Genesis 27
27
1 Now Isaac was old, and his eyes were cloudy, and so he was not able to see. And he called his elder son Esau, and he said to him, "My son?" And he responded, "Here I am."
2 His father said to him: "You see that I am old, and I do not know the day of my death.
3 Take your weapons, the quiver and the bow, and go out. And when you have taken something by hunting,
4 make from it a small meal for me, just as you know I like, and bring it, so that I may eat and my soul may bless you before I die."
5 And when Rebekah had heard this, and he had gone out into the field to fulfill his father's order,
6 she said to her son Jacob: "I heard your father speaking with your brother Esau, and saying to him,
7 'Bring to me from your hunting, and make me foods, so that I may eat and bless you in the sight of the Lord before I die.'
8 Therefore, now my son, agree to my counsel,
9 and go straight to the flock, and bring me two of the best young goats, so that from them I may make meat for your father, such as he willingly eats.
10 Then, when you have brought these in and he has eaten, he may bless you before he dies."
11 He answered her: "You know that my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am smooth.
12 If my father should lay hands on me and perceive it, I am afraid lest he think me willing to mock him, and I will bring a curse upon myself, instead of a blessing."
13 And his mother said to him: "Let this curse be upon me, my son. Yet listen to my voice, and go directly to bring what I said."
14 He went out, and he brought, and he gave to his mother. She prepared the meats, just as she knew his father liked.
15 And she clothed him with the very fine garments of Esau, which she had at home with her.
16 And she encircled his hands with little pelts from the young goats, and she covered his bare neck.
17 And she gave him the small meal, and she handed him the bread that she had baked.
18 When he had carried these in, he said, "My father?" And he answered, "I'm listening. Who are you, my son?"
19 And Jacob said: "I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you instructed me. Arise; sit and eat from my hunting, so that your soul may bless me."
20 And again Isaac said to his son, "How were you able to find it so quickly, my son?" He answered, "It was the will of God, so that what I sought met with me quickly."
21 And Isaac said, "Come here, so that I may touch you, my son, and may prove whether you are my son Esau, or not."
22 He approached his father, and when he had felt him, Isaac said: "The voice indeed is the voice of Jacob. But the hands are the hands of Esau."
23 And he did not recognize him, because his hairy hands made him seem similar to the elder one. Therefore, blessing him,
24 he said, "Are you my son Esau?" He answered, "I am."
25 Then he said, "Bring me the foods from your hunting, my son, so that my soul may bless you." And when he had eaten what was offered, he also brought forth wine for him. And after he finished it,
26 he said to him, "Come to me and give me a kiss, my son."
27 He approached and kissed him. And immediately he perceived the fragrance of his garments. And so, blessing him, he said: "Behold, the smell of my son is like the smell of a plentiful field, which the Lord has blessed.
28 May God give to you, from the dew of heaven and from the fatness of the earth, an abundance of grain and wine.
29 And may the peoples serve you, and may the tribes reverence you. May you be the lord of your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down before you. Whoever curses you, may he be cursed, and whoever blesses you, may he be filled with blessings."
30 Scarcely had Isaac completed his words, and Jacob departed, when Esau arrived.
31 And he brought his father foods cooked from his hunting, saying, "Arise, my father, and eat from your son's hunting, so that your soul may bless me."
32 And Isaac said to him, "But who are you?" And he answered, "I am your firstborn son, Esau."
33 Isaac became frightened and very astonished. And wondering beyond what can be believed, he said: "Then who is he that a while ago brought me the prey from his hunting, from which I ate, before you arrived? And I blessed him, and he will be blessed."
34 Esau, having heard his father's words, roared out with a great outcry. And, being confounded, he said, "But bless me also, my father."
35 And he said, "Your twin came deceitfully, and he received your blessing."
36 But he responded: "Justly is his name called Jacob. For he has supplanted me yet another time. My birthright he took away before, and now, this second time, he has stolen my blessing." And again, he said to his father, "Have you not reserved a blessing for me also?"
37 Isaac answered: "I have appointed him as your lord, and I have subjugated all his brothers as his servants. I have reinforced him with grain and wine, and after this, my son, what more shall I do for you?"
38 And Esau said to him: "Have you only one blessing, father? I beg you, bless me also." And when he wept with a loud wail,
39 Isaac was moved, and he said to him: "In the fatness of the earth, and in the dew of heaven from above,
40 will your blessing be. You will live by the sword, and you will serve your brother. But the time will arrive when you will shake off and release his yoke from your neck."
41 Therefore, Esau always hated Jacob, for the blessing with which his father had blessed him. And he said in his heart, "The days will arrive for the mourning of my father, and I will kill my brother Jacob."
42 These things were reported to Rebekah. And sending and calling for her son Jacob, she said to him, "Behold, your brother Esau is threatening to kill you.
43 Therefore, now my son, listen to my voice. Rise up and flee to my brother Laban, in Haran.
44 And you will dwell with him for a few days, until the fury of your brother subsides,
45 and his indignation ceases, and he forgets the things that you have done to him. After this, I will send for you and bring you from there to here. Why should I be bereaved of both my sons in one day?"
46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob accepts a wife from the stock of this land, I would not be willing to live."
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Genesis 27: CPDV
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Genesis 27
27
Jacob’s Deception.#The chapter, a literary masterpiece, is the third and climactic wresting away of the blessing of Esau. Rebekah manages the entire affair, using perhaps her privileged information about Jacob’s status (25:23); Jacob’s only qualm is that if his father discovers the ruse, he will receive a curse instead of a blessing (vv. 11–12). Isaac is passive as he was in chaps. 22 and 24. The deception is effected through clothing (Jacob wears Esau’s clothing), which points ahead to a similar deception of a patriarch by means of clothing in the Joseph story (37:21–33). Such recurrent acts and scenes let the reader know a divine purpose is moving the story forward even though the human characters are unaware of it. 1When Isaac was so old that his eyesight had failed him, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son!” “Here I am!” he replied. 2Isaac then said, “Now I have grown old. I do not know when I might die. 3So now take your hunting gear—your quiver and bow—and go out into the open country to hunt some game for me. 4Then prepare for me a dish in the way I like, and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you#I may bless you: Isaac’s blessing confers fertility (vv. 27–28) and dominion (v. 29). The “dew of heaven” is rain that produces grain and wine, two of the principal foodstuffs of the ancient Near East. The “fertility of the earth” may allude to oil, the third basic foodstuff. The full agricultural year may be implied here: the fall rains are followed by the grain harvests of the spring and the grape harvest of late summer, and then the olive harvest of the fall (cf. Dt 11:14; Ps 104:13–15). before I die.”
5Rebekah had been listening while Isaac was speaking to his son Esau. So when Esau went out into the open country to hunt some game for his father,#Gn 25:28. 6Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Listen! I heard your father tell your brother Esau, 7‘Bring me some game and prepare a dish for me to eat, that I may bless you with the Lord’s approval before I die.’ 8Now, my son, obey me in what I am about to order you. 9Go to the flock and get me two choice young goats so that with these I might prepare a dish for your father in the way he likes. 10Then bring it to your father to eat, that he may bless you before he dies.” 11But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man and I am smooth-skinned!#Gn 25:25. 12Suppose my father feels me? He will think I am making fun of him, and I will bring on myself a curse instead of a blessing.” 13His mother, however, replied: “Let any curse against you, my son, fall on me! Just obey me. Go and get me the young goats.”
14So Jacob went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared a dish in the way his father liked. 15Rebekah then took the best clothes of her older son Esau that she had in the house, and gave them to her younger son Jacob to wear; 16and with the goatskins she covered up his hands and the hairless part of his neck. 17Then she gave her son Jacob the dish and the bread she had prepared.
18Going to his father, Jacob said, “Father!” “Yes?” replied Isaac. “Which of my sons are you?” 19Jacob answered his father: “I am Esau, your firstborn. I did as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may bless me.” 20But Isaac said to his son, “How did you get it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “The Lord, your God, directed me.” 21Isaac then said to Jacob, “Come closer, my son, that I may feel you, to learn whether you really are my son Esau or not.” 22So Jacob moved up closer to his father. When Isaac felt him, he said, “Although the voice is Jacob’s, the hands are Esau’s.” 23(He failed to identify him because his hands were hairy, like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him.) 24Again Isaac said, “Are you really my son Esau?” And Jacob said, “I am.” 25Then Isaac said, “Serve me, my son, and let me eat of the game so that I may bless you.” Jacob served it to him, and Isaac ate; he brought him wine, and he drank. 26Finally his father Isaac said to him, “Come closer, my son, and kiss me.” 27As Jacob went up to kiss him, Isaac smelled the fragrance of his clothes. With that, he blessed him, saying,
“Ah, the fragrance of my son
is like the fragrance of a field
that the Lord has blessed!#Gn 22:17–18; Heb 11:20.
28May God give to you
of the dew of the heavens
And of the fertility of the earth
abundance of grain and wine.
29#Gn 25:23; 49:8; Nm 24:9. May peoples serve you,
and nations bow down to you;
Be master of your brothers,
and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be those who curse you,
and blessed be those who bless you.”
30Jacob had scarcely left his father after Isaac had finished blessing him, when his brother Esau came back from his hunt. 31Then he too prepared a dish, and bringing it to his father, he said, “Let my father sit up and eat some of his son’s game, that you may then give me your blessing.” 32His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?” He said, “I am your son, your firstborn son, Esau.” 33Isaac trembled greatly. “Who was it, then,” he asked, “that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it all just before you came, and I blessed him. Now he is blessed!” 34As he heard his father’s words, Esau burst into loud, bitter sobbing and said, “Father, bless me too!” 35When Isaac said, “Your brother came here by a ruse and carried off your blessing,” 36Esau exclaimed, “He is well named Jacob, is he not! He has supplanted me#He has supplanted me: in Hebrew, wayyaqebeni, a wordplay on the name Jacob, ya‘aqob; see Jer 9:3 and Gn 25:26. There is also a play between the Hebrew words bekorah (“right of the firstborn”) and berakah (“blessing”). twice! First he took away my right as firstborn, and now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not saved a blessing for me?”#Gn 25:26, 29–34; Hos 12:4. 37Isaac replied to Esau: “I have already appointed him your master, and I have assigned to him all his kindred as his servants; besides, I have sustained him with grain and wine. What then can I do for you, my son?” 38But Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, father? Bless me too, father!” and Esau wept aloud.#Heb 12:17. 39His father Isaac said in response:
“See, far from the fertile earth
will be your dwelling;
far from the dew of the heavens above!#Heb 11:20.
40By your sword you will live,
and your brother you will serve;
But when you become restless,
you will throw off his yoke from your neck.”#2 Kgs 8:20, 22; 2 Chr 21:8.
41Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. Esau said to himself, “Let the time of mourning for my father come, so that I may kill my brother Jacob.”#Wis 10:10; Ob 10. 42When Rebekah got news of what her older son Esau had in mind, she summoned her younger son Jacob and said to him: “Listen! Your brother Esau intends to get his revenge by killing you. 43So now, my son, obey me: flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran, 44and stay with him a while until your brother’s fury subsides— 45until your brother’s anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back. Why should I lose both of you in a single day?”
Jacob Sent to Laban. 46Rebekah said to Isaac: “I am disgusted with life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob also should marry a Hittite woman, a native of the land, like these women, why should I live?”#Gn 26:34–35.
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