Genesis 27:31 - Printer Friendly

ESV: He also prepared delicious food and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that you may bless me.”

NIV: He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, 'My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.'

NASB: Then he also made a delicious meal, and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, 'Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that you may bless me.'

CSB: He had also made some delicious food and brought it to his father. He said to his father, "Let my father get up and eat some of his son's game, so that you may bless me."

NLT: Esau prepared a delicious meal and brought it to his father. Then he said, 'Sit up, my father, and eat my wild game so you can give me your blessing.'

KJV: And he also had made savoury meat, and brought it unto his father, and said unto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that thy soul may bless me.

NKJV: He also had made savory food, and brought it to his father, and said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that your soul may bless me.”

Isaac had sent Esau out to hunt and prepare a meal of fresh game, with the understanding that Esau would receive the blessing when he got back (Genesis 27:1–5). As he arrives, dutifully following his father's wishes, Esau does not yet know that Jacob has stolen the family blessing from him with an elaborate deception of their father (Genesis 27:6–10). This was a plot hatched by their mother, Rebekah, who favored Jacob (Genesis 25:28). Her plan involved disguising Jacob with Esau's clothes (Genesis 27:15), goat skins to mimic Esau's hairiness (Genesis 27:16), and goat meat to replicate the taste of wild game (Genesis 27:17).

Now Esau is back, meal in hand, and says very similar words to Isaac that Jacob did not long before: Arise. Eat. Bless me. One can only imagine the rude awakening both Isaac and Esau experienced in the next few moments, as it becomes clear what has happened. As one would expect, the reactions of these men are charged and dramatic.

Genesis 27:30–46 describes the aftermath of Jacob's deception of Isaac in order to receive the family blessing. Once Esau arrives and Isaac realizes he has given the blessing to the wrong son, his body begins to tremble in panic. Esau, deeply distraught, cries out in loud and bitter agony. Isaac gives to Esau a leftover blessing that reads like a curse. Esau pledges to kill Jacob once their father has died. Learning of this, Rebekah urges Jacob to run away to live with her brother in Mesopotamia.

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.