Albert Barnes Commentary Genesis 27:1-46

"And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his elder son, and said unto him, My son. And he said unto him, Here am I. And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death. Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me venison. And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat. That my soul may bless thee before I die. And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying, Bring me venison, and make me savory food, that I may eat, and bless thee before Jehovah before my death. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee. Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats. And I will make them savory food for thy father, such as he loveth. And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, so that he may bless thee before his death. And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver. And I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing. And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son. Only obey my voice, and go fetch me them. And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother. And his mother made savory food, such as his father loved. And Rebekah took the goodly garments of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son. And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck. And she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. And he came unto his father, and said, My father. And he said, Here am I. Who art thou, my son? And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy first-born; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because Jehovah thy God sent me good speed. 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. And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father. And he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob`s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau`s hands. So he blessed him. And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am. 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. And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son. 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 Jehovah hath blessed. And God five thee of the dew of heaven, And of the fatness of the earth, And plenty of grain and new wine. Let peoples serve thee, And nations bow down to thee. Be lord over thy brethren, And let thy mother`s sons bow down to thee. Cursed be every one that curseth thee, And blessed be every one that blesseth thee. 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. And he also made savory food, and brought it unto his father. And he said unto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son`s venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy first-born, Esau. And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who then is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? Yea, [and] he shall be blessed. When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceeding great and bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father. And he said, Thy brother came with guile, and hath taken away thy blessing. And he said, Is not he rightly name Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two time. 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? 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 grain and new wine have I sustained him. And what then shall I do for thee, my son? And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept. And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, of the fatness of the earth shall be thy dwelling, And of the dew of heaven from above. And by thy sword shalt thou live, and thou shalt serve thy brother. And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt break loose, That thou shalt shake his yoke from off thy neck. 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. And the 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. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. And arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran. And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother`s fury turn away. 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. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day? And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?" — Genesis 27:1-46 (ASV)

The life of Isaac falls into three periods. During the first seventy-five years, he was contemporary with his father. For sixty-one more years, his son Jacob remained under the paternal roof. The remaining forty-four years were passed in the retirement of old age. The chapter before us narrates the last solemn acts of the middle period of his life.

(Genesis 27:1–4)

Isaac was old. - Joseph was in his thirtieth year when he stood before Pharaoh, and therefore thirty-nine when Jacob came down to Egypt at the age of one hundred and thirty. When Joseph was born, therefore, Jacob was ninety-one, and he had sojourned fourteen years in Padan-aram. Hence, Jacob’s flight to Laban took place when he was seventy-seven, and therefore in the one hundred and thirty-sixth year of Isaac. His eyes were dim. Weakness and even loss of sight are more frequent in Palestine than with us. “His older son.” Isaac had not yet come to the conclusion that Jacob was heir of the promise. The communication from the Lord to Rebekah concerning her yet unborn sons, in the form in which it is handed down to us, merely determines that the older shall serve the younger.

This fact Isaac seems to have thought might not imply the transfer of the birthright; and if he was aware of the transaction between Esau and Jacob, he may not have regarded it as valid. Hence, he made arrangements for bestowing the paternal benediction on Esau, his older son, whom he also loved. I am old. At the age of one hundred and thirty-six, and with failing sight, he felt that life was uncertain. In the calmness of determination, he directed Esau to prepare savory meat, such as he loved, so that he might have his vigor renewed and his spirits revived for the solemn business of bestowing that blessing, which he held to be fraught with more than ordinary benefits.

(Genesis 27:5–13)

Rebekah formed a plan for diverting the blessing from Esau to Jacob. She was within hearing when the infirm Isaac gave his orders and communicated the news to Jacob. Rebekah had no scruples about primogeniture. Her feelings prompted her to take measures, without waiting to consider whether they were justifiable or not, for securing to Jacob the blessing that she had settled in her own mind was destined for him. She thought it necessary to interfere so that this end might not fail to be accomplished.

Jacob viewed the matter more coolly and raised an objection: he might be found out to be a deceiver and bring his father’s curse upon him. Rebekah, anticipating no such outcome, undertook to bear the curse that she believed would never come. Only let him obey.

(Genesis 27:14–29)

The plan was successful. Jacob now, without further objection, obeyed his mother. She clothed him in Esau’s garments and put the skins of the kids on his hands and his neck. The camel-goat yields a hair that bears a great resemblance to that of natural growth and is used as a substitute for it. Now began the strange interview between the father and the son. Who art thou, my son? The voice of Jacob was somewhat constrained.

He went, however, deliberately through the process of deceiving his father. He said, Arise, now, sit and eat. Isaac was reclining on his couch in the feebleness of advancing years; sitting was the posture convenient for eating. When Isaac expressed surprise at how quickly the choice food had been prepared, Jacob boldly replied, The Lord thy God prospered me.

The bewildered father then put Jacob to a severer test. He felt him but did not discern him. The ear noted a difference, but the hand felt the hairy skin resembling Esau’s; the eyes gave no testimony. After this, the biblical text summarily states the result, though the particulars are yet to be given. A lurking doubt prompted Isaac to ask the specific question, Art thou my very son Esau? Jacob gave a decisive answer. Isaac then called for the meal and partook.

(Genesis 27:26–29)

He gave the kiss of paternal affection and pronounced the benediction. It contains:

1. A fertile soil. Of the dew of heaven. An abundant measure of this was especially precious in a country where rain is confined to two seasons of the year. Of the fatness of the earth; a proportion of this to match and render available the dew of heaven. Corn and wine, the substantial products, implying all the rest.
2. A numerous and powerful offspring. Let peoples serve thee—pre-eminence among the nations. Be lord of thy brethren—pre-eminence among his kindred. Isaac does not seem to have grasped the full meaning of the prediction, The older shall serve the younger.
3. Prosperity, temporal and spiritual. He that curseth thee be cursed, and he that blesseth thee be blessed.

This is the only part of the blessing that directly comprises spiritual things, and even this is of a special form. It is to be remembered that it was Isaac’s intention to bless Esau, and he may have felt that Esau, after all, was not to be the progenitor of the holy seed. Hence, the form of expression is vague enough to apply to temporal things, and yet sufficiently comprehensive to embrace the infliction of the ban of sin and the diffusion of the blessing of salvation by means of the holy seed.

(Genesis 27:30–41)

Esau’s blessing. Esau came in, but it was too late. Who then? The whole illusion was dispelled from the mind of Isaac. Yea, blessed he shall be. Jacob had no doubt perpetrated a fraud at the instigation of his mother; and if Esau had been worthy in other respects, and above all if the blessing had been designed for him, its bestowal on another would have been either prevented or regarded as null and void. But Isaac now felt that, whatever was the misconduct of Jacob in interfering, and especially in employing unworthy means to accomplish his end, he himself was culpable in allowing carnal considerations to draw his preference to Esau, who was otherwise unworthy.

He knew too that the paternal benediction flowed not from the bias of the parent but from the Spirit of God guiding his will, and therefore when so pronounced could not be revoked. Hence, he was now convinced that it was the design of Providence that the spiritual blessing should fall on the line of Jacob. The grief of Esau is distressing to witness, especially as he had been comparatively blameless in this particular instance. But still, it is to be remembered that his heart had not been open to the paramount importance of spiritual things. Isaac now perceived that Jacob had gained the blessing by deceit. Esau marked the fittingness of his name, the wrestler who trips up the heel, and pleaded pathetically for at least some blessing.

His father enumerated what he had done for Jacob and asked what more he could do for Esau, who then exclaimed, Hast thou but one blessing?

(Genesis 27:39–41)

At length, in reply to the weeping suppliant, Isaac bestowed upon him a characteristic blessing: Away from the fatness. The preposition (מי (mı̂y)) is the same as in the blessing of Jacob. But in Jacob's blessing, after a verb of giving, it had a partitive sense; here, after a noun of place, it denotes distance or separation (for example, Proverbs 20:3).

The pastoral life had thus been distasteful to Esau, and so it would be with his descendants; the land of Edom was accordingly a comparative wilderness (Malachi 1:3). Further elements of the blessing were: On thy sword you shall live—by preying upon others—and thy brother shalt thou serve. Edom was long independent, but eventually Saul was victorious over them (1 Samuel 14:47), and David conquered them (2 Samuel 8:14).

Then followed a long struggle, until John Hyrcanus, in 129 B.C., compelled them to be circumcised and incorporated into Judaism. Break his yoke. The history of Edom was a perpetual struggle against the supremacy of Israel. Conquered by Saul, subdued by David, repressed by Solomon, restrained after a revolt by Amaziah, they recovered their independence in the time of Ahab. They were incorporated into the Jewish state and provided it with the dynasty of princes beginning with Antipater. Esau was now exasperated against his brother and could only compose his mind by resolving to slay him during the days of mourning after his father’s death.

(Genesis 27:42–46)

Rebekah, hearing this, advised Jacob to flee to Laban her brother and await the abatement of his brother’s anger. That which thou hast done to him. Rebekah seems not to have been aware that she herself was the cause of much of the evil and of the misery that flowed from it. All the parties to this transaction were pursued by a retributive chastisement. Rebekah, especially, parted with her favorite son, to meet him again only after an absence of twenty years, if ever in this life. She was moreover grievously vexed with the connection which Esau formed with the daughters of Heth. She dreaded a similar matrimonial alliance on the part of Jacob.