NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible | Page 61
Genesis 27:20 | 65
26:30 j Ge 19:3
26:31 k Ge 21:31
26:33 l Ge 21:14
26:34 m Ge 25:20
n Ge 28:9; 36:2
26:35 o Ge 27:46
27:1 p Ge 48:10;
1Sa 3:2 q Ge 25:25
27:2 r Ge 47:29
27:3 s Ge 25:27
27:4 t ver 10, 25, 31;
Ge 49:28; Dt 33:1;
Heb 11:20
27:6 u Ge 25:28
27:8 v ver 13, 43
27:11 w Ge 25:25
27:12 x ver 22
27:13 y Mt 27:25 z ver 8
27:15 a ver 27
27:19 b ver 4
30 Isaac then made a feast j for them, and they ate and drank. 31 Early the next morning
the men swore an oath k to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they went
away peacefully.
32 That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said,
“We’ve found water!” 33 He called it Shibah, a and to this day the name of the town has been
Beersheba. b l
Jacob Takes Esau’s Blessing
34 When Esau was forty years old, m he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and
rief to Isaac and
also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. n 35 They were a s ource of g
Rebekah. o
When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he c ould no longer see, p he c alled
for Esau his older son q and said to him, “My son.”
“Here I am,” he answered.
2 Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. r 3 Now then, get
your equipment — your quiver and bow — and go out to the open country s to hunt some
wild game for me. 4 Prepare me the kind of t asty food I like and b
ring it to me to eat, so
that I may give you my blessing t before I die.”
5 Now Rebekah was listening as I saac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open
country to hunt game and b
ring it back, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, u “Look, I over
heard your father say to your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some
tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I
die.’ 8 Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: v 9 Go out to the flock and bring
me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way
he likes it. 10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before
he dies.”
11 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a h
airy man w while I have
smooth skin. 12 What if my father touches me? x I would appear to be tricking him and
would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.”
13 His mother said to him, “My son, let the c urse fall on me. y Just do what I say; z go and
get them for me.”
14 So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some
tasty food, just the way his father liked it. 15 Then Rebekah took the best clothes a of Esau
her older son, which she had in the h
ouse, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16 She
also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. 17 Then she
handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.
18 He went to his father and said, “My father.”
“Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?”
19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please
sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your b
lessing.” b
20 Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?”
27
a 33
Shibah can mean oath or seven. b 33 Beersheba can mean well of the oath and well of seven.
26:32 – 33 Digging a new well and discovering
water coincides with ratifying the treaty. Isaac
calls the well Shibah (see NIV text note), pos-
sibly because of circumstances surrounding
Abraham’s treaty with Abimelek (21:30 – 31;
cf. v. 18).
26:34 — 28:9 Jacob Takes Esau’s Blessing.
This section gives considerable attention
to how Jacob deceives his father Isaac into
giving him the blessing due to the firstborn
son. This incident, which is full of subtle ob-
servations regarding the family members,
further develops Jacob’s ambition to be heir
to the promises God gave to Abraham and
Isaac. While Jacob’s actions are central to
the deception, the narrator highlights the
shortcomings of both Isaac and Esau and
depicts Rebekah as the deception’s prime
instigator. In the light of the blessing Isaac
gives to Jacob (27:28 – 29) and Isaac’s subse-
quent reluctance to denounce Jacob (27:37),
this fulfills what God predicted in 25:23,
for Isaac says to Esau, “You will serve your
brother” (27:40). Having previously sold his
birthright to Jacob, Esau now witnesses the
final stage in the process by which Jacob
receives Isaac’s deathbed blessing. In the
Hebrew text, a striking wordplay links the
concepts of blessing (bĕrākâ) and birthright
(bĕkōrâ). The association of Jacob with bless-
ing recalls what God promised Abraham in
12:1 – 3 (cf. 27:29).
26:35 a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
The story gives few details regarding this
phrase, but a significant factor may be the
Hittite origin of Esau’s wives. Unlike his fa-
ther, Isaac, Esau did not look for a wife from
among his own relatives, suggesting that he
did not fully embrace the beliefs of his par-
ents.
27:1 – 4 Nearing death, Isaac summons Esau
in order to make arrangements to formally
bless him as his firstborn son. This blessing
would confirm Esau as Isaac’s principal heir,
making him the one through whom the fam-
ily line associated with God’s redemptive
plan would continue. By noting that Isaac
was blind (v. 1), the narrator anticipates later
developments in the story and may also in-
dicate that Isaac failed to see clearly Esau’s
true nature. By highlighting Isaac’s desire for
“tasty food” (v. 4), the narrator possibly im-
plies that selfishness motivated Isaac’s deci-
sion to bless Esau.
27:5 – 13 As the one who overhears Isaac
speaking to Esau, Rebekah both instigates
and oversees Jacob’s deception of Isaac.
When Jacob voices anxiety about Isaac find-
ing him out, Rebekah states that she will bear
full responsibility: “My son, let the curse fall
on me” (v. 13). While Rebekah’s scheming
probably reflects her particular love for Ja-
cob (25:28), God’s prediction that the older
would serve the younger (25:23) and her own
assessment of Esau’s character may also have
influenced her.
27:15 – 16 Rebekah cunningly disguises Jacob
as Esau, even using goatskins to make Jacob
appear hairy like Esau (v. 11; 25:25).
27:18 – 22 Although Isaac is blind, he is ini-
tially suspicious when Jacob claims to be
Esau. Sensing that the voice is that of Jacob,
he touches Jacob in order to be certain.