Genesis 27:39

39 His father Isaac answered him, "The place where you live will lack the fertile fields of the earth and the dew from the sky 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 ) .

---

FOOTNOTES:

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

Genesis 27:39 In-Context

37 Isaac answered Esau, "I have made him your master, and I have made all his brothers serve him. I've provided fresh grain and new wine for him. What is left for me to do for you, Son?"

38 Esau asked, "Do you have only one blessing, Father? Bless me too, Father!" And Esau sobbed loudly.

39 His father Isaac answered him, "The place where you live will lack the fertile fields of the earth and the dew from the sky above.

40 You will use your sword to live, and you will serve your brother. But eventually you will gain your freedom and break his yoke off your neck."

41 So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing that his father had given him. Esau said to himself, "The time to mourn for my father is near. Then I'll kill my brother Jacob."