1And it shall be as Isaak grew old, and his eyes shall be weak for seeing, and he will call Esau his son the great, and he will say to him, My son: and he will say to him, Behold me. 2And he will say, Behold now, I grew old; I knew not the day of my death. 3Therefore take now, thy weapon, thy quiver and thy bow, and go forth to the field and hunt for me a hunting. 4And make for me dainties as that I loved, and bring it to me, and eating, that my soul shall praise thee before I shall die. 5And Rebekah heard in the speaking of Isaak to Esau his son: and Esau went to the field to hunt, a hunting, to bring. 6And Rebekah spake to Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speaking to Esau thy brother, saying, 7Bring to me a hunting, and make for me dainties, and eating, and I will praise thee before Jehovah, before my death. 8And now my son, hear to my voice, according to that I command thee. 9Go now to the flocks, and take to me from thence two kids of the she-goats good, and I will make them dainties for thy father, as that he loved. 10And thou shall bring to thy father, and eating, so that he will praise thee before his death. 11And Jacob will say to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother a man of hair, and I a smooth man: 12Perhaps my father will feel me, and I was in his eyes as mocking; and I brought a curse and not a praise. 13And his mother will say to him, Upon me thy curse my son; only hear to my voice, and go take to me. 14And he will go, and will take, and bring to his mother: and his mother will make dainties as that his father loved. 15And Rebekah will take desirable covering of Esau her son, the great, which was with her in the house, and will put upon Jacob her son, the small. 16And the nakedness of the skins of the shegoats, she put upon his hands and upon the smoothness of his neck. 17And she will give the dainties, and the bread which she made, into the hand of Jacob her son. 18And he will go to his father and will say, My father. And he will say, Behold me; who thou my son? 19And Jacob will say to his father, I am Esau thy first-born; I did according to that thou spakest to me: arise, now, sit and eat from my hunting, so that thy soul shall praise me. 20And Isaak will say to his son, How this, thou wert quick to find my son? and the will say, Because Jehovah thy God caused to meet before me. 21And Isaak will say to Jacob, Come near, now, and I shall feel thee, my son, if thou this my son Esau or not 22And Jacob will come near to Isaak his father , and he will feel him, and he will say, The voice, the voice of Jacob; and the hands, the hands of Esau. 23And he knew him not, for his hands were as the hands of Esau, his brother of hair: and he will praise him. 24And he will say, Thou this my son Esau? and he will say, I. 25And he will say, Bring near to me, and eating of my son's hunting, so that my soul shall praise thee. And he will bring near to him and he will eat: and he will bring wine to him, and he will drink 26And Isaak his father will say to him, Come near, now, and kiss me, my son. 27And he will come near, and will kiss him: and he will smell the smell of his garment, and he will bless him, and he will say, See, the smell of my son as the smell of a field which Jehovah praised. 28And God will give to thee from the dew of the heavens, and from the fatness of the earth, and a multiude of corn and new wine. 29And nations shall serve thee, and peoples shall bow down to thee; be lord over thy brother, and thy mother's sons shall bow down to thee: cursed he cursing thee, and blessed he praising thee. 30And it shall be after that Isaak finished to praise Jacob, and it shall be Jacob going will but go out from the face of Isaak his father, and Esau his brother came from his hunting. 31And he also will make dainties, and will bring to his father; and he will say to his father, Will my father rise and eat from his son's hunting, that thy soul shall bless me? 32And Isaak his father will say to him, Who art thou? And he will say, I thy son, thy first-born, Esau. 33And Isaak will tremble a great trembling, even exceedingly; and he will say, Who now is he having hunted a hunting, and will bring to me, and I ate from all before thou wilt come, and I shall praise him? also he shall be praised. 34When Esau heard the words of his father, and he will cry out with a great cry, even bitter exceedingly, and he will say to his father, praise me, me also, my father ! 35And he will say, Thy brother came with deceit and he will take thy blessing. 36And he will say, Is it not that his name was called Jacob? he will defraud me this twice: he took my birthright and behold, now he took my blessing And he will say, Didst thou not put aside a blessing for me? 37And Isaak will answer and say to Esau, Behold, I made him mighty over thee, and all his brethren I gave to him for servants; and with corn and new wine I supported him: and what shall I do to thee my son? 38And Esau will say to his father, Is but this one blessing to thee my father? bless me, also me, my father ! and Esau will lift up the voice and weep. 39And Isaak his father will answer and say to him, Behold, from the fatness of the earth shall be thy dwelling, and from the dew of the heavens above. 40And by thy sword shalt thou live and shalt serve thy brother: and it shall be when thou shalt wander about and thou shalt break his yoke from thy neck. 41And Esau will lie in wait for Jacob, because of the blessing which his father blessed him: and Esau will say in his heart, The days of mourning of my father will draw near, and I will kill Jacob my brother. 42And the words of Esau her son, the great, will be announced to Rebekah; and she will send and call to Jacob her son, the small, and she will say to him, Behold, Esau thy brother will avenge himself toward thee by killing thee. 43And now my son, hear to my voice: and arising escape for thyself to Laban my brother, to Haran. 44And thou shalt dwell with him days afterwards, until thy brother's wrath shall turn away; 45Until thy brother's anger turning away from thee, and forgetting what thou didst to him: and I have sent and have taken thee from thence, lest I shall be bereaved of you two in one day. 46And Rebekah will say to Isaak, I was finished in my life from the face of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob took a wife from the daughters of Heth, as these from the daughters of the land, for what to me life?
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 INFIRMITY OF ISAAC. (Gen. 27:1-27)
when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim--He was in his hundred thirty-seventh year; and apprehending death to be near, Isaac prepared to make his last will--an act of the gravest importance, especially as it included the conveyance through a prophetic spirit of the patriarchal blessing.
4 make . . . savory meat--perhaps to revive and strengthen him for the duty; or rather, "as eating and drinking" were used on all religious occasions, he could not convey the right, till he had eaten of the meat provided for the purpose by him who was to receive the blessing [ADAM CLARKE] (compare
Gen 18:7).
that my soul may bless thee--It is difficult to imagine him ignorant of the divine purpose (compare
Gen 25:23). But natural affection, prevailing through age and infirmity, prompted him to entail the honors and powers of the birthright on his elder son; and perhaps he was not aware of what Esau had done (
Gen 25:34).
6 Rebekah spake unto Jacob--She prized the blessing as invaluable; she knew that God intended it for the younger son [
Gen 25:23]; and in her anxiety to secure its being conferred on the right object--on one who cared for religion--she acted in the sincerity of faith; but in crooked policy--with unenlightened zeal; on the false principle that the end would sanctify the means.
11 Jacob said, Esau my brother is a hairy man--It is remarkable that his scruples were founded, not on the evil of the act, but on the risk and consequences of deception.
13 and his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse--His conscience being soothed by his mother, preparations were hastily made for carrying out the device; consisting, first, of a kid's flesh, which, made into a ragout, spiced with salt, onions, garlic, and lemon juice, might easily be passed off on a blind old man, with blunted senses, as game; second, of pieces of goat's skin bound on his hands and neck, its soft silken hair resembling that on the cheek of a young man; third, of the long white robe--the vestment of the first-born, which, transmitted from father to son and kept in a chest among fragrant herbs and perfumed flowers used much in the East to keep away moths--his mother provided for him.
18 he came unto his father--The scheme planned by the mother was to be executed by the son in the father's bedchamber; and it is painful to think of the deliberate falsehoods, as well as daring profanity, he resorted to. The disguise, though wanting in one thing, which had nearly upset the whole plot, succeeded in misleading Isaac; and while giving his paternal embrace, the old man was roused into a state of high satisfaction and delight.
27 the smell of my son is as of a field--The aromatic odors of the Syrian fields and meadows, often impart a strong fragrance to the person and clothes, as has been noticed by many travellers.
28 THE BLESSING. (Gen. 27:28-46)
God give thee of the dew of heaven--To an Oriental mind, this phraseology implied the highest flow of prosperity. The copious fall of dew is indispensable to the fruitfulness of lands, which would be otherwise arid and sterile through the violent heat; and it abounds most in hilly regions, such as Canaan, hence called the "fat land" (
Neh 9:25,
Neh 9:35).
plenty of corn and wine--Palestine was famous for vineyards, and it produced varieties of corn, namely, wheat, barley, oats, and rye.
29 Let people serve thee--fulfilled in the discomfiture of the hostile tribes that opposed the Israelites in the wilderness; and in the pre-eminence and power they attained after their national establishment in the promised land. This blessing was not realized to Jacob, but to his descendants; and the temporal blessings promised were but a shadow of those spiritual ones, which formed the grand distinction of Jacob's posterity.
30 Esau came in from his hunting--Scarcely had the former scene been concluded, when the fraud was discovered. The emotions of Isaac, as well as Esau, may easily be imagined--the astonishment, alarm, and sorrow of the one; the disappointment and indignation of the other. But a moment's reflection convinced the aged patriarch that the transfer of the blessing was "of the Lord," and now irrevocable. The importunities of Esau, however, overpowered him; and as the prophetic afflatus was upon the patriarch, he added what was probably as pleasing to a man of Esau's character as the other would have been.
39 Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth--The first part is a promise of temporal prosperity, made in the same terms as Jacob's [
Gen 27:28] --the second part refers to the roving life of hunting freebooters, which he and his descendants should lead. Though Esau was not personally subject to his brother, his posterity were tributary to the Israelites, till the reign of Joram when they revolted and established a kingdom of their own (
2Kgs 8:20;
2Chr 21:8-10).
41 Esau hated Jacob--It is scarcely to be wondered at that Esau resented the conduct of Jacob and vowed revenge.
The days of mourning for my father are at hand--a common Oriental phrase for the death of a parent.
42 these words of Esau were told Rebekah--Poor woman! she now early begins to reap the bitter fruits of her fraudulent device; she is obliged to part with her son, for whom she planned it, never, probably, seeing him again; and he felt the retributive justice of heaven fall upon him heavily in his own future family.
45 Why should I be deprived of you both?--This refers to the law of Goelism, by which the nearest of kin would be obliged to avenge the death of Jacob upon his brother.
46 Rebekah said to Isaac--Another pretext Rebekah's cunning had to devise to obtain her husband's consent to Jacob's journey to Mesopotamia; and she succeeded by touching the aged patriarch in a tender point, afflicting to his pious heart--the proper marriage of their younger son.