“Genesis 27:30-36”

Monday, January 27, 2020

“Now it came about, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had hardly gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. Then he also made savory food, and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, 'Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that you may bless me.' Isaac his father said to him, 'Who are you?' And he said, 'I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.' Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, 'Who was he then that hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate of all of it before you came, and blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.' When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, 'Bless me, even me also, O my father!' And he said, 'Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing.' Then he said, 'Is he not rightly named Jacob, for he has supplanted me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.' And he said, 'Have you not reserved a blessing for me?'”

---End of Scripture verses---

“As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob...Esau his brother came in from his hunting.” (verse 30) “The Narrator's skill is seen here at its best. No sooner does the tension relax and Jacob withdraw from the stage, than it reaches a new pitch of intensity with Esau's reappearance on the scene. There is no doubt where the author's sympathy likes. Esau is the innocent victim of a cruel ruse. This rough fellow, the hardy hunter, is utterly crushed when he discovers what happened. He sobs convulsively.” (Nahum Sarna)

“Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that you may bless me.” (verse 31) Esau enters the room and the scene completely unaware that he has been defrauded by his younger brother. Much to his surprise, his father greets him with a peculiar response: “Who are you?” (verse 32) Isaac was absolutely convinced that he had just blessed his beloved son Esau mere minutes before, and now someone expectantly requests and awaits his further blessings. Both father and son are completely flummoxed by this puzzling conversation. “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” But how can that possibly be?

“Then Isaac trembled violently...” (verse 33) Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers has an interesting perspective that we certainly desire to be true: “This was not from mere vexation at having been so deceived, and made to give the blessing contrary to his wishes. What Isaac felt was that he had been resisting God. In spite of the prophecy given to the mother, and Esau’s own irreligious character and heathen marriages, he had determined to bestow on him the birthright by an act of his own will; and he had failed. But he persists no longer in his sin. Acknowledging the Divine purpose, he has no word of blame for Rebekah and Jacob, but confirms to him the possession of the birthright, and declares, 'Yea, he shall be blessed.'”

“Yes, and he shall be blessed.” (verse 33) “'Now he must remain blessed,' Isaac is overwhelmed with consternation but then realizes that, irrespective of the circumstances, the blessing he has uttered is beyond recall. According to the conception of the times, it now has a potency and dynamism all its own, and the destiny that has been solemnly conferred upon his younger son is irrevocable (v. 37). For this reason, Esau does not ask his father to rescind the blessing, only to bless him as well.” (Nahum Sarna)

“Bless me, even me also, O my father!” (verse 34) Esau is overcome by bitter grief and desperation upon the realization of his loss and begs for a blessing of his own. “Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing.” (verse 35) Isaac had one paternal benediction to pass along to his posterity, and could not indiscriminately invoke God's great blessings upon whomever he pleased. What was done could not be undone. What had been given could not be given again. Whether the blessing had been “deceitfully...taken away” or willingly given fully and freely, the past could not be changed. This is always the case in human affairs. No matter how greatly we desire to shield our children from negative situations and bail them out of woeful predicaments, we have to help them deal with the unpleasant realities of life.

“Is he not rightly named Jacob, for he has supplanted me these two times?” (verse 36) “In his misery, Esau resorts to bitter sarcasm that expresses itself in word plays. He reinterprets the name Jacob (ya'akov) as deriving from the stem '-k-v, meaning 'to supplant,' and he puns on bekhorah,'birthright,' and berakhah, 'blessing.' In echoing his father's use of 'took away,' Esau may also be engaging in double entendre, because the Hebrew stem l-k-h can mean both 'to take away' and 'to purchase.' In his anguish, he blurts out the fact of his foolish sale of his birthright, something apparently unknown to Isaac.” (Nahum Sarna)

Please read Genesis 27:37-40 for tomorrow.

Have a great day!

- Louie Taylor

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