Genesis 27:39

39 and Yitz'chak his father answered him: "Here! Your home will be of the richness of the earth and of the dew of heaven from above.

Genesis 27:39 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 27:39

And Isaac his father answered and said unto him
Being willing to bestow what he could upon him, without lessening or breaking in upon the grant made to Jacob: behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew
of heaven from above:
this agrees with part of the blessing of Jacob, only the clauses are inverted, and no mention made of corn and wine; the land of Edom not being so fat and fruitful as the land of Canaan. Castalio renders the words very differently, "thy habitation shall be from the fatness of the earth, or without the fatness of the earth, and without the dew of heaven from above" ^F3; or otherwise he thinks Esau would have the same blessing with Jacob, and so would have no occasion of complaint or grief, or to have hated his brother and sought his life; to which may be added, that the land of Edom, which Esau and his posterity inhabited, was a very desert country, see ( Malachi 1:3 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 See the Bishop of Clogher's Chronology of the Hebrew Bible, p. 142.

Genesis 27:39 In-Context

37 Yitz'chak answered 'Esav, "Look, I have made him your lord, I have given him all his kinsmen as servants, and I have given him grain and wine to sustain him. What else is there that I can do for you, my son?"

38 'Esav said to his father, "Have you only one blessing, my father? Father, bless me too!"'Esav wept aloud,

39 and Yitz'chak his father answered him: "Here! Your home will be of the richness of the earth and of the dew of heaven from above.

40 You will live by your sword, and you will serve your brother. But when you break loose, you will shake his yoke off your neck."

41 'Esav hated his brother because of the blessing his father had given him. 'Esav said to himself, "The time for mourning my father will soon come, and then I will kill my brother Ya'akov."