Genesis 27:35-46

27:35 But Isaac ¹  replied, “Your brother came in here deceitfully and took away ²  your blessing.” 27:36 Esau exclaimed, “‘Jacob’ is the right name for him! ³  He has tripped me up ⁴  two times! He took away my birthright, and now, look, he has taken away my blessing!” Then he asked, “Have you not kept back a blessing for me?”

27:37 Isaac replied to Esau, “Look! I have made him lord over you. I have made all his relatives his servants and provided him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?” 27:38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only that one blessing, my father? Bless me too!” ⁵  Then Esau wept loudly. ⁶ 

27:39 So his father Isaac said to him,

“Indeed, ⁷  your home will be

away from the richness ⁸  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.” ⁹ 

27:41 So Esau hated ¹⁰  Jacob because of the blessing his father had given to his brother. ¹¹  Esau said privately, ¹²  “The time ¹³  of mourning for my father is near; then I will kill ¹⁴  my brother Jacob!”

27:42 When Rebekah heard what her older son Esau had said, ¹⁵  she quickly summoned ¹⁶  her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is planning to get revenge by killing you. ¹⁷  27:43 Now then, my son, do what I say. ¹⁸  Run away immediately ¹⁹  to my brother Laban in Haran. 27:44 Live with him for a little while ²⁰  until your brother’s rage subsides. 27:45 Stay there ²¹  until your brother’s anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I’ll send someone to bring you back from there. ²²  Why should I lose both of you in one day?” ²³ 

27:46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am deeply depressed ²⁴  because of these daughters of Heth. ²⁵  If Jacob were to marry one of these daughters of Heth who live in this land, I would want to die!” ²⁶ 

[27:35]  ¹ tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:35]  ² tn Or “took”; “received.”

[27:36]  ³ tn Heb “Is he not rightly named Jacob?” The rhetorical question, since it expects a positive reply, has been translated as a declarative statement.

[27:36]  ⁴ sn He has tripped me up. When originally given, the name Jacob was a play on the word “heel” (see Gen 25:26). The name (since it is a verb) probably means something like “may he protect,” that is, as a rearguard, dogging the heels. This name was probably chosen because of the immediate association with the incident of grabbing the heel. Esau gives the name “Jacob” a negative connotation here, the meaning “to trip up; to supplant.”

[27:38]  ⁵ tn Heb “Bless me, me also, my father.” The words “my father” have not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[27:38]  ⁶ tn Heb “and Esau lifted his voice and wept.”

[27:39]  ⁷ tn Heb “look.”

[27:39]  ⁸ tn Heb “from the fatness.”

[27:40]  ⁹ 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.

[27:41]  ¹⁰ tn Or “bore a grudge against” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV). The Hebrew verb שָׂטַם (satam) describes persistent hatred.

[27:41]  ¹¹ tn Heb “because of the blessing which his father blessed him.”

[27:41]  ¹² tn Heb “said in his heart.” The expression may mean “said to himself.” Even if this is the case, v. 42 makes it clear that he must have shared his intentions with someone, because the news reached Rebekah.

[27:41]  ¹³ tn Heb “days.”

[27:41]  ¹⁴ tn The cohortative here expresses Esau’s determined resolve to kill Jacob.

[27:42]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah.”

[27:42]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “she sent and called for.”

[27:42]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “is consoling himself with respect to you to kill you.” The only way Esau had of dealing with his anger at the moment was to plan to kill his brother after the death of Isaac.

[27:43]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “listen to my voice.”

[27:43]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “arise, flee.”

[27:44]  ²⁰ tn Heb “a few days.” Rebekah probably downplays the length of time Jacob will be gone, perhaps to encourage him and assure him that things will settle down soon. She probably expects Esau’s anger to die down quickly. However, Jacob ends up being gone twenty years and he never sees Rebekah again.

[27:45]  ²¹ tn The words “stay there” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[27:45]  ²² tn Heb “and I will send and I will take you from there.” The verb “send” has no object in the Hebrew text; one must be supplied in the translation. Either “someone” or “a message” could be supplied, but since in those times a message would require a messenger, “someone” has been used.

[27:45]  ²³ tn If Jacob stayed, he would be killed and Esau would be forced to run away.

[27:46]  ²⁴ tn Heb “loathe my life.” The Hebrew verb translated “loathe” refers to strong disgust (see Lev 20:23).

[27:46]  ²⁵ tn Some translate the Hebrew term “Heth” as “Hittites” here (see also Gen 23:3), but this gives the impression that these people were the classical Hittites of Anatolia. However, there is no known connection between these sons of Heth, apparently a Canaanite group (see Gen 10:15), and the Hittites of Asia Minor. See H. A. Hoffner, Jr., “Hittites,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 152-53.

[27:46]  ²⁶ tn Heb “If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, why to me life?”