Genesis 27:39

39 Then Isaac said to him, ¹ "No dew from heaven for you, No fertile fields for you.

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 Isaac answered, "I have already made him master over you, and I have made all his relatives his slaves. I have given him grain and wine. Now there is nothing that I can do for you, son!"

38 Esau continued to plead with his father: "Do you have only one blessing, father? Bless me too, father!" He began to cry.

39 Then Isaac said to him, "No dew from heaven for you, No fertile fields for you.

40 You will live by your sword, But be your brother's slave. Yet when you rebel, You will break away from his control."

41 Esau hated Jacob, because his father had given Jacob the blessing. He thought, "The time to mourn my father's death is near; then I will kill Jacob."

Cross References

• 1. 27.39, 40Hebrews 11.20.