Genesis 27:27-29

27:27 So Jacob ¹  went over and kissed him. When Isaac caught the scent ²  of his clothing, he blessed him, saying,

“Yes, ³  my son smells

like the scent of an open field

which the Lord has blessed.

27:28 May God give you

the dew of the sky ⁴ 

and the richness ⁵  of the earth,

and plenty of grain and new wine.

27:29 May peoples serve you

and nations bow down to you.

You will be ⁶  lord ⁷  over your brothers,

and the sons of your mother will bow down to you. ⁸ 

May those who curse you be cursed,

and those who bless you be blessed.”

Genesis 27:39-40

27:39 So his father Isaac said to him,

“Indeed, ⁹  your home will be

away from the richness ¹⁰  of the earth,

and away from the dew of the sky above.

27:40 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.” ¹¹ 

Genesis 28:3-4

28:3 May the sovereign God ¹²  bless you! May he make you fruitful and give you a multitude of descendants! ¹³  Then you will become ¹⁴  a large nation. ¹⁵  28:4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing he gave to Abraham ¹⁶  so that you may possess the land ¹⁷  God gave to Abraham, the land where you have been living as a temporary resident.” ¹⁸ 

Ephesians 1:3

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

1:3 Blessed ¹⁹  is ²⁰  the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed ²¹  us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ.

[27:27]  ¹ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:27]  ² tn Heb “and he smelled the smell”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:27]  ³ tn Heb “see.”

[27:28]  ⁴ tn Heb “and from the dew of the sky.”

[27:28]  ⁵ tn Heb “and from the fatness.”

[27:29]  ⁶ 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 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.

[27:29]  ⁷ 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.”

[27:29]  ⁸ tn Following the imperative, the prefixed verbal form (which is either an imperfect or a jussive) with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

[27:39]  ⁹ tn Heb “look.”

[27:39]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “from the fatness.”

[27:40]  ¹¹ 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.

[28:3]  ¹² tn Heb “El Shaddai.” See the extended note on the phrase “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.

[28:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “and make you fruitful and multiply you.” See Gen 17:6, 20 for similar terminology.

[28:3]  ¹⁴ tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here indicates consequence. The collocation הָיָה + preposition לְ (hayah + lÿ) means “become.”

[28:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “an assembly of peoples.”

[28:4]  ¹⁶ 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.

[28:4]  ¹⁷ tn The words “the land” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[28:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the land of your sojournings,” that is, the land where Jacob had been living as a resident alien, as his future descendants would after him.

[1:3]  ¹⁹ sn Eph 1:3-14 comprises one long sentence in Greek, with three major sections. Each section ends with a note of praise for God (vv. 6, 12, 14), focusing on a different member of the Trinity. After an opening summary of all the saints’ spiritual blessings (v. 3), the first section (vv. 4-6) offers up praise that the Father has chosen us in eternity past; the second section (vv. 7-12) offers up praise that the Son has redeemed us in the historical past (i.e., at the cross); the third section (vv. 13-14) offers up praise that the Holy Spirit has sealed us in our personal past, at the point of conversion.

[1:3]  ²⁰ tn There is no verb in the Greek text; either the optative (“be”) or the indicative (“is”) can be supplied. The meaning of the term εὐλογητός (euloghtos), the author’s intention at this point in the epistle, and the literary genre of this material must all come into play to determine which is the preferred nuance. εὐλογητός as an adjective can mean either that one is praised or that one is blessed, that is, in a place of favor and benefit. The meaning “blessed” would be more naturally paired with an indicative verb here and would suggest that blessedness is an intrinsic part of God’s character. The meaning “praised” would be more naturally paired with an optative verb here and would suggest that God ought to be praised. Pauline style in the epistles generally moves from statements to obligations, expressing the reality first and then the believer’s necessary response, which would favor the indicative. However, many scholars regard Eph 1:3-14 as a berakah psalm (cf. A. T. Lincoln, Ephesians [WBC], 10-11). Rooted in the OT and Jewish worship, berakah psalms were songs of praise in which the worshiper gave praise to God; this would favor the optative (although not all scholars are agreed on this genre classification here; see H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 153-59, for discussion and an alternate conclusion). When considered as a whole, although a decision is difficult, the indicative seems to fit all the factors better. The author seems to be pointing to who God is and what he has done for believers in this section; the indicative more naturally fits that emphasis. Cf. also 2 Cor 1:3; 1 Pet 1:3.

[1:3]  ²¹ tn Or “enriched,” “conferred blessing.”