Genesis 27

Jacob's Deception

1 Now it came about, when Isaac was old and 1his eyes were too dim to see, that he called his 2older son Esau and said to him, "My son." And he said to him, "Here I am."
2 3Isaac said, "Behold now, I am old and I do not know the day of my death.
3 "Now then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and 4hunt game for me;
4 and prepare a savory dish for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that 5my soul may bless you before I die."
5 Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring home,
6 6Rebekah said to her son Jacob, "Behold, I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying,
7 'Bring me some game and prepare a savory dish for me, that I may eat, and bless you in the presence of the LORD before my death.'
8 "Now therefore, my son, 7listen to me as I command you.
9 "Go now to the flock and bring me two choice young * goats * from there, that I may prepare them as a savory dish for your father, such as he loves.
10 "Then you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death."
11 Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, "Behold, Esau my brother is a 8hairy man and I am a smooth man.
12 "9Perhaps my father will feel me, then I will be as a deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing."
13 But his mother said to him, "Your curse be on me, my son; only 10obey my voice, and go, get them for me."
14 So he went and got them, and brought them to his mother; and his mother made savory food such as his father loved.
15 Then Rebekah took the best 11garments of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.
16 And she put the skins of the young * goats * on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.
17 She also gave the savory food and the bread, which she had made, to her son Jacob.
18 Then he came to his father and said, "My father." And he said, "Here I am. Who are you, my son?"
19 Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn; I have done as you told me. 12Get up, please, sit and eat of my game, that 13you may bless me."
20 Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have it so quickly, my son?" And he said, "14Because the LORD your God caused it to happen to me."
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come close, that 15I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not."
22 So Jacob came close to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau."
23 He did not recognize him, because his hands were 16hairy like his brother Esau's hands; so he blessed him.
24 And he said, "Are you really my son Esau?" And he said, "I am."
25 So he said, "Bring it to me, and I will eat of my son's game, that 17I may bless you." And he brought it to him, and he ate; he also brought him wine and he drank.
26 Then his father Isaac said to him, "Please come close and kiss me, my son."
27 So he came close and kissed him; and when he smelled the smell of his garments, he 18blessed him and said, "See, 19the smell of my son Is like the smell of a field 20which the LORD has blessed;
28 Now may 21God give you of the dew of heaven, And of the 22fatness of the earth, And an abundance of grain and new wine;
29 23May peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you; 24Be master of your brothers, 25And may your mother's sons bow down to you. 26Cursed be those who curse you, And blessed be those who bless you."

The Stolen Blessing

30 Now it came about, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had hardly * gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.
31 Then he also made savory food, and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, "27Let my father arise and eat of his son's game, that 28you may bless me."
32 Isaac his father said to him, "29Who are you?" And he said, "I am your son, 30your firstborn, Esau."
33 Then Isaac trembled violently * * *, and said, "31Who was he then that hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate of all of it before you came, and blessed him? 32Yes, and he shall be blessed."
34 When Esau heard the words of his father, 33he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, "Bless me, even me also, O my father!"
35 And he said, "34Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing."
36 Then he said, "Is he not rightly named * 35Jacob, for he has supplanted me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing." And he said, "Have you not reserved a blessing for me?"
37 But Isaac replied to Esau, "Behold, I have made him 36your master, and all his relatives I have given to him as servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. Now as for you then, what can I do, my son?"
38 Esau said to his father, "Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father." So Esau lifted his voice and 37wept.
39 Then 38Isaac his father answered and said to him, "Behold, 39away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling, And away from the dew of heaven from above.
40 "By your sword you shall live, And your brother 40you shall serve; But it shall come about 41when you become restless, That you will break his yoke from your neck."
41 So Esau 42bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said to himself, "43The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob."
42 Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, "Behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you.
43 "Now therefore, my son, 44obey my voice, and arise, flee to 45Haran, to my brother 46Laban!
44 "Stay with him 47a few days, until * your brother's fury subsides,
45 until your brother's anger against you subsides and he forgets 48what you did to him. Then I will send and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?"
46 Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am tired of living because * of 49the daughters of Heth; 50if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?"

Cross References 50

  • 1. Genesis 48:10; 1 Samuel 3:2
  • 2. Gen 25:25, 33, 34
  • 3. Genesis 47:29
  • 4. Genesis 25:28
  • 5. Genesis 27:19, 25, 31; Genesis 48:9, 15, 16; Deuteronomy 33:1; Hebrews 11:20
  • 6. Genesis 25:28
  • 7. Genesis 27:13, 43
  • 8. Genesis 25:25
  • 9. Genesis 27:21, 22
  • 10. Genesis 27:8
  • 11. Genesis 27:27
  • 12. Genesis 27:31
  • 13. Genesis 27:4
  • 14. Genesis 24:12
  • 15. Genesis 27:12
  • 16. Genesis 27:16
  • 17. Genesis 27:4
  • 18. Hebrews 11:20
  • 19. Song of Songs 4:11
  • 20. Psalms 65:10
  • 21. Genesis 27:39; Deuteronomy 33:13, 28; Proverbs 3:20; Zechariah 8:12
  • 22. Numbers 18:12
  • 23. Genesis 25:23; Isaiah 45:14; Isaiah 49:7, 23; Isaiah 60:12, 14
  • 24. Genesis 9:26, 27; Genesis 27:37
  • 25. Genesis 37:7, 10
  • 26. Genesis 12:3; Numbers 24:9
  • 27. Genesis 27:19
  • 28. Genesis 27:4
  • 29. Genesis 27:18
  • 30. Genesis 25:33, 34
  • 31. Genesis 27:35
  • 32. Genesis 25:23; Genesis 28:3, 4; Numbers 23:20
  • 33. Hebrews 12:17
  • 34. Genesis 27:19
  • 35. Gen 25:26, 32-34
  • 36. Genesis 27:28, 29
  • 37. Hebrews 12:17
  • 38. Hebrews 11:20
  • 39. Genesis 27:28; Deuteronomy 33:13, 28
  • 40. Genesis 25:23; Genesis 27:29
  • 41. 2 Kings 8:20-22
  • 42. Genesis 32:3-11; Genesis 37:4, 8
  • 43. Gen 50:2-4, 10
  • 44. Genesis 27:8, 13
  • 45. Genesis 11:31
  • 46. Genesis 24:29
  • 47. Genesis 31:41
  • 48. Gen 27:12, 19, 35
  • 49. Genesis 26:34, 35; Genesis 28:8
  • 50. Genesis 24:3

Footnotes 26

Genesis 27 Commentaries

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