Genesis 27:1-29 | The Way of Scripture

Genesis 27:1-29

Isaac Blesses Jacob

Berean Standard Bible

1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.”
“Here I am,” Esau replied.
2 “Look,” said Isaac, “I am now old, and I do not know the day of my death. 3 Take your weapons—your quiver and bow—and go out into the field to hunt some game for me. 4 Then prepare a tasty dish that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”
5 Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac told his son Esau. So when Esau went into the field to hunt game and bring it back, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I overheard your father saying to your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me some game and prepare me a tasty dish to eat, so that I may bless you in the presence of the LORD before I die.’
8 Now, my son, listen to my voice and do exactly as I tell you. 9 Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so that I can make them into a tasty dish for your father—the kind he loves. 10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.”
11 Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am smooth-skinned. 12 What if my father touches me? Then I would be revealed to him as a deceiver, and I would bring upon myself a curse rather than a blessing.”
13 His mother replied, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey my voice and go get them for me.”
14 So Jacob went and got two goats and brought them to his mother, who made the tasty food his father loved. 15 And Rebekah took the finest clothes in the house that belonged to her older son Esau, and she put them on her younger son Jacob. 16 She also put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. 17 Then she handed her son Jacob the tasty food and bread she had made.
18 So Jacob went to his father and said, “My father.”
“Here I am!” he answered. “Which one are you, my son?”
19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may bless me.”
20 But Isaac asked his son, “How did you ever find it so quickly, my son?”
“Because the LORD your God brought it to me,” he replied.
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau, or not?”
22 So Jacob came close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 Isaac did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him.
24 Again he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?”
And he replied, “I am.”
25 “Serve me,” said Isaac, “and let me eat some of my son’s game, so that I may bless you.”
Jacob brought it to him, and he ate; then he brought him wine, and he drank.
26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come near and kiss me, my son.”
27 So he came near and kissed him. When Isaac smelled his clothing, he blessed him and said:
“Ah, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a field
that the LORD has blessed.
28 May God give to you the dew of heaven
and the richness of the earth—
an abundance of grain and new wine.
29 May peoples serve you
and nations bow down to you.
May you be the master of your brothers,
and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.
May those who curse you be cursed,
and those who bless you be blessed.”

What is the context?

Isaac, now old and unable to see clearly, asks Esau to hunt and prepare a meal so that he may bless him before he dies. The family is already divided by the parents' preferences, Esau's sale of his birthright, and his marriages. God's earlier word to Rebekah said that the older son would serve the younger.

Rebekah overhears and prepares a competing plan. Jacob is to bring goats, take Esau's clothes, cover his smooth skin with the goatskins, and carry the prepared meal to Isaac. Jacob fears being exposed and cursed; Rebekah tells him to put that curse on her. Her assurance moves the plan forward, but the account does not say that she can actually remove his responsibility for participating.

Jacob directly claims to be Esau. When Isaac questions the speed of the meal's arrival, Jacob even credits the LORD with bringing it to him. Isaac recognizes Jacob's voice but is persuaded by the hairy hands, the food, the kiss, and Esau's clothing. His uncertainty creates the tension as the deception succeeds.

The blessing includes fruitful land, abundant crops, authority over relatives and peoples, and blessing or curse for those who bless or curse its recipient. That final wording recalls God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3. Jacob receives the blessing, but the means used to obtain it leave the family facing discovery and conflict.

How is this passage commonly understood?

Christians commonly see the promised line continuing through Jacob while also recognizing the wrongdoing in how the blessing is obtained. Wesley's notes on Genesis 27:6, 19–20 explicitly condemn Rebekah's method and Jacob's lies, including his use of God's name to support the deception; the promised outcome does not make those methods right.

Where does this fit in God's plan?

Hebrews 11:20 describes Isaac blessing Jacob and Esau by faith concerning the future. Its emphasis is on the future God will bring, rather than approval of every choice made in this episode. Jacob receives the family blessing in keeping with the direction announced before his birth, despite the deeply flawed actions surrounding it.

The Bible repeatedly holds God's purpose and human responsibility together. Acts 2:23 does so most sharply when Peter speaks of Jesus being handed over according to God's plan while still holding His killers responsible. That larger theme also helps us read this family story. God can carry His purpose forward without making deceit or violence good.

What is our position?

We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.

Where can I study this further?

No deeper study linked yet.

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