Genesis 27:40

40 You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck.”

Read Chapter Compare

PREVIOUS Genesis 27:39 NEXT Genesis 27:41

Genesis 27:40 in Other Translations

KJV

40 And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.

ESV

40 By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you grow restless you shall break his yoke from your neck."

NLT

40 You will live by your sword, and you will serve your brother. But when you decide to break free, you will shake his yoke from your neck.”

MSG

40 You'll live by your sword, hand-to-mouth, and you'll serve your brother. But when you can't take it any more you'll break loose and run free.

CSB

40 You will live by your sword, and you will serve your brother. But when you rebel, you will break his yoke from your neck.

Genesis 27:40 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 27:40

And by thy sword shalt thou live
By what he could get by it; his land being so poor that he could not live upon it, but must be obliged to such methods for a livelihood; or his country being surrounded with enemies, his posterity would be obliged to defend themselves by the sword, and other weapons of war: and shalt serve thy brother;
which is the sense and language of the oracle, ( Genesis 25:23 ) ; and which Isaac perhaps now remembered, and had a clear understanding of it, and delivers out his prophetic blessing agreeably to it: and it shall come to pass, when thou shalt have the dominion;
not over the Israelites, the posterity of Jacob, which the Edomites, Esau's posterity, never had; but when they should get a greater degree of strength, power, authority, and dominion in the world: that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck;
the Edomites should revolt from the posterity of Jacob, and shake off the yoke of bondage and subjection they had been long under; as they did in the times of Joram, king of Judah, and set up a king of their own, and continued in such a state of freedom a long time, see ( 2 Kings 8:20-22 ) .

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Genesis 27:40 In-Context

38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.

39 His father Isaac answered him, “Your dwelling will be away from the earth’s richness, away from the dew of heaven above.

40 You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck.”

41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

42 When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you.

Cross References 3

1. 2 Samuel 8:14
2. S Genesis 9:25; Genesis 25:23
3. 2 Kings 8:20-22