Charles Spurgeon Commentary Genesis 27:16-19

"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." — Genesis 27:16-19 (ASV)

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 savoury meat 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 firstborn;

Which, whatever may be said about it, was a plain lie, and is not to be excused on any theory whatever. It was as much a sin in Jacob as it would be in us, except that perhaps he had less light, and the general cunning of those who surrounded him may have made it easier for him and less of a tax on his conscience to do this than it would be in our case. "I am Esau," said he.

Why is all this recorded in the Bible? It is not to the credit of these men. No! The Holy Spirit does not write for the credit of man: he writes for the glory of God's grace. He writes for the warning of believers now, and these things are examples to us that we may avoid the blots and flaws in good men, and may thereby ourselves become more what we should be.