Genesis 27 is a sad commentary on Isaac's dysfunctional family, in which
a wife betrays her husband and son, and a son betrays his father and
brother. But Genesis 27 is also a commentary on God's omniscience and
sovereign will.
GENESIS 27:1-10 1
Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that he
could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My
son.” And he answered him, “Here I am.”
2 Then he said, “Behold now, I am old. I do
not know the day of my death. 3
Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and
go out to the field and hunt game for me.
4 And make me savory
food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul
may bless you before I die.” 5
Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau
went to the field to hunt game and to bring it.
6 So Rebekah spoke
to Jacob her son, saying, “Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your
brother, saying, 7
‘Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless
you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’
8 Now therefore, my
son, obey my voice according to what I command you.
9 Go now to the
flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will
make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves.
10 Then you shall
take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he may bless you
before his death.”
What kind of woman was Rebekah?
The type that betrays her husband and firstborn son, tells her younger son
to lie, steal, betray his father (her husband) and older brother (her
firstborn son), and turns her two sons into enemies.
GENESIS 27:11-12 11
And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Look, Esau my brother is a hairy
man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. 12
Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to
him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.”
What is the basis of Jacob's complaint against his
mother?
The logistics, not the ethics, of her plot.
GENESIS 27:13-20 13
But his mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey
my voice, and go, get them for me.” 14
And 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 choice clothes of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the
house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.
16 And she put the
skins of the kids of the goats on his hands and on the smooth part of
his neck. 17
Then she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared,
into the hand of her son Jacob. 18
So he went 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 just as
you told me; please arise, sit and eat of my game, that your soul may
bless me.” 20
But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly,
my son?” And he said, “Because the Lord your God brought it to me.”
Against who else did Jacob sin?
"God" (Genesis 27:20).
GENESIS 27:21-27 21
Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son,
whether you are really my son Esau or not.”
22 So Jacob went
near to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is
Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”
23 And he did not
recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s
hands; so he blessed him. 24
Then he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He said, “I am.”
25 He said, “Bring
it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s game, so that my soul may
bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him
wine, and he drank. 26
Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near now and kiss me, my son.”
27 And he came near
and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed
him and said: “Surely, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field
which the Lord has blessed.
Which two factors raised the suspicion of Isaac, whose
"eyes were so dim that he could not see" (Genesis 27:1)?
"Jacob's voice" (Genesis 27:22) and how
"quickly" (Genesis 27:20) he presumably had
hunted and cooked the "game" (Genesis 27:25).
Which three factors overcame those suspicions?
"The skins of the kids of the goats on his hands"
(Genesis 27:16) that were "hairy like his brother Esau’s
hands" (Genesis 27:23), the "smell"
(Genesis 27:27) of Esau's clothing and the "wine"
(Genesis 27:25).
GENESIS 27:28-36 28
“Therefore may God give you of the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the
earth, and plenty of grain and wine. 29
Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master over your
brethren, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone
who curses you, and blessed be those who bless you!”
30 Now it happened,
as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely
gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother
came in from his hunting. 31
He also had made savory food, and brought it to his father, and said to
his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that your
soul may bless me.” 32
And his father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” So he said, “I am your
son, your firstborn, Esau.” 33
Then Isaac trembled exceedingly, and said, “Who? Where is the one who
hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I
have blessed him - and indeed he shall be blessed.”
34 When Esau heard
the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter
cry, and said to his father, “Bless me - me also, O my father!”
35 But he said,
“Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing.”
36 And Esau said,
“Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two
times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my
blessing!” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”
Is it true that Jacob "took away" Esau's "birthright"
(Genesis 27:36)?
Not quite, as Esau "sold his birthright to Jacob"
(Genesis 25:31) for a "stew of lentils" (Genesis
25:31). It was a bad deal for Esau but he had made it willingly.
GENESIS 27:37-38 37
Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Indeed I have made him your
master, and all his brethren I have given to him as servants; with grain
and wine I have sustained him. What shall I do now for you, my son?”
38 And Esau said to
his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me - me also,
O my father!” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.
What is the answer to Esau's question?
Isaac did bless Esau (see below) but the blessings already given to Jacob
apparently could not be revoked despite the deceit.
GENESIS 27:39-40 39
Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: “Behold, your dwelling
shall be of the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from
above. 40 By
your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; And it
shall come to pass, when you become restless, that you shall break his
yoke from your neck.”
What was the best Isaac could do for Esau?
While Jacob will become Esau's "master" (Genesis
27:37), as already blessed, it won't be for the rest of Esau's life, for
when Esau becomes "restless," he will break
Jacob's "yoke" (Genesis 27:40) from his neck.
Was that good enough for Esau?
See below.
GENESIS 27:41-46 41
So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father
blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my
father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
42 And the words of
Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob
her younger son, and said to him, “Surely your brother Esau comforts
himself concerning you by intending to kill you.
43 Now therefore, my
son, obey my voice: arise, flee to my brother Laban in Haran.
44 And stay with him
a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away,
45 until your
brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done
to him; then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be
bereaved also of you both in one day?”
46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of
my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the
daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what
good will my life be to me?”
Did Jacob stay with his uncle "Laban in Haran ... a few
days" (Genesis 27:43-44)?
He ended up staying and working for him for "twenty
years" (Genesis 31:38).
While trying to send Jacob to Laban, why does Rebekah
call Esau's "Hittite" (Genesis 26:34) wives, "daughters of Heth" (Genesis
27:46)?
"Heth" (Genesis 10:15) was the great-grandson of
Noah through "Ham" (Genesis 10:1) and
"Canaan" (Genesis 10:6), and the Hittites
descended from Heth: "Now Ephron was sitting among the
sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham ..." (Genesis
23:10).
