Genesis 27:9 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Go to the flock and bring me two good young goats, so that I may prepare from them delicious food for your father, such as he loves.

NIV: Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it.

NASB: Go now to the flock and bring me two choice young goats from there, so that I may prepare them as a delicious meal for your father, such as he loves.

CSB: Go to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, and I will make them into a delicious meal for your father—the kind he loves.

NLT: Go out to the flocks, and bring me two fine young goats. I’ll use them to prepare your father’s favorite dish.

KJV: Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth:

NKJV: Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves.

Rebekah has overheard Isaac's plan to pass the family blessing down to Esau (Genesis 27:1–4). First, though, Isaac wants Esau to hunt fresh game for him, and to prepare a delicious meal. This hunting skill is the reason Isaac preferred his older twin son (Genesis 25:28). Rebekah, Isaac's wife, prefers the younger twin, Jacob. She also knows that God has promised to make the younger son dominant (Genesis 25:23). Convinced that Jacob is the one who should receive the blessing, she is putting into motion a plan to deceive Isaac into blessing Jacob instead.

The scheme begins with creating the meal Isaac expects to receive from Esau. To that end, Rebekah instructs Jacob to bring two young goats from the herd so she can make a meal she knows Isaac will love. She apparently plans to duplicate the taste of wild game by using these goats.

Earlier in Genesis, Isaac's parents attempted to "help" God fulfill a promise (Genesis 16:1–5). This, in a sense, is what Rebekah is doing now. That earlier attempt resulted in hurt feelings and a split family (Genesis 21:9–11). The scheme Jacob and Rebekah are about to enact will also cause a terrible rift (Genesis 27:41).

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.