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When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim, so that he could no longer see, he called Esau his elder son and said to him, “My son.” And Esau answered, “Here I am, father.”
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Isaac said, “See now, I am old; I do not know the day of my death.
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Now therefore take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out into the field and hunt game for me;
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and prepare for me tasty food, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”
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But Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And when Esau went to the field to hunt game and bring it back,
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Rebekah said to Jacob her son, “I heard your father speak to Esau your brother:
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‘Bring me game and prepare for me tasty food, that I may eat, and that I may bless you before the LORD before I die.’
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Now therefore, my son, listen to my voice as I command you.
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Go now to the flock and bring me from there two good young goats, and I will prepare them into tasty food for your father, such as he loves.
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Then you shall bring it to your father, so that he may eat, and that he may bless you before he dies.”
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But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man.
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Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to him like one mocking him; and I shall bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.”
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His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.”
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So he went and got them and brought them to his mother; and his mother prepared tasty food, such as his father loved.
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Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.
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And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.
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Then she gave the tasty food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of Jacob her son.
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So he went in to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am; who are you, my son?”
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Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please rise, sit and eat of my game, so that you may bless me.”
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Then Isaac said to his son, “How quickly you have found it, my son!” He answered, “Because the LORD your God made me succeed.”
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Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near, my son, that I may feel you, whether you are really my son Esau or not.”
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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.”
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And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands. So Isaac was about to bless him,
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but he still asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.”
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Then Isaac said, “Bring it near to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.
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Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near now and kiss me, my son.”
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So Jacob came near and kissed him. And when Isaac smelled the smell of his garments, he blessed him and said:
“See, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed.
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May God give you of the dew of heaven,
and of the richness of the earth,
and plenty of grain and wine.
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Let peoples serve you,
and nations bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers,
and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be everyone who curses you,
and blessed be everyone who blesses you.”
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As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from hunting.
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He also prepared tasty food and brought it to his father. He said to his father, “Father, arise and eat of your son’s game, that you may bless me.”
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But his father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”
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Then Isaac trembled very violently and said, “Who then was it who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him; yes, and he shall be blessed.”
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When Esau heard his father’s words, he cried out with a very great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!”
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But he said, “Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing.”
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Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”
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Then Isaac answered Esau, saying, “Behold, I have made him your lord, and all his brothers I have given to him as servants; and I have supplied him with grain and wine. What then can I do for you, my son?”
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Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me also, my father!” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept aloud.
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Then Isaac his father answered him:
“Behold, your dwelling shall be
away from the fatness of the earth,
and away from the dew of heaven above.
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By your sword you shall live,
and you shall serve your brother.
But it shall come to pass, when you strive earnestly,
that you shall break his yoke from your neck.”
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So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill Jacob my brother.”
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When the words of Esau, his older son, were told to Rebekah, she sent and called Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau is planning to take vengeance by killing you.
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Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; arise, flee to Laban my brother in Haran,
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and stay with him for a while, until your brother’s anger
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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 of you both in one day?”
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Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob also takes a wife from the women of this land, like these Hittite women, what good will my life be to me?”
🥣🦴 Summary of Genesis 27
This chapter contains the dramatic story of the struggle for the blessing between Jacob and Esau. Isaac is old and his eyes are growing dim. He intends to bless Esau, his firstborn, before he dies.
However, Rebekah (who from the beginning knew God’s prophecy that “the older shall serve the younger”) planned so that Jacob would receive the blessing. She told Jacob to disguise himself as Esau by wearing Esau’s clothes and goat skins so that he would feel hairy.
Jacob served Isaac his favorite food and claimed to be Esau. Isaac, though doubtful, was finally deceived and blessed Jacob:
“Nations will bow down to you… you will be lord over your brother…”
Soon after that, Esau came bringing the real food, and they both realized that the blessing had been taken by Jacob. Esau wept and begged for what blessing remained, but Isaac gave him only a lesser blessing:
“You will live by your sword… and you will be your brother’s servant.”
Esau became angry and intended to kill Jacob after Isaac’s death. Then Rebekah sent Jacob to flee to Haran, where her brother Laban lived.
📖 Main Teaching
- God’s promise still comes to pass, but people often interfere in their own way.
- Dishonesty in the process, even if the “result is right,” still brings hurt and conflict.
- The mistake of parental favoritism (Isaac toward Esau, Rebekah toward Jacob) can damage a family.
- A spiritual blessing cannot be taken back — this shows the seriousness of a spiritual covenant.
- Esau’s bitter feelings are an example of the consequences of past choices (selling the birthright).
✨ Spiritual Meaning
- This event shows the struggle between God’s will and human haste.
- Though Jacob eventually became the heir of the blessing, he had to bear a bitter consequence: separation and flight.
- A blessing is not merely words, but has spiritual power and long-term impact.
- Rebekah, who had once been faithful, now acts manipulatively — showing that faith can waver when people rely too much on their own reasoning.
- This story becomes the beginning of Jacob’s shaping of character, which will grow through the challenges of exile.
