Genesis 27:44 - Printer Friendly

ESV: and stay with him a while, until your brother’s fury turns away—

NIV: Stay with him for a while until your brother's fury subsides.

NASB: Stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury subsides,

CSB: and stay with him for a few days until your brother's anger subsides--

NLT: Stay there with him until your brother cools off.

KJV: And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother's fury turn away;

NKJV: And stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away,

Rebekah overheard Isaac's plan to bless Esau, and hatched a plot to help Jacob steal it (Genesis 27:1–6). She herself concocted a disguise and compelled Jacob to use it (Genesis 27:7–17). That resulted in a successful deception (Genesis 27:30–35), but it also drove Esau into a murderous rage (Genesis 27:41). Once again, Rebekah manages to come across valuable information. She has heard of Esau's plan to kill Jacob for stealing away the blessing Isaac had intended to give to him. Now she is commanding Jacob to run away to her brother Laban's household in Mesopotamia (Genesis 24:1–4; 23–28). She wants Jacob to stay there until Esau cools down, until his murderous rage passes.

She doesn't suggest how long that might take. Given how much she favors Jacob (Genesis 25:28), she probably does not realize that this will be, essentially, a permanent goodbye. She intends to call Jacob back some day. However, once Jacob flees, he will not return until after Rebekah has died (Genesis 35:27; 49:31). Her deception might have obtained a blessing for her son, but it cost her dearly.

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.