66 | Genesis 27:21
“ The Lord your God gave me suc cess , c ” he replied . 21 Then Isaac said to Ja cob , “ Come near so I can touch you , d my son , to know whether you really are my son Esau or not .”
22 Ja cob went close to his fa ther Isaac , who touched him and said , “ The voice is the voice of Ja cob , but the hands are the hands of Esau .” 23 He did not rec og nize him , for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau ; e so he pro ceeded to bless him . 24 “ Are you really my son Esau ?” he asked . “ I am ,” he re plied . 25 Then he said , “ My son , bring me some of your game to eat , so that I may give you my blessing .” f
Ja cob brought it to him and he ate ; and he brought some wine and he drank . 26 Then his fa ther Isaac said to him , “ Come here , my son , and kiss me .”
27 So he went to him and kissed him g . When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes , h he blessed him and said ,
“ Ah , the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed . i 28 May God give you heaven ’ s dew j and earth ’ s richness k — an abundance of grain and new wine . l
29 May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you . m
Be lord over your brothers , and may the sons of your mother bow down to you . n
May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed . o ”
27:20 c Ge 24:12 27:21 d ver 12 27:23 e ver 16 27:25 f ver 4
27:27 g Heb 11:20 h SS 4:11 i Ps 65:9‐13
27:28 j Dt 33:13 k ver 39 l Ge 45:18 ;
Nu 18:12 ; Dt 33:28
27:29 m Isa 45:14 , 23 ; 49:7 , 23 n Ge 9:25 ; 25:23 ; 37:7 o Ge 12:3 ; Nu 24:9 ; Zep 2:8
27:31 p ver 4 27:32 q ver 18
27:33 r ver 29 ; Ge 28:3 , 4 ; Ro 11:29
27:34 s Heb 12:17 27:35 t Jer 9:4 ; 12:6
27:36 u Ge 25:26 v Ge 25:33
27:37 w ver 28 27:38 x Heb 12:17 27:39 y ver 28
30 Af ter Isaac fin ished bless ing him , and Ja cob had scarcely left his fa ther ’ s pres ence , his brother Esau came in from hunt ing . 31 He too pre pared some tasty food and brought it to his fa ther . Then he said to him , “ My fa ther , please sit up and eat some of my game , so that you may give me your bless ing .” p 32 His fa ther Isaac asked him , “ Who are you ?” q “ I am your son ,” he an swered , “ your first born , Esau .” 33 Isaac trem bled vi o lently and said , “ Who was it , then , that hunted game and brought it to me ? I ate it just be fore you came and I blessed him — and in deed he will be blessed ! r ” 34 When Esau heard his fa ther ’ s words , he burst out with a loud and bit ter cry s and said to his fa ther , “ Bless me — me too , my fa ther !” 35 But he said , “ Your brother came de ceit fully t and took your bless ing .” 36 Esau said , “ Isn ’ t he rightly named Ja cob a ? u This is the sec ond time he has taken advan tage of me : He took my birth right , v and now he ’ s taken my bless ing !” Then he asked , “ Haven ’ t you re served any bless ing for me ?”
37 Isaac an swered Esau , “ I have made him lord over you and have made all his rel a tives his ser vants , and I have sus tained him with grain and new wine . w So what can I pos si bly do for you , my son ?”
38 Esau said to his fa ther , “ Do you have only one bless ing , my fa ther ? Bless me too , my father !” Then Esau wept aloud . x
39 His father Isaac answered him ,
“ Your dwelling will be away from the earth ’ s richness , away from the dew y of heaven above .
a 36 Jacob means he grasps the heel , a Hebrew idiom for he takes advantage of or he deceives .
27:27 – 29 Immediately prior to blessing Jacob , Isaac smells him in order to be convinced that this is indeed Esau . The outdoor scent of Esau ’ s clothing , which Jacob has put on , reassures Isaac . While Isaac prays that God will bless Jacob materially , his aspirations for his firstborn son lead him to request that “ nations ” and “ peoples ” ( v . 29 ) serve him , as well as his closest family members . Isaac ’ s prayer is exceptionally ambitious given that he and his family are relative newcomers to the land of Canaan and Isaac himself has previously feared for his own life ( 26:7 ). His expectations regarding his firstborn son , however , are grounded in God ’ s promises to Abraham ; he assures Jacob that God will bless him , echoing what God said to Abraham ( 12:2 ). 27:30 – 40 Esau is furious when he learns that Jacob deceived Isaac and that Isaac gave Jacob the blessing he intended for Esau . Recalling that the name Jacob means “ deceiver ” ( see NIV text note on v . 36 ), Esau charges Jacob with having exploited him on two occasions : Jacob has taken Esau ’ s birthright ( 25:29 – 34 ) and his blessing . The patriarchal stories of Genesis give special attention to those who receive the blessing of the firstborn because through them God will fulfill his promise to bless the nations of the earth . When Esau pleads with his father for a blessing , Isaac states that he cannot revoke what he has requested for Jacob ( v . 37 ). As God predicted in 25:23 , Esau will serve Jacob . However , by way of consoling Esau , Isaac pronounces that although Esau will serve his brother , eventually he will “ throw [ off ] his yoke ” ( v . 40 ). While Isaac ’ s words seem to refer to Esau ’ s own lifetime , in line with other paternal deathbed blessings , they include