Genesis 27:14 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So he went and took them and brought them to his mother, and his mother prepared delicious food, such as his father loved.

NIV: So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it.

NASB: So he went and got them, and brought them to his mother; and his mother made a delicious meal such as his father loved.

CSB: So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother, and his mother made the delicious food his father loved.

NLT: So Jacob went out and got the young goats for his mother. Rebekah took them and prepared a delicious meal, just the way Isaac liked it.

KJV: And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savoury meat, such as his father loved.

NKJV: And he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food, such as his father loved.

Jacob makes a conscious choice to go along with his mother's scheme (Genesis 27:6–10). Her plot is to deceive his father, Isaac, into giving him the blessing instead of his older brother, Esau. This follows Jacob's manipulative trick where he made Esau swear to give him Esau's birthright (Genesis 25:29–34). Jacob makes no protest about whether or not this is the right course of action. His only question for Rebekah is about what happens if they are caught (Genesis 27:12). At her insistence, he does as she says, bringing the goats to his mother. She prepares a delicious meal that she knows her husband will love. The plan is afoot.

Genesis never directly condemns or praises Jacob for this decision. Does this mean he was right to participate in this plan? No, but Scripture simply records what happened. God used the flawed choices of flawed human beings to accomplish His will for His people. He still does. Later in the book of Genesis, we will see the consequences of this action play out. Rebekah will never see Jacob again (Genesis 27:43–44), and Jacob will find himself caught in a scam in the near future (Genesis 29).

Genesis 27:1–29 describes how the Abrahamic family blessing came to second-born Jacob, instead of his firstborn brother, Esau. Isaac intends to give the blessing to his favored son, Esau. Rebekah commands Jacob to impersonate Esau, instead, in order to get the blessing for himself. Isaac almost catches on but is convinced by the smell of Esau on Jacob's borrowed clothes, and the hairy, Esau-like goat's skin on Jacob's hands. Isaac gives to Jacob the future-defining blessing of God.

Isaac's plan to pass the family blessing on to his favorite son, Esau, is thwarted by the deception of Isaac's wife Rebekah, and his other son Jacob. Old and blind, Isaac fails to recognize that the man claiming to be Esau is actually Jacob in a clever disguise. His prayer of blessing for wealth and rule over his brothers will remain valid though it is given under false pretense. Esau will be left with a blessing that sounds like a curse and a plan to murder his brother. Jacob will be forced to run for his life.

Prior chapters described the prosperity of Isaac, living in the Valley of Gerar. Genesis 27 leaps forward to near the end of Isaac's life. The time has come to pass on the family blessing. Isaac's intention to give that blessing to firstborn, Esau, is thwarted by the deception of Isaac's wife Rebekah and his other son Jacob. Isaac overcomes his suspicions that the man before him is not Esau and delivers the very blessing of God on Jacob. Esau is left with a near-curse and a murderous rage. Rebekah urges Jacob to go to her brother's household, a plan Isaac will endorse in the following chapter. There, he will ironically experience the sting of deception in his own life.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.