Genesis 27:16 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And the skins of the young goats she put on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.

NIV: She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins.

NASB: And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.

CSB: She put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck.

NLT: She covered his arms and the smooth part of his neck with the skin of the young goats.

KJV: And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck:

NKJV: And she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.

Rebekah has prepared a version of the meal Esau is supposed to deliver to his father before receiving the blessing (Genesis 27:1–5). Her intent is for Jacob to sneak in, pretend to be Esau, and steal that blessing from his older brother (Genesis 27:6–10). After encouraging Jacob to participate in the lie, and preparing the food, she needs to disguise Jacob well enough to fool blind Isaac. This began, in the previous verse, with dressing Jacob in Esau's best clothes; this would make him smell like Esau to Isaac (Genesis 27:11–15). However, Esau is known for being hairy, and Jacob is not (Genesis 25:25), so more deception is in order.

Now she takes some of the hairy skin from the goats she just used to make the meal, and she adheres them in some way to Jacob's smooth arms and neck. If Isaac would happen to touch Jacob in any of those places, he will feel short, rough hair, instead of smoothness.

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.

Accessed 5/2/2024 1:42:31 AM