brothers and relatives as servants. My blessing will richly provide him with grain and new wine. What more is left for me to do for you, my son?”
38Esau pleaded with his father, “Is that the only blessing you have to give? Bless me too, my father!” # 27:38 The Septuagint adds, “But Isaac remained silent.” Esau could not hold back his tears and he wept loudly. 39Then Isaac his father spoke these words:
“You will live far from earth’s bounty
and far from heaven’s dew on high.
40You will live by the sword and serve your brother;
but when you grow restless,
you will break free from his control.” # 27:40 Esau would be given all the provisions he would need in life. Notice that Isaac reverses the order of the blessing. The fatness of the earth was given first because Esau would be a man with his heart attached to the world. He would live by the sword-principle, always retaliating and unable to forgive. How many believers today have enough of God to get by but live with unresolved anger and unforgiveness like Esau? Hebrews describes Esau as careless about God’s blessing (see Heb. 12:16–17). The descendants of Esau were known as Edomites. They were a violent people who raided caravans and pillaged cities. During David’s reign, the united monarchy dominated the Edomites, but they later revolted under the reign of Jehoram (849–842 BC).
41Esau hated Jacob because he stole his blessing. He said to himself, “In a short time my father will be gone. After the time for mourning his death has passed, I will kill my brother Jacob!” # 27:41 Isaac sealed Jacob’s blessing with a kiss but not Esau’s. All of this caused Esau to hate his brother. Following in the way of Cain, Esau made an inner vow to murder his brother as soon as his father died. His jealousy turned to hatred and hatred to murder, all because his younger brother received a blessing that he did not.
42But when Rebekah found out about her older son Esau’s plan, she quickly sent for her younger son Jacob, # 27:42 Jacob may have been in hiding for fear of Esau. and said to him, “Listen, your brother Esau is planning to exact revenge by killing you. # 27:42 Or “is consoling himself [over what you did to him] by planning to kill you.” 43My son, you must do what I say. Run away at once to my brother Laban in Haran. 44You can live with him for a while until your brother calms down. 45After your brother’s anger has died down and he has forgotten what you’ve done to him, I will send a messenger to bring you back from there. Why should I lose both my sons in one day?” # 27:45 This would be the last time Rebekah saw her son before she died.
46Later, Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m so disgusted with our Hittite daughters-in-law. I’d rather die than see Jacob marry one of these local girls—these Hittite women!”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Passion Translation® is a registered trademark of Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc.
Copyright © 2020 Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc.
Learn More About The Passion Translation