Genesis 27 Study Notes

27:1-4 Isaac was now no less than a hundred years old (see 25:26; 26:34). Though he would live to 180 (35:28)—at the very least twenty years beyond this point (31:38)—Isaac may have been sick, since his vision was obviously poor and he was so concerned to bless his older son Esau before he died. The blessing given by a clan patriarch to his heir was of great significance since it formally conferred the right to rule over the clan following the patriarch’s death. As with covenant-making (26:28-30), a patriarchal blessing was accompanied by a delicious meal.

27:5-17 Following Near Eastern tradition (18:9-10), Rebekah could not be in the immediate company of males—even family members—who were conducting business. However, she was listening to the men from nearby. After learning of Isaac’s intentions for Esau, Rebekah came up with a scheme to overturn the plans. Perhaps she did it because she remembered the decades-old prophecy about Jacob dominating his older brother (25:23).

With this the Bible paints a picture of a troubled family: Rebekah using her son (not “their son”) to destroy her husband’s plans, and Jacob agreeing to lie to his father and cheat his brother. A curse of an unexpected sort did result for both Jacob and Rebekah: their scheme forced Jacob to leave his father and mother (28:5); the Bible gives no indication that Rebekah ever saw her favorite son again.

27:18-27a Isaac was blind, but he could still use his other senses in addition to his reasoning. To overcome this, Jacob used at least five different things to deceive his father: goatskins to make his hands seem rough and hairy (v. 23), the cooked goat his mother prepared (v. 25), his brother’s clothes in order to smell like Esau (v. 27), alcohol to impair his father’s judgment (v. 25), and blatant lies (vv. 19,20,24). He even blasphemously credited the Lord your God with helping him. Jacob’s craftiness paid off since his father blessed him.

27:27b-29 Isaac’s blessing included four elements: agricultural prosperity (v. 28)—even as he had done for Isaac (26:12); international respect and success (27:29); a command directing Jacob to be master over the entire clan; and the transference of the protective provision of cursing and blessing that God had once given Jacob’s grandfather Abraham (12:3).

27:30-38 Esau apparently had to awaken his blind father, who was confused at first, but began to tremble uncontrollably when he realized he had given someone other than Esau the right to rule the clan. Esau complained that Jacob had now cheated him twice, first gaining the double portion of inheritance (25:31-33), and now the clan’s headship. Jacob (Hb ya‘aqov), whose name sounds similar to words meaning “deceitfulness” (Hb ‘aqevah) and “to supplant/replace” (Hb ‘aqav), had lived up to his name. Having lost every desirable blessing, Esau begged his father to find some way to bless him, too.

27:39-40 Isaac’s response to Esau was much shorter than Jacob’s blessing (21 vs. 34 Hebrew words), and was more of an “anti-blessing.” Creating an ironic wordplay with phrases from Jacob’s blessing (v. 28), Isaac stated that Esau would live away from the richness of the land and from the dew of the sky. Jacob would “be master” (v. 29), but Esau would serve. Living a life of violence by the sword, Esau’s only consolation was that he would someday break Jacob’s yoke from his neck.

27:41-46 For a second time in this chapter, Rebekah intervened to change Jacob’s destiny. Her latest plan was for Jacob to stay with his uncle Laban in Haran—hundreds of miles away—until Esau’s anger subsided. Otherwise, she feared, she would lose both her sons in one day—Jacob by murder, Esau by capital punishment (9:6). The few days, however, turned out to be more than twenty years (31:38).