25.30–33 Sell me your birthright. Jacob poses an outrageous price for a bowl of stew. Esau fails to respond to the invitation to barter, claiming that he is about to die, when in fact he is merely very hungry. As a man of nature, Esau thinks with his belly, not his brain. As a knowledgeable (and manipulative) man of culture, Jacob seals the trade with a legally binding oath.
25.34 Ate, drank, rose, went. A quick series of verbs shows Esau as a man of action, unaware of the implications of his actions. Despised his birthright. Esau failed to value his birthright, treated it badly, and perhaps deserved to have lost it. Cf. Heb 12.16.
GENESIS 26
Isaac and Abimelech
1Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar, to King Abimelech of the Philistines. 2The LORD appeared to Isaaca and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; settle in the land that I shall show you. 3Reside in this land as an alien, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will fulfill the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. 4I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven, and will give to your offspring all these lands; and all the nations of the earth shall gain blessing for themselves through your offspring, 5because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
6So Isaac settled in Gerar. 7When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister” for he was afraid to say, “My wife,” thinking, “or else the men of the place might kill me for the sake of Rebekah, because she is attractive in appearance.” 8When Isaac had been there a long time, King Abimelech of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw him fondling his wife Rebekah. 9So Abimelech called for Isaac, and said, “So she is your wife! Why then did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought I might die because of her.” 10Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” 11So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall be put to death.”
12Isaac sowed seed in that land, and in the same year reaped a hundredfold. The LORD blessed him, 13and the man became rich; he prospered more and more until he became very wealthy. 14He had possessions of flocks and herds, and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. 15(Now the Philistines had stopped up and filled with earth all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham.) 16And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us; you have become too powerful for us.”
17So Isaac departed from there and camped in the valley of Gerar and settled there. 18Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham; for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the names that his father had given them. 19But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, 20the herders of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herders, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the well Esek,b because they contended with him. 21Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also; so he called it Sitnah.c 22He moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he called it Rehoboth,d saying, “Now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”
23From there he went up to Beer-sheba. 24And that very night the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you and make your offspring numerous for my servant Abraham’s sake.” 25So he built an altar there, called on the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.
26Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army. 27Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?” 28They said, “We see plainly that the LORD has been with you; so we say, let there be an oath between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you 29so that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD.” 30So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths; and Isaac set them on their way, and they departed from him in peace. 32That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well that they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water!” 33He called it Shibah;e therefore the name of the city is Beer-shebaf to this day.
Esau’s Hittite Wives
34When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite; 35and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.
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a Heb him
b That is Contention
c That is Enmity
d That is Broad places or Room
e A word resembling the word for oath
f That is Well of the oath or Well of seven
26.1–33 A brief cycle of stories about Isaac and Rebekah in Gerar, from the J source. These are the only stories in which Isaac has the major rather than a supporting role. A number of features—famine in the land, residence at Gerar under King Abimelech, the “wife-sister” motif, acquisition of wealth, conflict over wells, and the founding of Beer-sheba—are paralleled by the E stories of Abraham in 20.1–18; 21.22–34. Interestingly, these stories show no awareness of Isaac’s sons, Esau and Jacob, and seem loosely connected chronologically to their context. Their focus on Isaac provides a transition to the more consequential story of Isaac’s old age in ch. 27 and provides separation between Jacob’s acquisition of the birthright (from Esau) and blessing (from Isaac).
26.1 Former famine…Abraham. See 12.10. Isaac is in some sense recapitulating events of his father’s life. Isaac’s journey to Gerar, to King Abimelech, is parallel to the E story of Abraham and Sarah in ch. 20. In these stories, the patriarch and matriarch journey to a foreign land and claim that the beautiful wife is really the patriarch’s sister, with similar outcomes (see also note on 12.10–20).
26.2–5 God reveals himself to Isaac, as he had done often to Abraham, gives him instructions, and grants him his blessing. Vv. 3b–5 are later expansions on the initial blessing, providing Isaac with the patriarchal promises of land, offspring, and blessings. This expansion is based on the second angelic speech to Abraham in 22.15–18 and alludes to Abraham’s obedience in that chapter. Obeyed my voice (v. 5). Cf. 22.18.
26.6–11 This variation of the story of the matriarch in danger differs from the others in that the beautiful matriarch is not taken into the king’s harem (cf. 12.10–20, J; 20.1–18, E). It also has a moment of comedy when Abimelech sees Isaac fondling his wife Rebekah. The Hebrew is yitschaq metsacheq, “Isaac playing” (with his wife Rebekah), which is a play on Isaac’s name, here with a sexual connotation. This kind of “play” reveals the truth to the perceptive king. As with the pharaoh in 12.10–20 and with his double, King Abimelech of Gerar, in 20.1–18, Abimelech is justly offended by the patriarch’s ruse, questions him, and protects the wife. Since he did not take the wife, he does not enrich the patriarch in bride-price or recompense.
26.12–33 The LORD blessed him. Isaac gains wealth as promised in v. 3. His wealth provokes a separation from Abimelech reminiscent of the separation of Abram and Lot (13.1–12). The conflict with the Philistines over wells recalls Abraham’s conflict with the Philistines over the well of Beer-sheba (21.25, E). The story of the oath and covenant (v. 28) between Isaac and the Philistines (Abimelech, Ahuzzath, and Phicol, v. 26) is parallel to the story with Abraham and the same Philistines (Abimelech and Phicol) in 21.22–34 (E). Both stories conclude with the founding of Beer-sheba, meaning “well of the oath” (cf. v. 33; 21.31).
26.34–35 In pointed contrast to his father Isaac, who at forty years o
f age married Rebekah, daughter of the appropriate patriarchal lineage (25.20), Esau at forty marries two women of Hittite families, natives of the land of Canaan (see note on 23.3; cf. the names of Esau’s wives in 36.2). These marriages make life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah, since they violate the family code (see 24.3). This notice, from the P source, continues in 27.46–28.5, with Isaac and Rebekah’s insistence that Jacob return to the patriarchal homeland to take a proper wife. These P texts form a frame around the J story that follows and provide a parallel motive for his journey to Haran.
GENESIS 27
Isaac Blesses Jacob
1When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called his elder son Esau and said to him, “My son” and he answered, “Here I am.” 2He said, “See, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. 3Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and hunt game for me. 4Then prepare for me savory food, such as I like, and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”
5Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, 6Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father say to your brother Esau, 7‘Bring me game, and prepare for me savory food to eat, that I may bless you before the LORD before I die.’ 8Now therefore, my son, obey my word as I command you. 9Go to the flock, and get me two choice kids, so that I may prepare from them savory food for your father, such as he likes; 10and you shall take it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.” 11But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a man of smooth skin. 12Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him, and bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.” 13His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my word, and go, get them for me.” 14So he went and got them and brought them to his mother; and his mother prepared savory food, such as his father loved. 15Then Rebekah took the best garments of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob; 16and she put the skins of the kids on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. 17Then she handed the savory food, and the bread that she had prepared, to her son Jacob.
18So he went in to his father, and said, “My father” and he said, “Here I am; who are you, my son?” 19Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, so that you may bless me.” 20But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the LORD your God granted me success.” 21Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.” 22So Jacob went up to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him. 24He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.” 25Then he said, “Bring it to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he brought it to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. 26Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” 27So he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him, and said,
“Ah, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed.
28May God give you of the dew of heaven,
and of the fatness of the earth,
and plenty of grain and wine.
29Let 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!”
Esau’s Lost Blessing
30As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of his father Isaac, his brother Esau came in from his hunting. 31He also prepared savory food, and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father sit up and eat of his son’s game, so that you may bless me.” 32His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am your firstborn son, Esau.” 33Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it alla before you came, and I have blessed him?—yes, and blessed he shall be!” 34When Esau heard his father’s words, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, me also, father!” 35But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.” 36Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob?b For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright; and look, now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” 37Isaac answered Esau, “I have already made him your lord, and I have given him all his brothers as servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?” 38Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, father? Bless me, me also, father!” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.
39Then his father Isaac answered him:
“See, away fromc the fatness of the earth shall your home be,
and away fromd the dew of heaven on high.
40By your sword you shall live,
and you shall serve your brother;
but when you break loose,e
you shall break his yoke from your neck.”
Jacob Escapes Esau’s Fury
41Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” 42But the words of her elder son Esau were told to Rebekah; so she sent and called her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you. 43Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran, 44and stay with him a while, until your brother’s fury turns away—45until your brother’s anger against you turns away, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send, and bring you back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”
46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women such as these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?”
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a Cn: Heb of all
b That is He supplants or He takes by the heel
c Or See, of
d Or and of
e Meaning of Heb uncertain
27.1–45 The story of Jacob’s deception of Isaac (J) is one of the most dramatic and suspenseful in all the Bible. Although we only see the actions and words, the characters’ inner dispositions are palpable: Jacob’s fear, Rebekah’s determination, Isaac’s indecision, Esau’s grief. This story complements Jacob’s acquisition of Esau’s birthright (bekorah, 25.29–34) by having Isaac grant him the blessing (berakah) of the firstborn son (see v. 36). In contrast to the story of the birthright, Esau in this story is portrayed in a sympathetic light as a brother wronged. The blessings of the two brothers anticipate that they will be two nations, corresponding to the divine oracle in 25.23. In her decisive role Rebekah acts out her love for Jacob (25.28) and also brings to pass the divine oracle in 25.23. Jacob’s success in gaining the blessing by deception is balanced by the price he pays later in the corresponding deceptions played on him in 29.23–27; 37.32–35.
27.1–4 Isaac’s blindness provides the key condition for the deception by Jacob and Rebekah and sets the stage for his tests of Jacob’s identity through his other senses: hearing, touch, and smell. His request to Esau, pointedly identified as his elder son Esau (v. 1), has elements of high and low drama. His closeness to death and desire to pass along the patriarchal blessing are very serious, but his request for game (v. 4) reca
lls his appetite-driven reason for loving Esau (25.28). So that I may bless you (v.4) suggests that this meal has a ritual or sacred quality.
27.5–10 Like Sarah in 18.10, Rebekah was listening to the conversation. Rebekah’s plan to outfox Isaac and Esau on behalf of the son she loves (25.28) depends on her expertise in the domestic domain. Just as Rebekah substitutes domestic animals for wild game (v. 9), so she will substitute Jacob, the domestic son, for Esau. Rebekah is here the trickster, exercising her domestic authority, culinary skills, and intelligence to win her preferred son the blessing.
27.11–13 Jacob’s reservation, based on the tactile contrast between a hairy man and a man of smooth skin, is overruled by his mother. The danger of Isaac’s curse, rather than his blessing, hangs over the subsequent scene. Although Isaac never pronounces a curse, Rebekah does pay a price when she later commands Jacob to flee (v. 43), and there is no mention of her ever seeing him again.
27.15–16 Rebekah uses her domestic intelligence to solve the problem Jacob raised in vv. 11–12. She clothes him in the garments of her elder son Esau, and on the smooth skin still uncovered she puts the skins of the domestic kids. The disguise of the domestic son as his wild brother is now complete. Note that, in recompense, Jacob will later be deceived by the garment of his beloved son (37.32–33).
27.18–27 The scene of deception is fraught with suspense. Isaac’s suspicion seems to be aroused immediately, and each exchange holds the chance of discovery, bringing the father’s curse. Although Isaac recognizes Jacob’s voice (v. 22), he is deceived by his senses of taste, touch, and smell, as Rebekah had planned, and so he blessed him (v. 23).My/his father, my/his son, key words in this scene (occurring four and eight times, respectively), highlighting the drama and disruption of this father-son relationship. Jacob’s response to his father’s suspicion about the speedy success of the hunt is ironic: because the LORD your God granted me success (v. 20). This is a deceptive reply, since Rebekah was responsible for the quickness of the meal, but it is also true, since God had predicted Jacob’s ascent (25.23).
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