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Genesis 25:19-34
New English Translation

Jacob and Esau

19 This is the account of Isaac,[a] the son of Abraham.

Abraham became the father of Isaac. 20 When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah,[b] the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.[c]

21 Isaac prayed[d] to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 But the children struggled[e] inside her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?”[f] So she asked the Lord,[g] 23 and the Lord said to her,

“Two nations[h] are in your womb,
and two peoples will be separated from within you.
One people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”

24 When the time came for Rebekah to give birth,[i] there were[j] twins in her womb. 25 The first came out reddish[k] all over,[l] like a hairy[m] garment, so they named him Esau.[n] 26 When his brother came out with[o] his hand clutching Esau’s heel, they named him Jacob.[p] Isaac was sixty years old[q] when they were born.

27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled[r] hunter, a man of the open fields, but Jacob was an even-tempered man, living in tents.[s] 28 Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for fresh game,[t] but Rebekah loved[u] Jacob.

29 Now Jacob cooked some stew,[v] and when Esau came in from the open fields, he was famished. 30 So Esau said to Jacob, “Feed[w] me some of the red stuff—yes, this red stuff—because I’m starving!” (That is why he was also called[x] Edom.)[y]

31 But Jacob replied, “First[z] sell me your birthright.” 32 “Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die! What use is the birthright to me?”[aa] 33 But Jacob said, “Swear an oath to me now.”[ab] So Esau[ac] swore an oath to him and sold his birthright[ad] to Jacob.

34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew; Esau ate and drank, then got up and went out.[ae] So Esau despised his birthright.[af]

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 25:19 sn This is the account of Isaac. What follows for several chapters is not the account of Isaac, except briefly, but the account of Jacob and Esau. The next chapters tell what became of Isaac and his family.
  2. Genesis 25:20 tn Heb “And Isaac was the son of forty years when he took Rebekah.”
  3. Genesis 25:20 sn Some valuable information is provided here. We learn here that Isaac married thirty-five years before Abraham died, that Rebekah was barren for 20 years, and that Abraham would have lived to see Jacob and Esau begin to grow up. The death of Abraham was recorded in the first part of the chapter as a “tidying up” of one generation before beginning the account of the next.
  4. Genesis 25:21 tn The Hebrew verb עָתַר (ʿatar), translated “prayed” here, appears in the story of God’s judgment on Egypt in which Moses asked the Lord to remove the plagues. The cognate word in Arabic means “to slaughter for sacrifice,” and the word is used in Zeph 3:10 to describe worshipers who bring offerings. Perhaps some ritual accompanied Isaac’s prayer here.
  5. Genesis 25:22 tn The Hebrew word used here suggests a violent struggle that was out of the ordinary.
  6. Genesis 25:22 tn Heb “If [it is] so, why [am] I this [way]?” Rebekah wanted to know what was happening to her, but the question itself reflects a growing despair over the struggle of the unborn children.
  7. Genesis 25:22 sn Asked the Lord. In other passages (e.g., 1 Sam 9:9) this expression refers to inquiring of a prophet, but no details are provided here.
  8. Genesis 25:23 sn By metonymy the two children in her womb are described as two nations of which the two children, Jacob and Esau, would become the fathers. The language suggests there would be a struggle between these nations, with one being stronger than the other. The oracle reveals that all of Jacob’s scheming was unnecessary in the final analysis. He would have become the dominant nation without using deception to steal his brother’s blessing.
  9. Genesis 25:24 tn Heb “And her days were filled to give birth.”
  10. Genesis 25:24 tn Heb “look!” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the audience to view the scene as if they were actually present at the birth.
  11. Genesis 25:25 sn Reddish. The Hebrew word translated “reddish” is אַדְמוֹנִי (ʾadmoni), which forms a wordplay on the Edomites, Esau’s descendants. The writer sees in Esau’s appearance at birth a sign of what was to come. After all, the reader has already been made aware of the “nations” that were being born.
  12. Genesis 25:25 tn Heb “all of him.”
  13. Genesis 25:25 sn Hairy. Here is another wordplay involving the descendants of Esau. The Hebrew word translated “hairy” is שֵׂעָר (seʿar); the Edomites will later live in Mount Seir, perhaps named for its wooded nature.
  14. Genesis 25:25 tn Heb “And they called his name Esau.” The name “Esau” (עֵשָׂו, ʿesav) is not etymologically related to שֵׂעָר (seʿar), but it draws on some of the sounds.
  15. Genesis 25:26 tn The disjunctive clause describes an important circumstance accompanying the birth. Whereas Esau was passive at birth, Jacob was active.
  16. Genesis 25:26 tn Heb “And he called his name Jacob.” Some ancient witnesses read “they called his name Jacob” (see v. 25). In either case the subject is indefinite.sn The name Jacob is a play on the Hebrew word for “heel” (עָקֵב, ʿaqev). The name (since it is a verb) probably means something like “may he protect,” that is, as a rearguard, dogging the heels. It did not have a negative connotation until Esau redefined it. This name was probably chosen because of the immediate association with the incident of grabbing the heel. After receiving such an oracle, the parents would have preserved in memory almost every detail of the unusual births.
  17. Genesis 25:26 tn Heb “the son of sixty years.”
  18. Genesis 25:27 tn Heb “knowing.”
  19. Genesis 25:27 tn The disjunctive clause juxtaposes Jacob with Esau and draws attention to the striking contrasts. In contrast to Esau, a man of the field, Jacob was civilized, as the phrase “living in tents” signifies. Whereas Esau was a skillful hunter, Jacob was calm and even-tempered (תָּם, tam), which normally has the idea of “blameless.”
  20. Genesis 25:28 tn Heb “the taste of game was in his mouth.” The word for “game,” “venison” is here the same Hebrew word as “hunter” in the last verse. Here it is a metonymy, referring to that which the hunter kills.
  21. Genesis 25:28 tn The disjunctive clause juxtaposes Rebekah with Jacob and draws attention to the contrast. The verb here is a participle, drawing attention to Rebekah’s continuing, enduring love for her son.
  22. Genesis 25:29 sn Jacob cooked some stew. There are some significant words and wordplays in this story that help clarify the points of the story. The verb “cook” is זִיד (zid), which sounds like the word for “hunter” (צַיִד, tsayid). This is deliberate, for the hunter becomes the hunted in this story. The word זִיד means “to cook, to boil,” but by the sound play with צַיִד it comes to mean “set a trap by cooking.” The usage of the word shows that it can also have the connotation of acting presumptuously (as in boiling over). This too may be a comment on the scene. For further discussion of the rhetorical devices in the Jacob narratives, see J. P. Fokkelman, Narrative Art in Genesis (SSN).
  23. Genesis 25:30 tn The rare term לָעַט (laʿat), translated “feed,” is used in later Hebrew for feeding animals (see Jastrow, 714). If this nuance was attached to the word in the biblical period, then it may depict Esau in a negative light, comparing him to a hungry animal. Famished Esau comes in from the hunt, only to enter the trap. He can only point at the red stew and ask Jacob to feed him.
  24. Genesis 25:30 tn The verb has no expressed subject and so is given a passive translation.
  25. Genesis 25:30 sn Esau’s descendants would eventually be called Edom. Edom was the place where they lived, so-named probably because of the reddish nature of the hills. The writer can use the word “red” to describe the stew that Esau gasped for to convey the nature of Esau and his descendants. They were a lusty, passionate, and profane people who lived for the moment. Again, the wordplay is meant to capture the “omen in the nomen.”
  26. Genesis 25:31 tn Heb “today.”
  27. Genesis 25:32 tn Heb “And what is this to me, a birthright?”
  28. Genesis 25:33 tn Heb “Swear to me today.”
  29. Genesis 25:33 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  30. Genesis 25:33 sn And sold his birthright. There is evidence from Hurrian culture that rights of inheritance were occasionally sold or transferred. Here Esau is portrayed as a profane person who would at the moment rather have a meal than the right to inherit. He will soon forget this trade and seek his father’s blessing in spite of it.
  31. Genesis 25:34 sn The style here is typical of Hebrew narrative; after the tension is resolved with the dialogue, the working out of it is recorded in a rapid sequence of verbs (“gave”; “ate”; “drank”; “got up”; “went out”). See also Gen 3:1-7 for another example.
  32. Genesis 25:34 sn So Esau despised his birthright. This clause, which concludes the episode, is a summary statement which reveals the underlying significance of Esau’s actions. “To despise” means to treat something as worthless or with contempt. Esau’s willingness to sell his birthright was evidence that he considered it to be unimportant.
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Genesis 26
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Genesis 27-28
New English Translation

Jacob Cheats Esau out of the Blessing

27 When[a] Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he was almost blind,[b] he called his older[c] son Esau and said to him, “My son!” “Here I am!” Esau[d] replied. 2 Isaac[e] said, “Since[f] I am so old, I could die at any time.[g] 3 Therefore, take your weapons—your quiver and your bow—and go out into the open fields and hunt down some wild game[h] for me. 4 Then prepare for me some tasty food, the kind I love, and bring it to me. Then[i] I will eat it so that I may bless you[j] before I die.”

5 Now Rebekah had been listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau.[k] When Esau went out to the open fields to hunt down some wild game and bring it back,[l] 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father tell your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me some wild game and prepare for me some tasty food. Then I will eat[m] it and bless you[n] in the presence of the Lord[o] before I die.’ 8 Now then, my son, do exactly[p] what I tell you![q] 9 Go to the flock and get me two of the best young goats. I’ll prepare[r] them in a tasty way for your father, just the way he loves them. 10 Then you will take[s] it to your father. Thus he will eat it[t] and[u] bless you before he dies.”

11 “But Esau my brother is a hairy man,” Jacob protested to his mother Rebekah, “and I have smooth skin![v] 12 My father may touch me! Then he’ll think I’m mocking him[w] and I’ll bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing.” 13 So his mother told him, “Any curse against you will fall on me,[x] my son! Just obey me![y] Go and get them for me!”

14 So he went and got the goats[z] and brought them to his mother. She[aa] prepared some tasty food, just the way his father loved it. 15 Then Rebekah took her older son Esau’s best clothes, which she had with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16 She put the skins of the young goats[ab] on his hands[ac] and the smooth part of his neck. 17 Then she handed[ad] the tasty food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.

18 He went to his father and said, “My father!” Isaac[ae] replied, “Here I am. Which are you, my son?”[af] 19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I’ve done as you told me. Now sit up[ag] and eat some of my wild game so that you can bless me.”[ah] 20 But Isaac asked his son, “How in the world[ai] did you find it so quickly,[aj] my son?” “Because the Lord your God brought it to me,”[ak] he replied.[al] 21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come closer so I can touch you,[am] my son, and know for certain if you really are my son Esau.”[an] 22 So Jacob went over to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s.” 23 He did not recognize him because his hands were hairy, like his brother Esau’s hands. So Isaac blessed Jacob.[ao] 24 Then he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” “I am,” Jacob[ap] replied. 25 Isaac[aq] said, “Bring some of the wild game for me to eat, my son.[ar] Then I will bless you.”[as] So Jacob[at] brought it to him, and he ate it. He also brought him wine, and Isaac[au] drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here and kiss me, my son.” 27 So Jacob[av] went over and kissed him. When Isaac caught the scent[aw] of his clothing, he blessed him, saying,

“Yes,[ax] my son smells
like the scent of an open field
which the Lord has blessed.
28 May God give you
the dew of the sky[ay]
and the richness[az] of the earth,
and plenty of grain and new wine.
29 May peoples serve you
and nations bow down to you.
You will be[ba] lord[bb] over your brothers,
and the sons of your mother will bow down to you.[bc]
May those who curse you be cursed,
and those who bless you be blessed.”

30 Isaac had just finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely left[bd] his father’s[be] presence, when his brother Esau returned from the hunt.[bf] 31 He also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Esau[bg] said to him, “My father, get up[bh] and eat some of your son’s wild game. Then you can bless me.”[bi] 32 His father Isaac asked,[bj] “Who are you?” “I am your firstborn son,”[bk] he replied, “Esau!” 33 Isaac began to shake violently[bl] and asked, “Then who else hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it just before you arrived, and I blessed him.[bm] He will indeed be blessed!”

34 When Esau heard[bn] his father’s words, he wailed loudly and bitterly.[bo] He said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!” 35 But Isaac[bp] replied, “Your brother came in here deceitfully and took away[bq] your blessing.” 36 Esau exclaimed, “Jacob is the right name for him![br] He has tripped me up[bs] two times! He took away my birthright, and now, look, he has taken away my blessing!” Then he asked, “Have you not kept back a blessing for me?”

37 Isaac replied to Esau, “Look! I have made him lord over you. I have made all his relatives his servants and provided him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?” 38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only that one blessing, my father? Bless me too!”[bt] Then Esau wept loudly.[bu]

39 So his father Isaac said to him,

“See here,[bv] your home will be by[bw] the richness[bx] of the earth,
and by the dew of the sky above.
40 You will live by your sword
but you will serve your brother.
When you grow restless,
you will tear off his yoke
from your neck.”[by]

41 So Esau hated[bz] Jacob because of the blessing his father had given to his brother.[ca] Esau said privately,[cb] “The time[cc] of mourning for my father is near; then I will kill[cd] my brother Jacob!”

42 When Rebekah heard what her older son Esau had said,[ce] she quickly summoned[cf] her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is planning to get revenge by killing you.[cg] 43 Now then, my son, do what I say.[ch] Run away immediately[ci] to my brother Laban in Haran. 44 Live with him for a little while[cj] until your brother’s rage subsides. 45 Stay there[ck] until your brother’s anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I’ll send someone to bring you back from there.[cl] Why should I lose both of you in one day?”[cm]

46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am deeply depressed[cn] because of the daughters of Heth.[co] If Jacob were to marry one of these daughters of Heth who live in this land, I would want to die!”[cp]

28 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman![cq] 2 Leave immediately[cr] for Paddan Aram! Go to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and find yourself a wife there, among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3 May the Sovereign God[cs] bless you! May he make you fruitful and give you a multitude of descendants![ct] Then you will become[cu] a large nation.[cv] 4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing he gave to Abraham[cw] so that you may possess the land[cx] God gave to Abraham, the land where you have been living as a temporary resident.”[cy] 5 So Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean and brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

6 Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him off to Paddan Aram to find a wife there.[cz] As he blessed him,[da] Isaac commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman.”[db] 7 Jacob obeyed his father and mother and left for Paddan Aram. 8 Then Esau realized[dc] that the Canaanite women[dd] were displeasing to[de] his father Isaac. 9 So Esau went to Ishmael and married[df] Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael, along with the wives he already had.

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

10 Meanwhile Jacob left Beer Sheba and set out for Haran. 11 He reached a certain place[dg] where he decided to camp because the sun had gone down.[dh] He took one of the stones[di] and placed it near his head.[dj] Then he fell asleep[dk] in that place 12 and had a dream.[dl] He saw[dm] a stairway[dn] erected on the earth with its top reaching to the heavens. The angels of God were going up and coming down it 13 and the Lord stood at its top. He said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father Isaac.[do] I will give you and your descendants the ground[dp] you are lying on. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth,[dq] and you will spread out[dr] to the west, east, north, and south. And so all the families of the earth may receive blessings[ds] through you and through your descendants. 15 I am with you![dt] I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you!”

16 Then Jacob woke up[du] and thought,[dv] “Surely the Lord is in this place, but I did not realize it!” 17 He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is nothing else than the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!”

18 Early[dw] in the morning Jacob[dx] took the stone he had placed near his head[dy] and set it up as a sacred stone.[dz] Then he poured oil on top of it. 19 He called that place Bethel,[ea] although the former name of the town was Luz. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God is with me and protects me on this journey I am taking and gives me food[eb] to eat and clothing to wear, 21 and I return safely to my father’s home,[ec] then the Lord will become my God. 22 Then this stone[ed] that I have set up as a sacred stone will be the house of God, and I will surely[ee] give you back a tenth of everything you give me.”[ef]

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 27:1 tn The clause begins with the temporal indicator (“and it happened”), making it subordinate to the main clause that follows later in the sentence.
  2. Genesis 27:1 tn Heb “and his eyes were weak from seeing.”
  3. Genesis 27:1 tn Heb “greater” (in terms of age).
  4. Genesis 27:1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Esau) is specified in the translation for clarity.
  5. Genesis 27:2 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Isaac) is specified in the translation for clarity.
  6. Genesis 27:2 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) here introduces a logically foundational statement, upon which the coming instruction will be based.
  7. Genesis 27:2 tn Heb “I do not know the day of my death.”
  8. Genesis 27:3 tn The Hebrew word is to be spelled either צַיִד (tsayid) following the marginal reading (Qere), or צֵידָה (tsedah) following the consonantal text (Kethib). Either way it is from the same root as the imperative צוּדָה (tsudah, “hunt down”).
  9. Genesis 27:4 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.
  10. Genesis 27:4 tn Heb “so that my soul may bless you.” The use of נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) as the subject emphasizes that the blessing will be made with all Isaac’s desire and vitality. The conjunction “so that” closely relates the meal to the blessing, suggesting that this will be a ritual meal in conjunction with the giving of a formal blessing.
  11. Genesis 27:5 tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by a conjunction with the subject, followed by the predicate) here introduces a new scene in the story.
  12. Genesis 27:5 tc The LXX adds here “to his father,” which may have been accidentally omitted in the MT.
  13. Genesis 27:7 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.
  14. Genesis 27:7 tn The cohortative, with the prefixed conjunction, also expresses logical sequence. See vv. 4, 19, 27.
  15. Genesis 27:7 tn In her report to Jacob, Rebekah plays down Isaac’s strong desire to bless Esau by leaving out נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”), but by adding the phrase “in the presence of the Lord,” she stresses how serious this matter is.
  16. Genesis 27:8 tn Heb “listen to my voice.” The Hebrew idiom means “to comply; to obey.”
  17. Genesis 27:8 tn Heb “to that which I am commanding you.”
  18. Genesis 27:9 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.
  19. Genesis 27:10 tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive. It carries forward the tone of instruction initiated by the command to “go…and get” in the preceding verse.
  20. Genesis 27:10 tn The form is the perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; it carries the future nuance of the preceding verbs of instruction, but by switching the subject to Jacob, indicates the expected result of the subterfuge.
  21. Genesis 27:10 tn Heb “so that.” The conjunction indicates purpose or result.
  22. Genesis 27:11 tn Heb “And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, ‘Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, but I am a smooth [skinned] man.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  23. Genesis 27:12 tn Heb “Perhaps my father will feel me and I will be in his eyes like a mocker.” The Hebrew expression “I will be in his eyes like” means “I would appear to him as.”
  24. Genesis 27:13 tn Heb “upon me your curse.”
  25. Genesis 27:13 tn Heb “only listen to my voice.”
  26. Genesis 27:14 tn The words “the goats” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  27. Genesis 27:14 tn Heb “his mother.” This has been replaced by the pronoun “she” in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  28. Genesis 27:16 tn In the Hebrew text the object (“the skins of the young goats”) precedes the verb. The disjunctive clause draws attention to this key element in the subterfuge.
  29. Genesis 27:16 tn The word “hands” probably includes the forearms here. How the skins were attached is not specified in the Hebrew text; cf. NLT “she made him a pair of gloves.”
  30. Genesis 27:17 tn Heb “gave…into the hand of her . . . .”
  31. Genesis 27:18 tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  32. Genesis 27:18 sn Which are you, my son? Isaac’s first question shows that the deception is going to require more subterfuge than Rebekah had anticipated. Jacob will have to pull off the deceit.
  33. Genesis 27:19 tn Heb “get up and sit.” This may mean simply “sit up,” or it may indicate that he was to get up from his couch and sit at a table.
  34. Genesis 27:19 tn Heb “so that your soul may bless me.” These words, though not reported by Rebekah to Jacob (see v. 7) accurately reflect what Isaac actually said to Esau (see v. 4). Perhaps Jacob knew more than Rebekah realized, but it is more likely that this was an idiom for sincere blessing with which Jacob was familiar. At any rate, his use of the precise wording was a nice, convincing touch.
  35. Genesis 27:20 tn Heb “What is this?” The enclitic pronoun “this” adds emphasis to the question, which is comparable to the English rhetorical question, “How in the world?”
  36. Genesis 27:20 tn Heb “you hastened to find.” In translation the infinitive becomes the main verb and the first verb becomes adverbial.
  37. Genesis 27:20 tn Heb “caused to meet before me.”
  38. Genesis 27:20 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Because the Lord your God….’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  39. Genesis 27:21 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.
  40. Genesis 27:21 tn Heb “Are you this one, Esau, my son, or not?” On the use of the interrogative particle here, see BDB 210 s.v. הֲ.
  41. Genesis 27:23 tn Heb “and he blessed him.” The referents of the pronouns “he” (Isaac) and “him” (Jacob) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
  42. Genesis 27:24 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  43. Genesis 27:25 tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  44. Genesis 27:25 tn Heb “Bring near to me and I will eat of the wild game, my son.” Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
  45. Genesis 27:25 tn Heb “so that my soul may bless you.” The presence of נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) as subject emphasizes Isaac’s heartfelt desire to do this. The conjunction indicates that the ritual meal must be first eaten before the formal blessing may be given.
  46. Genesis 27:25 tn Heb “and he brought”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  47. Genesis 27:25 tn Heb “and he drank”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  48. Genesis 27:27 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  49. Genesis 27:27 tn Heb “and he smelled the smell”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  50. Genesis 27:27 tn Heb “see.”
  51. Genesis 27:28 tn Heb “and from the dew of the sky.”
  52. Genesis 27:28 tn Heb “and from the fatness.”
  53. Genesis 27:29 tn Heb “and be.” The verb is an imperative, which is used rhetorically in this oracle of blessing. It is an invitation to exercise authority over his brothers and indicates that he is granted such authority by the patriarch of the family. Furthermore, the blessing enables the recipient to accomplish this.
  54. Genesis 27:29 tn The Hebrew word is גְבִיר (gevir, “lord, mighty one”). The one being blessed will be stronger and therefore more powerful than his brother. See Gen 25:23. The feminine form of this rare noun means “mistress” or “queen-mother.”
  55. Genesis 27:29 tn Following the imperative, the prefixed verbal form (which is either an imperfect or a jussive) with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
  56. Genesis 27:30 tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the finite form of the verb makes the construction emphatic.
  57. Genesis 27:30 tn Heb “the presence of Isaac his father.” The repetition of the proper name (“Isaac”) was replaced by the referent (“his father’s…”) for stylistic reasons.
  58. Genesis 27:30 tn Heb “and Esau his brother came from his hunt.”
  59. Genesis 27:31 tn Heb “and he said to his father”; the referent of “he” (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity, while the words “his father” have been replaced by the pronoun “him” for stylistic reasons.
  60. Genesis 27:31 tn Or “arise” (i.e., sit up).
  61. Genesis 27:31 tn Heb “so that your soul may bless me.”
  62. Genesis 27:32 tn Heb “said.”
  63. Genesis 27:32 tn Heb “and he said, ‘I [am] your son, your firstborn.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged for stylistic reasons.
  64. Genesis 27:33 tn Heb “and Isaac trembled with a great trembling to excess.” The verb “trembled” is joined with a cognate accusative, which is modified by an adjective “great,” and a prepositional phrase “to excess.” All of this is emphatic, showing the violence of Isaac’s reaction to the news.
  65. Genesis 27:33 tn Heb “Who then is he who hunted game and brought [it] to me so that I ate from all before you arrived and blessed him?”
  66. Genesis 27:34 tn The temporal clause is introduced with the temporal indicator and has the infinitive as its verb.
  67. Genesis 27:34 tn Heb “and he yelled [with] a great and bitter yell to excess.”
  68. Genesis 27:35 tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  69. Genesis 27:35 tn Or “took”; “received.”
  70. Genesis 27:36 tn Heb “Is he not rightly named Jacob?” The rhetorical question, since it expects a positive reply, has been translated as a declarative statement.
  71. Genesis 27:36 sn He has tripped me up. When originally given, the name Jacob was a play on the word “heel” (see Gen 25:26). The name (since it is a verb) probably means something like “may he protect,” that is, as a rearguard, dogging the heels. This name was probably chosen because of the immediate association with the incident of grabbing the heel. Esau gives the name “Jacob” a negative connotation here, the meaning “to trip up; to supplant.”
  72. Genesis 27:38 tn Heb “Bless me, me also, my father.” The words “my father” have not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  73. Genesis 27:38 tn Heb “and Esau lifted his voice and wept.”
  74. Genesis 27:39 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) calls for someone’s attention.
  75. Genesis 27:39 tn Or “next to.” The preposition מִן (min) generally indicates the source of something or separation from something, and so is often rendered “from.” Older translations (KJV, ASV, Douay-Rheims, Young’s, JPS) took the preposition as indicating source: “of the fatness of the earth.” More recent translations (NASB, NIV, ESV, NLV) take it as separative: “away from the fatness.” In Jacob’s blessing the preposition works with the verb “give” and indicates source. In Esau’s blessing the preposition functions in a nominal clause and modifies “your dwelling.” HALOT says that מִן can point “to the place… where something can be found” and thus means “in” in Gen 2:8; Lev 14:41; 2 Sam 5:13; Ezra 1:4; Job 30:30; Isa 5:26; 23:7 (HALOT 597, s.v.). In combination with the verb “to dwell,” the preposition מִן means “by,” “next to,” or “across from” (Ruth 2:14; 1 Sam 20:25; Ezek 16:46; Jonah 4:5). The closest parallel for the noun “dwelling” is Gen 10:30 where מִן as “away from” is not possible (rather “at” or “beginning at.”) sn In contrast to Jacob, to whom God will give some of earth’s fatness and heaven’s dew, Esau will dwell next to these. Esau himself continues to dwell with Isaac in Canaan, so perhaps he dwells “at” or “in” the richness of the land. But the land of his descendants, Edom, is more arid and might be considered “next to” or “across from” Canaan. The main contrast seems to be that God will give Jacob something, while Esau will have access to two of the same things. “Grain” and “wine” are not repeated for Esau, which may also reflect different conditions in Edom and Canaan.
  76. Genesis 27:39 tn Heb “from the fatness.”
  77. Genesis 27:40 sn You will tear off his yoke from your neck. It may be that this prophetic blessing found its fulfillment when Jerusalem fell and Edom got its revenge. The oracle makes Edom subservient to Israel and suggests the Edomites would live away from the best land and be forced to sustain themselves by violent measures.
  78. Genesis 27:41 tn Or “bore a grudge against” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV). The Hebrew verb שָׂטַם (satam) describes persistent hatred.
  79. Genesis 27:41 tn Heb “because of the blessing which his father blessed him.”
  80. Genesis 27:41 tn Heb “said in his heart.” The expression may mean “said to himself.” Even if this is the case, v. 42 makes it clear that he must have shared his intentions with someone, because the news reached Rebekah.
  81. Genesis 27:41 tn Heb “days.”
  82. Genesis 27:41 tn The cohortative here expresses Esau’s determined resolve to kill Jacob.
  83. Genesis 27:42 tn Heb “and the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah.”
  84. Genesis 27:42 tn Heb “she sent and called for.”
  85. Genesis 27:42 tn Heb “is consoling himself with respect to you to kill you.” The only way Esau had of dealing with his anger at the moment was to plan to kill his brother after the death of Isaac.
  86. Genesis 27:43 tn Heb “listen to my voice.”
  87. Genesis 27:43 tn Heb “arise, flee.”
  88. Genesis 27:44 tn Heb “a few days.” Rebekah probably downplays the length of time Jacob will be gone, perhaps to encourage him and assure him that things will settle down soon. She probably expects Esau’s anger to die down quickly. However, Jacob ends up being gone 20 years and he never sees Rebekah again.
  89. Genesis 27:45 tn The words “stay there” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  90. Genesis 27:45 tn Heb “and I will send and I will take you from there.” The verb “send” has no object in the Hebrew text; one must be supplied in the translation. Either “someone” or “a message” could be supplied, but since in those times a message would require a messenger, “someone” has been used.
  91. Genesis 27:45 tn If Jacob stayed, he would be killed and Esau would be forced to run away.
  92. Genesis 27:46 tn Heb “loathe my life.” The Hebrew verb translated “loathe” refers to strong disgust (see Lev 20:23).
  93. Genesis 27:46 tn Some translate the Hebrew term “Heth” as “Hittites” here (see also Gen 23:3), but this gives the impression that these people were the classical Hittites of Anatolia. However, there is no known connection between these sons of Heth, apparently a Canaanite group (see Gen 10:15), and the Hittites of Asia Minor. See H. A. Hoffner, Jr., “Hittites,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 152-53.
  94. Genesis 27:46 tn Heb “If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, why to me life?”
  95. Genesis 28:1 tn Heb “you must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.”
  96. Genesis 28:2 tn Heb “Arise! Go!” The first of the two imperatives is adverbial and stresses the immediacy of the departure.
  97. Genesis 28:3 tn Heb “El Shaddai.” See the extended note on the phrase “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.
  98. Genesis 28:3 tn Heb “and make you fruitful and multiply you.” See Gen 17:6, 20 for similar terminology.
  99. Genesis 28:3 tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here indicates consequence. The collocation הָיָה plus preposition ל (hayah plus lamed) means “become.”
  100. Genesis 28:3 tn Heb “an assembly of peoples.”
  101. Genesis 28:4 tn Heb “and may he give to you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you.” The name “Abraham” is an objective genitive here; this refers to the blessing that God gave to Abraham.
  102. Genesis 28:4 tn The words “the land” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
  103. Genesis 28:4 tn Heb “the land of your sojournings,” that is, the land where Jacob had been living as a resident foreigner, as his future descendants would after him.
  104. Genesis 28:6 tn Heb “to take for himself from there a wife.”
  105. Genesis 28:6 tn The infinitive construct with the preposition and the suffix form a temporal clause.
  106. Genesis 28:6 tn Heb “you must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.”
  107. Genesis 28:8 tn Heb “saw.”
  108. Genesis 28:8 tn Heb “the daughters of Canaan.”
  109. Genesis 28:8 tn Heb “evil in the eyes of.”
  110. Genesis 28:9 tn Heb “took for a wife.”
  111. Genesis 28:11 tn Heb “the place.” The article may indicate simply that the place is definite in the mind of the narrator. However, as the story unfolds the place is transformed into a holy place. See A. P. Ross, “Jacob’s Vision: The Founding of Bethel,” BSac 142 (1985): 224-37.
  112. Genesis 28:11 tn Heb “and he spent the night there because the sun had gone down.”
  113. Genesis 28:11 tn Heb “he took from the stones of the place,” which here means Jacob took one of the stones (see v. 18).
  114. Genesis 28:11 tn Heb “and he put [it at] the place of his head.” The text does not actually say the stone was placed under his head to serve as a pillow, although most interpreters and translators assume this. It is possible the stone served some other purpose. Jacob does not seem to have been a committed monotheist yet (see v. 20-21) so he may have believed it contained some spiritual power. Note that later in the story he anticipates the stone becoming the residence of God (see v. 22). Many cultures throughout the world view certain types of stones as magical and/or sacred. See J. G. Fraser, Folklore in the Old Testament, 231-37.
  115. Genesis 28:11 tn Heb “lay down.”
  116. Genesis 28:12 tn Heb “and dreamed.”
  117. Genesis 28:12 tn Heb “and look.” The scene which Jacob witnessed is described in three clauses introduced with הִנֵּה (hinneh). In this way the narrator invites the reader to witness the scene through Jacob’s eyes. J. P. Fokkelman points out that the particle goes with a lifted arm and an open mouth: “There, a ladder! Oh, angels! and look, the Lord himself” (Narrative Art in Genesis [SSN], 51-52).
  118. Genesis 28:12 tn The Hebrew noun סֻלָּם (sullam, “ladder, stairway”) occurs only here in the OT, but there appears to be an Akkadian cognate simmiltu (with metathesis of the second and third consonants and a feminine ending) which has a specialized meaning of “stairway, ramp.” See H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 34. For further discussion see C. Houtman, “What Did Jacob See in His Dream at Bethel? Some Remarks on Genesis 28:10-22, ” VT 27 (1977): 337-52; J. G. Griffiths, “The Celestial Ladder and the Gate of Heaven,” ExpTim 76 (1964/65): 229-30; and A. R. Millard, “The Celestial Ladder and the Gate of Heaven,” ExpTim 78 (1966/67): 86-87.
  119. Genesis 28:13 tn Heb “the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.” The Hebrew word for “father” can typically be used in a broader sense than the English word, in this case referring to Abraham (who was Jacob’s grandfather). For stylistic reasons and for clarity, the words “your father” are supplied with “Isaac” in the translation.
  120. Genesis 28:13 tn The Hebrew term אֶרֶץ (ʾerets) can mean “[the] earth,” “land,” “region,” “piece of ground,” or “ground” depending on the context. Here the term specifically refers to the plot of ground on which Jacob was lying, but at the same time this stands by metonymy for the entire land of Canaan.
  121. Genesis 28:14 tn This is the same Hebrew word translated “ground” in the preceding verse.
  122. Genesis 28:14 tn The verb is singular in the Hebrew; Jacob is addressed as the representative of his descendants.
  123. Genesis 28:14 tn The translation understands the Niphal stem to be middle voice here; the normal passive for בָּרַךְ (barakh) is Pual. The middle voice may be expressed here as “they may consider themselves blessed,” “they may receive/find blessing,” “the may become blessed.” See the notes at 12:3 and 18:18.
  124. Genesis 28:15 tn Heb “Look, I [am] with you.” The clause is a nominal clause; the verb to be supplied could be present (as in the translation) or future, “Look, I [will be] with you” (cf. NEB).
  125. Genesis 28:16 tn Heb “woke up from his sleep.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  126. Genesis 28:16 tn Heb “said.”
  127. Genesis 28:18 tn Heb “and he got up early…and he took.”
  128. Genesis 28:18 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  129. Genesis 28:18 tn See the note on this phrase in v. 11.
  130. Genesis 28:18 tn Heb “standing stone.”sn Sacred stone. Such a stone could be used as a boundary marker, a burial stone, or as a shrine. Here the stone is intended to be a reminder of the stairway that was “erected” and on which the Lord “stood.” (In Hebrew the word translated “sacred stone” is derived from the verb translated “erected” in v. 12 and “stood” in v. 13.) Since the top of the stairway reached the heavens where the Lord stood, Jacob poured oil on the top of the stone. See C. F. Graesser, “Standing Stones in Ancient Palestine,” BA 35 (1972): 34-63; and E. Stockton, “Sacred Pillars in the Bible,” ABR 20 (1972): 16-32.
  131. Genesis 28:19 tn The name Bethel means “house of God” in Hebrew (see v. 17).
  132. Genesis 28:20 tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.
  133. Genesis 28:21 tn Heb “and I return in peace to the house of my father.”
  134. Genesis 28:22 tn The disjunctive clause structure (conjunction + noun/subject) is used to highlight the statement.
  135. Genesis 28:22 tn The infinitive absolute is used before the finite verb for emphasis.
  136. Genesis 28:22 tn Heb “and all which you give to me I will surely give a tenth of it to you.” The disjunctive clause structure (conjunction + noun/object) highlights this statement as well.
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