Commentary
Skeptic's Annotated Bible
27:1 And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am I.
27:2 And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death:
27:3 Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison;
27:4 And make me savory meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.
27:5 And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it.
27:6 And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying,
27:7 Bring me venison, and make me savory meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the LORD before my death.
27:8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee.
27:9 Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savory meat for thy father, such as he loveth:
27:10 And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death.
27:11 And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man:
27:12 My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing.
27:13 And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.
We know that Isaac likes Esau better, because Esau is a good hunter and Isaac likes venison (Gen 25:28). So Isaac, blind and near death, asks his favored son to bring him some of that venison he likes so much. Rebekah overhears, and gets her favorite son, Jacob, to go kill some goats and trick Isaac into thinking he was Esau bringing venison, when it would really be Jacob bringing goat.
Jacob is learning the art of lying from a line of liars.
But he knows that Isaac will figure this out, considering how hairy Esau is and how smooth Jacob is. So Rebekah decides to cover Jacob with goat skin so he'll feel hairy, and she says that if they're discovered, she'll take the blame.
Twisted, twisted morality. If this really were a story about good morals and virtuous action, Jacob would not agree to deceive his father; Rebekah would not have put Jacob into this position; and they would have found some other way to have both Esau and Jacob blessed by Isaac before his death.
And what kind of blessing would it be, if it was obtained through deceit? To be "blessed" means to be looked upon favorably by God. Certainly God would know that Isaac blessed Jacob (which I suppose means that Isaac asked God to look favorably upon Jacob) under false pretenses? And if God wanted to bless either Esau or Jacob, why would it matter which one Isaac had prayed for? God must know that Isaac favored Esau; bestowing Isaac's blessing upon Jacob makes God party to the deceit.
What an ethically challenged family this is. Horrible example. Let's see what happens.
27:14 And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savory meat, such as his father loved.
27:15 And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son:
27:16 And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck:
27:17 And she gave the savory meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.
27:18 And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son?
27:19 And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy first born; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.
27:20 And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the LORD thy God brought it to me.
Now he's bringing God into this lie as well. Very strange that God remains complicit in this lie.
27:21 And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not.
27:22 And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.
27:23 And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands: so he blessed him.
If Esau gave his birthright to Jacob (in exchange for some stew), then why is this charade necessary in the first place? Unless they never admitted it to Isaac & Rebekah?
27:24 And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am.
Liar!
27:25 And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat: and he brought him wine and he drank.
27:26 And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son.
27:27 And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed:
27:28 Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:
27:29 Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.
27:30 And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.
Oh snap!
27:31 And he also had made savory meat, and brought it unto his father, and said unto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that thy soul may bless me.
27:32 And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau.
27:33 And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed.
27:34 And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father.
27:35 And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing.
Because, of course, Isaac had only one blessing that he could give. (?)
27:36 And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?
Exactly, it's just something you say, like "have a nice day." "I bless you." Just say it and make Esau feel better.
27:37 And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?
Oh, so it's not just a "blessing," it's the inheritance (i.e., Esau's birthright). But since Isaac is still alive, surely he can put this straight?
27:38 And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.
27:39 And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above;
27:40 And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.
Nice Isaac, leave your favorite son to be Jacob's servant, because Jacob tricked you. I guess you're getting what you deserve?
27:41 And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.
I'd be pretty upset too.
27:42 And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee.
27:43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran;
27:44 And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother's fury turn away;
27:45 Until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be deprived also of you both in one day?
27:46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?
More bigotry and prejudice, this time against Heth.
I was curious to see what Jamieson makes of all this; the lying, the theft of birthright, God's complicity in the deception, and so on. I noticed that Jamieson goes so far as to provide the recipe that Jacob uses to cook the goat:
consisting, first, of a kid's flesh, which, made into a ragout, spiced with salt, onions, garlic, and lemon juice
Okay, he's just making this stuff up. He's just wrong: clearly, Jacob prepared the goat as a stew with carrots and figs! (I have just as much evidence for my recipe as Jamieson has for his.) He has no idea what he's talking about here; I suppose he thinks that these details serve to make his statements more credible? Unbelievable.
Basically, Jamieson agrees that the deception was crooked, but undertaken in sincerity of faith, since she believed that the blessing was intended for Jacob all along. Strange how they all view both Isaac and God as incapable of correcting or punishing the error once discovered.
I am really disappointed at what a total joke of morality this book is turning out to be. I knew about the famous stories (Adam & Eve, Noah and the flood) that were morally questionable, but in almost every chapter we have such terrible behavior either condoned or ignored by God. All I can conclude at this point is that this book is a stunning example of how not to behave.
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