Genesis 27:3 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me,

NIV: Now then, get your equipment--your quiver and bow--and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me.

NASB: Now then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me;

CSB: So now take your hunting gear, your quiver and bow, and go out in the field to hunt some game for me.

NLT: Take your bow and a quiver full of arrows, and go out into the open country to hunt some wild game for me.

KJV: Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison;

NKJV: Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me.

Isaac, old and blind and near the end of his life, calls his firstborn Esau to his side (Genesis 27:1–2). His intention is to pass on the blessing to Esau before it's too late. First, though, Isaac wants Esau to hunt and kill some game for him to eat. This ability to hunt was given earlier as the reason Isaac preferred Esau over his second son, Jacob (Genesis 25:28). That favoritism might have something to do with how Isaac is handling this conversation. Passing along his final blessing and dying wishes, one would think, a father would want to do in the presence of his entire family. This background of rivalry and favoritism suggests Isaac's motives in this case.

As it turns out, there are some valid reasons for this concern. Upcoming verses will explain that Rebekah, who prefers Jacob, has overheard this conversation. She will plot with her younger son to steal the blessing Isaac plans to bestow.

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 5/4/2024 12:12:23 AM