Genesis 27:13 - Printer Friendly

ESV: His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me.”

NIV: His mother said to him, 'My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.'

NASB: But his mother said to him, 'Your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get the goats for me.'

CSB: His mother said to him, "Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey me and go get them for me."

NLT: But his mother replied, 'Then let the curse fall on me, my son! Just do what I tell you. Go out and get the goats for me!'

KJV: And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.

NKJV: But his mother said to him, “ Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.”

Jacob has raised a very real concern with his mother, about her scheme to trick Isaac into giving Jacob the blessing instead of Esau (Genesis 27:6–10). What if Isaac catches him in the act? Won't it be worse than if he did nothing at all? Won't he end up being cursed instead of blessed? This moment does not reflect well on Jacob; he's entirely on board with the idea of using deception (Genesis 25:29–34), and is only really concerned about being caught.

Rebekah doesn't have time for Jacob's objections, however. If the plan is going to work, she has to get started on the meal right away. She insists that she will take any curse Isaac might give instead to Jacob. Then she commands her son to obey his mother.

On one hand, Rebekah is fighting for the son she loves, though in practice she practices blatant favoritism (Genesis 25:28). She also probably sees her actions as working toward the fulfillment of the prophecy given to her by the Lord when she was pregnant with the boys. At that time, God said the older one would serve the younger (Genesis 25:23). She may have told herself she was scheming for the will of the Lord: "helping" God obtain His will.

On the other hand, she is pushing her son to deceive and dishonor his father. Rebekah is encouraging her son to lie, and to betray his brother. And she is using her parental authority to manipulate him to do so. Nobody in this story is fully innocent. Rebekah will pay a steep price for her sin, as it turns out. When the dust settles, her son Jacob will have fled, returning only after her death (Genesis 27:43–44).

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.