Jacob Receives Isaac’s Blessing

27:1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he was almost blind, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son!” “Here I am!” Esau replied. 27:2 Isaac said, “Since I am so old, I could die at any time. 27:3 Therefore, take your weapons – your quiver and your bow – and go out into the open fields and hunt down some wild game for me. 27:4 Then prepare for me some tasty food, the kind I love, and bring it to me. Then I will eat it so that I may bless you before I die.” 27:5 Now Rebekah had been listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau went out to the open fields to hunt down some wild game and bring it back, 27:6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father tell your brother Esau, 27:7 ‘Bring me some wild game and prepare for me some tasty food. Then I will eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before I die.’ 27:8 Now then, my son, do exactly what I tell you! 27:9 Go to the flock and get me two of the best young goats. I’ll prepare them in a tasty way for your father, just the way he loves them. 27:10 Then you will take it to your father. Thus he will eat it and bless you before he dies.” 27:11 “But Esau my brother is a hairy man,” Jacob protested to his mother Rebekah, “and I have smooth skin! 27:12 My father may touch me! Then he’ll think I’m mocking him and I’ll bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing.” 27:13 So his mother told him, “Any curse against you will fall on me, my son! Just obey me! Go and get them for me!” 27:14 So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother. She prepared some tasty food, just the way his father loved it. 27:15 Then Rebekah took her older son Esau’s best clothes, which she had with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 27:16 She put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck. 27:17 Then she handed the tasty food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob. 27:18 He went to his father and said, “My father!” Isaac replied, “Here I am. Which are you, my son?” 27:19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I’ve done as you told me. Now sit up and eat some of my wild game so that you can bless me.” 27:20 But Isaac asked his son, “How in the world did you find it so quickly, my son?” “Because the Lord your God brought it to me,” he replied. 27:21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come closer so I can touch you, my son, and know for certain if you really are my son Esau.” 27:22 So Jacob went over to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s.” 27:23 He did not recognize him because his hands were hairy, like his brother Esau’s hands. So Isaac blessed Jacob. 27:24 Then he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” “I am,” Jacob replied. 27:25 Isaac said, “Bring some of the wild game for me to eat, my son. Then I will bless you.” So Jacob brought it to him, and he ate it. He also brought him wine, and Isaac drank. 27:26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here and kiss me, my son.” 27:27 So Jacob went over and kissed him. When Isaac caught the scent of his clothing, he blessed him, saying, “Yes, 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 and the richness 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 lord over your brothers, and the sons of your mother will bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed.” 27:30 Isaac had just finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, when his brother Esau returned from the hunt. 27:31 He also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Esau said to him, “My father, get up and eat some of your son’s wild game. Then you can bless me.” 27:32 His father Isaac asked, “Who are you?” “I am your firstborn son,” he replied, “Esau!” 27:33 Isaac began to shake violently 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. He will indeed be blessed!” 27:34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he wailed loudly and bitterly. He said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!” 27:35 But Isaac replied, “Your brother came in here deceitfully and took away your blessing.” 27:36 Esau exclaimed, “‘Jacob’ is the right name for him! He has tripped me up 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!” Then Esau wept loudly. 27:39 So his father Isaac said to him, “Indeed, your home will be away from the richness 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.”

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible®, copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

Isaac planned to bless Esau, but Rebekah helped Jacob deceive his father and receive the blessing instead. Isaac’s spoken blessing stood, even though the means were sinful. Esau arrived too late and wept bitterly. The chapter shows that God’s covenant purpose moved forward, but human deceit brought real sin and family pain.

Isaac was old and nearly blind, so he sent Esau to hunt and prepare food before giving him a blessing. Rebekah heard this and told Jacob to bring goats so she could prepare food for Isaac. Jacob feared being discovered, but his mother pressed him on. She dressed him like Esau and used goat skins to make him seem hairy.

Jacob went to Isaac and lied. He said he was Esau, the firstborn, and even used the Lord’s name in a false claim. Isaac was uncertain because the voice sounded like Jacob, but the hands felt like Esau. Still, Isaac gave the blessing.

The blessing spoke of dew, rich land, grain, new wine, rule over peoples, and blessing and curse. It was more than a private wish. It carried covenant weight. When Esau returned, Isaac learned what had happened and trembled violently. He said the blessing had already been given and could not simply be taken back.

Esau cried out in grief and anger. Isaac then spoke a lesser word over him, saying his life would be marked by hardship, conflict, and a time when he would live by his sword. The last line about shaking off the yoke is hard, but it points to later resistance, not a full reversal of Jacob’s place. The chapter shows both God’s firm purpose and the serious evil of deceit.

• Isaac intended to bless Esau before he died.
• Rebekah helped Jacob deceive Isaac.
• Jacob lied to his father and claimed to be Esau.
• Isaac’s blessing was spoken over Jacob and was treated as effective.
• The blessing included fruitfulness, dominion, and covenant language.
• Esau returned too late and was deeply grieved.
• Isaac gave Esau a second, lesser pronouncement.
• The passage shows God’s purpose moving ahead through flawed people.

• Warning: deception and lying bring real guilt and harm.
• Warning: favoritism in a family can deepen division.
• Warning: spoken words of blessing and curse are weighty.
• Promise: God’s covenant purpose is not overturned by human sin.
• Command: do not try to obtain God’s gifts by deceit.
• Command: parents and leaders should not show damaging partiality.

This passage stays within the Abrahamic covenant line. The older son does not receive the main blessing; the younger does, as God had already said would happen. That blessing helps carry forward the family promise toward Israel and later the royal line. The text preserves the chosen line without approving the sin used to secure it.

Do not excuse wrong methods just because the outcome seems to fit God’s will. God’s promises are sure, but His people must not use lies or manipulation to get them. Families should avoid favoritism, because it can wound children and create lasting conflict. Trust God’s purpose, and walk in truth.

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