Commentary - Genesis 27:5-17

Bird's-eye view

This passage is a masterclass in domestic conspiracy and a stark illustration of God’s providence working through the tangled mess of human sin. Here we have a dysfunctional family, with each member acting according to their own fallen desires. Isaac, the patriarch, is driven by his belly, attempting to subvert God’s prophetic word for the sake of a savory meal. Rebekah, the matriarch, remembers the prophecy but resorts to manipulation and deceit to ensure its fulfillment. Jacob, the chosen one, is a timid mama’s boy, initially hesitant not because of the sin but because of the risk of getting caught. And Esau, the profane man, is off in the field, thinking only of his hunt. In the middle of this sordid affair, God is sovereignly steering history to accomplish His redemptive purpose. The covenant blessing, which is the central plotline of Genesis, is about to be passed on, not through righteous obedience, but through a crooked conspiracy. It is a raw and uncomfortable story, and it is in the Bible to teach us that God’s grace is not for the polished and put-together, but for schemers and sinners like these, and like us.

The entire plan is orchestrated by Rebekah. She overhears her husband’s sinful intention to bless the wrong son, and she immediately concocts a counterscheme. She commands Jacob, provides the materials for the deception, and even takes the potential curse upon herself. This is not a story that commends deceit; the fallout for this family was tragic and severe. But it is a story that magnifies the sovereignty of God, who can take the sinful, self-interested actions of broken people and weave them together to ensure that His elect son receives the promised blessing.

Outline

Context In Genesis

This episode is the hinge point in the Jacob and Esau narrative. The conflict was prophesied before their birth, when God told Rebekah, "Two nations are in your womb... and the older shall serve the younger" (Gen 25:23). This divine oracle is the backdrop for everything that happens here. Isaac, by attempting to bless Esau, is flying in the face of God's revealed will. He is trying to reverse the divine decree. Rebekah, for all her faults, is the one who remembers the prophecy and is determined to see it fulfilled. The story also flows directly from Esau's earlier profanity in selling his birthright for a bowl of stew (Gen 25:29-34). He despised his birthright then, and now the blessing that goes with it is about to be taken from him. This event sets up the subsequent conflict between the brothers, Jacob's flight to Haran, his long exile, and his eventual return. It is the messy, painful, and grace-filled process by which God establishes the line of promise through Jacob, who will become Israel.

Key Issues

A Conspiracy of Grace

We must be careful not to moralize this story in the wrong way. The Bible presents this account without flinching and without excuse. It is not a "how-to" manual on securing God's blessing through trickery. Rather, it is a "how-God-works" manual, demonstrating His absolute sovereignty over the sinful choices of men and women. Everyone in this story is wrong. Isaac is wrong to let his stomach overrule God's word. Rebekah is wrong to use deceit. Jacob is wrong to go along with it. But God is not thwarted. He uses these crooked sticks to draw the perfectly straight line of His covenant promise. The blessing had to go to Jacob, not because Jacob deserved it, he clearly did not, but because God had chosen him. This story is in the Bible to kill our self-righteousness. If you think you are worthy of God's blessing, look at Jacob. The blessing comes by grace alone, to the undeserving, and God will move heaven and earth, and even a dysfunctional family squabble, to ensure it lands on His chosen.

Verse by Verse Commentary

5 Now Rebekah was listening while Isaac was speaking to his son Esau. Then Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring to Isaac.

The action begins with a mother listening in. This is not presented as nefarious spying; in the close quarters of a patriarchal tent, it was simply a reality. Rebekah is attentive. She is not a passive participant in the life of her family. She knows the prophecy about her sons, and she knows her husband's carnal favoritism for Esau. When she hears Isaac's instructions, she understands immediately that the covenant is in jeopardy. Isaac is about to formally and patriarchally defy God's revealed will. While Esau, the man of the flesh, goes out to satisfy his father's fleshly appetite, Rebekah, the woman of faith, however flawed, begins to plot.

6-7 But Rebekah spoke to her son Jacob, saying, “Behold, I heard your father speaking to your brother Esau, saying, ‘Bring me some game and prepare a savory dish for me, that I may eat and bless you in the presence of Yahweh before my death.’

Rebekah reports the situation to Jacob, her favored son. Notice the gravity she attaches to the blessing: it is to be done "in the presence of Yahweh." This was not just a father's well-wishes. This was the formal, irrevocable transfer of the covenant headship, the Abrahamic promise. Isaac is attempting to do a spiritual act for a carnal reward. He wants to channel God's covenant blessing, but his motivation is a tasty meal. This is a profound profanation, and Rebekah sees it for what it is. Her plan, sinful as it is, is a response to her husband's sin.

8-10 So now, my son, listen to my voice as I command you. Go now to the flock and get for me two choice young goats from there, that I may prepare them as a savory dish for your father, such as he loves. Then you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.”

Rebekah takes complete command. Her language is that of a superior: "listen to my voice as I command you." In this moment of crisis, where her husband is abdicating his spiritual responsibility, she steps into the vacuum. Her plan is a direct counterfeit of Isaac's request. Esau is to hunt wild game; Jacob is to fetch domestic goats. But the end product will be the same: a savory dish designed to please Isaac's palate. The goal is explicit and audacious: "so that he may bless you." She is not trying to trick Isaac out of money or property in the first instance; she is aiming for the spiritual, covenantal inheritance.

11-12 Then Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. Perhaps my father will feel me, then I will be as a mocker in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing.”

Here we see the character of Jacob, the "supplanter." His objection is not a moral one. He does not say, "Mother, I cannot lie to my father." He says, "What if we get caught?" His concern is purely pragmatic. He is afraid of the consequences of failure. The irony is thick. He is afraid of being seen as a "mocker" or deceiver, which is exactly what he is being. And he fears a curse instead of a blessing. This shows that he understands the power of the patriarchal words. A father's blessing or curse was a real, potent thing. His fear is not of the sin, but of the blowback.

13 But his mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son; only listen to my voice, and go, get them for me.”

This is one of the most stunning statements in the narrative. Rebekah, in her fierce determination, takes the potential curse upon herself. She essentially says, "If God is to punish someone for this, let it be me." She acts as a substitute, a surety for her son. This is a twisted kind of faith, but it is faith nonetheless. She believes so strongly that Jacob is the rightful heir of the promise that she is willing to stand under the wrath of God to see it accomplished. She will not be deterred by Jacob's cowardice. She overrules his objection and repeats her command.

14 So he went and got them and brought them to his mother; and his mother made a savory dish such as his father loved.

Jacob's weak objections crumble in the face of his mother's iron will. He obeys. He fetches the goats, and Rebekah, who clearly knows her husband's tastes intimately, prepares the counterfeit meal. The text emphasizes that she made it "such as his father loved." The deception is being carefully crafted to appeal to the very weakness in Isaac that created this crisis in the first place: his love of food.

15-17 Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the house, and she put them on Jacob her younger son. And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. She also gave the savory dish and the bread, which she had prepared into the hand of her son Jacob.

The masquerade is now complete. Rebekah orchestrates a full sensory deception. Isaac is blind, so she must fool his other senses. First, the sense of smell: she puts Esau's "best garments" on Jacob. These would have carried the distinctive scent of the outdoors, the smell of the field, the smell of Esau. Second, the sense of touch: she covers Jacob's smooth hands and neck with the hairy skins of the goats, mimicking the feel of his rugged brother. Third, the sense of taste: she provides the expertly prepared savory dish. With the stage fully set, she hands the props to her son, the actor, and sends him in to his father's tent.

Application

First, we must see the ugliness of sin in this story and recognize it in ourselves. We are all tempted to manipulate circumstances to get what we want. We are all tempted to let our fleshly appetites dictate our spiritual decisions. We are all tempted to fear the consequences of sin more than the sin itself. This is a family of sinners, and we belong to that same family, the family of Adam. This story should humble us and make us despair of our own righteousness.

Second, we must marvel at the absolute sovereignty of God. God was not a helpless spectator, wringing His hands over this domestic drama. He was in complete control, using the sinful motives of Isaac and Rebekah and Jacob to fulfill the promise He had made before the boys were even born. Our confidence is not in our own ability to live rightly, but in God's ability to accomplish His purposes, even through our failures. He is the grand weaver, and what looks to us like a tangled mess of threads, He is working into a glorious tapestry.

Finally, this story points us to the gospel. Jacob, the undeserving younger brother, receives the blessing through a conspiracy of deceit. He had no claim to it, but he got it anyway. We, who are by nature children of wrath, receive the blessing of salvation that we have no claim to. But our blessing was not secured by a trick. It was secured by a substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. He who was righteous put on the "garments" of our sin, and stood under the curse for us, so that we, who are unrighteous, could be clothed in His garments of righteousness and receive the blessing of eternal life. Jacob got the blessing by pretending to be someone he was not. We get the blessing by confessing that we are sinners and clinging to the one who truly is the beloved Son.