^27:21Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come closer so I can touch you,³⁹ my son, and know for certain if you really are my son Esau.”⁴⁰^27:22So Jacob went over to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s.” ^27:23He did not recognize him because his hands were hairy, like his brother Esau’s hands. So Isaac blessed Jacob.⁴¹^27:24Then he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” “I am,” Jacob⁴² replied. ^27:25Isaac⁴³ said, “Bring some of the wild game for me to eat, my son.⁴⁴ Then I will bless you.”⁴⁵ So Jacob⁴⁶ brought it to him, and he ate it. He also brought him wine, and Isaac⁴⁷ drank. ^27:26Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here and kiss me, my son.” ^27:27So Jacob⁴⁸ went over and kissed him. When Isaac caught the scent⁴⁹ of his clothing, he blessed him, saying,

“Yes,⁵⁰ my son smells

like the scent of an open field

which the Lord has blessed.

^27:28May God give you

the dew of the sky⁵¹

and the richness⁵² of the earth,

and plenty of grain and new wine.

^27:29May peoples serve you

and nations bow down to you.

You will be⁵³ lord⁵⁴ over your brothers,

and the sons of your mother will bow down to you.⁵⁵

May those who curse you be cursed,

and those who bless you be blessed.”

^27:30Isaac had just finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely left⁵⁶ his father’s⁵⁷ presence, when his brother Esau returned from the hunt.⁵⁸^27:31He also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Esau⁵⁹ said to him, “My father, get up⁶⁰ and eat some of your son’s wild game. Then you can bless me.”⁶¹^27:32His father Isaac asked,⁶² “Who are you?” “I am your firstborn son,”⁶³ he replied, “Esau!” ^27:33Isaac began to shake violently⁶⁴ 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.⁶⁵ He will indeed be blessed!”

^27:34When Esau heard⁶⁶ his father’s words, he wailed loudly and bitterly.⁶⁷ He said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!”

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Footnotes

39 Following the imperative, the cohortative (with prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.
40 Heb “Are you this one, Esau, my son, or not?” On the use of the interrogative particle here, see 210 הֲ.
41 Heb “and he blessed him.” The referents of the pronouns “he” (Isaac) and “him” (Jacob) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
42 Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
43 Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
44 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 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 Heb “and he brought”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
47 Heb “and he drank”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
48 Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
49 Heb “and he smelled the smell”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
50 Heb “see.”
51 Heb “and from the dew of the sky.”
52 Heb “and from the fatness.”
53 Heb “and be.” The verb is an imperative, which is used rhetorically in this oracle of blessing. It is an invitation to exercise authority 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 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 Following the imperative, the prefixed verbal form (which is either an imperfect or a jussive) with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
56 The use of the infinitive absolute before the finite form of the verb makes the construction emphatic.
57 Heb “the presence of Isaac his father.” The repetition of the proper name (“Isaac”) was
58 Heb “and Esau his brother came from his hunt.”
59 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 Or “arise” (i.e., sit up).
61 Heb “so that your soul may bless me.”
62 Heb “said.”
63 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 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 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 The temporal clause is introduced with the temporal indicator and has the infinitive as its verb.
67 Heb “and he yelled [with] a great and bitter yell to excess.”