Line upon Line

Genesis 27

Jacob Receives Isaac’s Blessing

Old and unable to see, Isaac sends Esau to hunt so that he can bless him. Rebekah, who overheard, sends Jacob in Esau’s place, dressed as his brother. Isaac blesses the wrong son, will not take the blessing back, and Jacob must flee from Esau’s anger.

Genesis chaptersChapter 27 of 50
Isaac’s old age, before Jacob leaves for Haran. The text gives no year; if this chapter follows chapter 26 directly, Isaac is about a hundred (see the note on verse 1). Read with footnotes in Gospel Library
Start reading

Background

This chapter comes late in Isaac’s life, in the household of the twins.

This chapter comes late in Isaac’s life, in the household of the twins. Before they were born the Lord told Rebekah that “the elder shall serve the younger” (Gen. 25:23); Esau sold his birthright (Gen. 25:33–34); and Isaac “loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison” (Gen. 25:28). Esau’s Hittite wives were “a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah” (Gen. 26:34–35). Now Isaac, old and unable to see, means to give Esau his blessing.

A father’s blessing is not the birthright; Esau himself names them separately in verse 36 (see the note at verse 4). The question that has followed the chapter is how Jacob came to receive it; the notes at verses 13 and 33 take it up.

Later scripture looks back on the scene twice, in Heb. 11:20 and Heb. 12:16–17 (see the notes at verses 33 and 38).

The chapter has five parts: Isaac’s request (verses 1–5), Rebekah’s plan (6–17), Jacob before Isaac (18–29), Esau’s return (30–40), and Jacob’s flight (41–46).

The thread through the chapter

Genesis 27 is about who decides where a blessing goes, and what becomes of a blessing once it is spoken.

Genesis 27 is about who decides where a blessing goes, and what becomes of a blessing once it is spoken. Isaac means his for Esau (verse 4). Rebekah, who overheard, means it for Jacob (verses 7–10). Esau, when it is gone, begs for another (verses 34, 38). His complaint in verse 36 turns on two Hebrew words that are almost the same, bekhorah, “birthright,” and berakhah, “blessing.” Chapter 25 told how the birthright went; this chapter tells how the blessing did.

The Church reads the chapter from one verse. When Isaac learns that he has blessed the wrong son, he says, “yea, and he shall be blessed” (verse 33). The Church takes that as Isaac’s confirmation that the blessing went where the Lord intended, and Isaac gives Jacob “the blessing of Abraham” knowingly in the next chapter (Gen. 28:3–4). How Jacob and Rebekah brought it about is another matter: the Church’s current wording allows that they may have gone about it imperfectly (see the note at verse 13), and the text itself never says the plan was inspired.

Genesis also counts the cost. Isaac “trembled very exceedingly” (verse 33). Esau “cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry” (verse 34), and then resolved to kill his brother (verse 41). Rebekah sends away the son she helped and says she fears losing both sons “in one day” (verse 45). The chapter closes on those costs, not on a triumph.

Tap any highlighted phrase to open a note beneath its versein the margin.

Verses 1–5

Isaac sends Esau to hunt

In plain words

When Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see, he called Esau, his elder son. “My son,” he said, and Esau answered, “Here I am.” Isaac said, “I am old, and I do not know the day of my death. Take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, go out to the field, and hunt some game for me. Make me the kind of savory food I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.” Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So Esau went to the field to hunt.

1 And it came to pass, that , so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am I.

2 And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death:

3 Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison;

4 And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; .

5 And . And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it.

Verses 6–17

Rebekah’s plan

In plain words

Rebekah said to Jacob, her son, “I heard your father say to your brother Esau, ‘Bring me game and make me savory food to eat, so that I may bless you before the Lord before I die.’ Now, my son, listen to me and do what I tell you. Go to the flock and bring me two good young goats, and I will make them into savory food for your father, the kind he loves. You will take it to your father, so that he may eat it and bless you before he dies.”

Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “My brother Esau is a hairy man and I am smooth. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I will seem to him like a deceiver, and bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing.” His mother said, “Let your curse fall on me, my son. Only do as I say and go and get them.” He went, got them, and brought them to his mother, and she made the savory food his father loved.

Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau, her older son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob, her younger son. She put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. And she put the savory food and the bread she had made into the hand of her son Jacob.

6 And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying,

7 Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat, and .

8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee.

9 Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth:

10 And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death.

11 And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man:

12 My father peradventure will feel me, and ; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing.

13 And his mother said unto him, : only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.

14 And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savoury meat, such as his father loved.

15 And Rebekah took , which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son:

16 And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck:

17 And she gave the savoury meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

Verses 18–29

Jacob before Isaac

In plain words

Jacob went to his father and said, “My father.” Isaac said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” Jacob said, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat my game, so that you may bless me.” Isaac said, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the Lord your God brought it to me.” Isaac said, “Come near, so that I may feel you, my son, and know whether you really are my son Esau.” Jacob went near, and Isaac felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s, and he blessed him.

“Are you really my son Esau?” Isaac asked. “I am,” Jacob said. Isaac said, “Bring it to me, and I will eat my son’s game, so that I may bless you.” Jacob brought it, and Isaac ate; he brought him wine, and he drank. Then Isaac said, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” Jacob came near and kissed him, and Isaac smelled his clothes and blessed him: “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed. May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the richness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you.”

18 And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son?

19 And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy firstborn; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.

20 And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the LORD thy God brought it to me.

21 And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not.

22 And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, .

23 And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau’s hands: so he blessed him.

24 And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am.

25 And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat: and he brought him wine, and he drank.

26 And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son.

27 And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed:

28 Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:

29 Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: .

Verses 30–40

Esau comes in

In plain words

Isaac had hardly finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had only just left, when Esau came in from hunting. He too made savory food and brought it to his father. “Father, sit up and eat your son’s game,” he said, “so that you may bless me.” “Who are you?” said Isaac. “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it all before you came and I blessed him, and he will be blessed.”

When Esau heard his father’s words, he cried out with a great and bitter cry and said, “Bless me, me also, my father!” Isaac said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.” Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? He has taken my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing. Have you not kept a blessing for me?” Isaac answered, “I have made him lord over you and given him all his brothers as servants, and I have sustained him with grain and wine. What can I do for you, my son?” Esau said, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me, me also, my father!” and he wept aloud.

His father Isaac answered him, “Your dwelling will be of the richness of the earth and of the dew of heaven above. You will live by your sword and serve your brother; but when you grow restless, you will break his yoke from your neck.”

30 And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

31 And he also had made savoury meat, and brought it unto his father, and said unto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son’s venison, that thy soul may bless me.

32 And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau.

33 And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? .

34 And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father.

35 And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing.

36 And he said, for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?

37 And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?

38 And Esau said unto his father, bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.

39 And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, , and of the dew of heaven from above;

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 .

Verses 41–46

Esau’s hatred and Jacob’s flight

In plain words

Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him, and he said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” When Rebekah was told what Esau had said, she sent for Jacob and said, “Esau is comforting himself with the thought of killing you. Now, my son, do as I say: run away to my brother Laban in Haran and stay with him a few days, until your brother’s anger turns away and he forgets what you did to him. Then I will send for you. Why should I lose you both in one day?”

Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries a Hittite woman like these, one of the women of this land, what good will my life be to me?”

41 And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.

42 And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee.

43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran;

44 And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother’s fury turn away;

45 Until thy brother’s anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence:

46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, : if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?

Seeing Christ in Genesis 27

Behind the struggle over the blessing is the covenant line through which Christ would come. Among the promises to Abraham was the assurance “that (1) Christ would come through his lineage,” and the covenant “was renewed with Isaac… and again with Jacob.” At Beth-el, just after this story, the Lord tells Jacob, “in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 28:14). Paul reads the promise to Abraham’s seed as a promise of Christ: “He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ” (Gal. 3:16). Matthew’s genealogy runs through the same line: “Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob” (Matt. 1:2).

The firstborn’s place, and how the faithful come into it through Christ, are taken up in Gen. 25.

Worth exploring next

Sources & further reading