Genesis 25:27

25:27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled ¹  hunter, a man of the open fields, but Jacob was an even-tempered man, living in tents. ² 

Genesis 27:5

27:5 Now Rebekah had been listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. ³  When Esau went out to the open fields to hunt down some wild game and bring it back, ⁴ 

Genesis 27:25

27:25 Isaac ⁵  said, “Bring some of the wild game for me to eat, my son. ⁶  Then I will bless you.” ⁷  So Jacob ⁸  brought it to him, and he ate it. He also brought him wine, and Isaac ⁹  drank.

Genesis 27:31

27:31 He also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Esau ¹⁰  said to him, “My father, get up ¹¹  and eat some of your son’s wild game. Then you can bless me.” ¹² 

Genesis 27:19

27:19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I’ve done as you told me. Now sit up ¹³  and eat some of my wild game so that you can bless me.” ¹⁴ 

Genesis 27:30

27:30 Isaac had just finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely left ¹⁵  his father’s ¹⁶  presence, when his brother Esau returned from the hunt. ¹⁷ 

Genesis 27:33

27:33 Isaac began to shake violently ¹⁸  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. ¹⁹  He will indeed be blessed!”

[25:27]  ¹ tn Heb “knowing.”

[25:27]  ² 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.”

[27:5]  ³ tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by a conjunction with the subject, followed by the predicate) here introduces a new scene in the story.

[27:5]  ⁴ tc The LXX adds here “to his father,” which may have been accidentally omitted in the MT.

[27:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:25]  ⁶ 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.

[27:25]  ⁷ 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.

[27:25]  ⁸ tn Heb “and he brought”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he drank”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:31]  ⁷ 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.

[27:31]  ⁸ tn Or “arise” (i.e., sit up).

[27:31]  ⁹ tn Heb “so that your soul may bless me.”

[27:19]  ⁹ 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.

[27:19]  ¹⁰ 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.

[27:30]  ¹¹ tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the finite form of the verb makes the construction emphatic.

[27:30]  ¹² tn Heb “the presence of Isaac his father.” The repetition of the proper name (“Isaac”) was

[27:30]  ¹³ tn Heb “and Esau his brother came from his hunt.”

[27:33]  ¹³ 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.

[27:33]  ¹⁴ 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?”