Commentary - Genesis 27:18-29

Bird's-eye view

In this pivotal and deeply uncomfortable scene, we witness the formal transfer of the patriarchal blessing from Isaac to Jacob. This is not accomplished through noble means, but rather through a tangled web of premeditated deception orchestrated by Rebekah and executed by Jacob. The entire affair is a five-sense con job, targeting Isaac's blindness and his craving for savory food. Jacob lies repeatedly, even invoking the name of Yahweh to cover his tracks. Isaac, though suspicious, is ultimately persuaded by his senses of touch, taste, and smell, and pronounces the irrevocable blessing upon the wrong son, who is in fact the right son. This passage is a masterful depiction of God's sovereignty working through, and in spite of, the sinful machinations of fallen people. It is not a moral tale commending deceit, but a covenantal history demonstrating that God's elective purpose, declared before the twins were even born, will not be thwarted by human favoritism, weakness, or sin.

The blessing itself is a rich oracle of prosperity, dominion, and covenantal continuity, echoing the promises given to Abraham. Jacob, the supple planter, receives the blessing of the field, the dew of heaven, and rule over nations and, most significantly, over his brother. The episode sets the stage for the subsequent conflict between Jacob and Esau, the flight of Jacob, and the long, difficult process by which God will shape this deceiver into the patriarch Israel. It is a raw and honest look at our spiritual forefathers, reminding us that the foundation of our faith rests not on the virtue of men, but on the faithfulness of God.

Outline

Context In Genesis

This chapter is the dramatic fulfillment of the prophecy given to Rebekah in Genesis 25:23: "Two nations are in your womb... and the older shall serve the younger." The entire narrative has been building to this point. We have seen the rivalry of the twins in the womb, the description of their conflicting natures, and the pivotal moment when Esau, the profane man, despised his birthright and sold it for a bowl of stew (Gen 25:29-34). Isaac, however, is either unaware of or unwilling to submit to the divine oracle. His preference for Esau, the manly hunter, drives him to attempt to subvert God's revealed will and give the blessing to his favorite son. Rebekah, who remembered the prophecy and loved Jacob, resorts to carnal means to secure a spiritual end. This event is the central crisis of this generation of the patriarchs, leading directly to Jacob's exile, his encounters with God at Bethel and Peniel, and the establishment of the twelve tribes of Israel through him.

Key Issues

Providence in a Goat Skin

It is crucial that we read this story with theological sobriety. If we read it as modern moralists, we will be appalled and confused. Everyone here is in the wrong. Isaac is trying to defy God's revealed will out of fleshly favoritism. Rebekah and Jacob are engaged in a conspiracy of lies and deceit. Esau is still the profane man who cares nothing for the covenant until he realizes he has lost its material benefits. So where is God? He is right in the middle of it, bending all their sinful intentions to His own perfect and holy purpose. He is not the author of their sin, but He is the author of the story. This is not a story about how to get ahead by lying. It is a story about how God secures His promises for His people, even when His people are acting like scoundrels. The blessing had to go to Jacob, because God had decreed it. Since the human actors involved were all compromised, God used their very compromises to bring about His will. He uses the father's fleshly appetite, the mother's carnal scheming, and the son's cowardly deception to place the blessing right where He had intended it to be all along.

Verse by Verse Commentary

18-19 Then he came to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” And Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done as you told me. Rise up, please, sit and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.”

The deception begins. Jacob addresses his father respectfully, but Isaac is immediately on guard. His hearing is still sharp, and something is off. "Who are you, my son?" This is a question of identity, and it is the central question of the whole chapter. Jacob's response is a direct, multipart lie. First, "I am Esau your firstborn." This is the foundational falsehood. Second, "I have done as you told me." He presents himself as the obedient son. Third, he urges Isaac to eat so that the blessing might be given. He is not just lying; he is actively manipulating his father to obtain a spiritual inheritance through carnal means.

20 Then Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because Yahweh your God caused it to happen to me.”

Isaac's suspicion deepens. He knows how long a hunt takes. This was too fast, too convenient. Jacob's response to this challenge is perhaps the most shocking moment in the entire charade. He escalates from a simple lie to a blasphemous one. He brings the very name of God into his deception, claiming that Yahweh, Isaac's covenant God, gave him supernatural success. He wraps his lie in a prayer shawl. This is a profound sin, using the name of the Lord to sanctify a fraud. It shows the desperate lengths to which Jacob is willing to go.

21-23 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.” So Jacob came near to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” And he did not recognize him because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him.

Isaac is caught in a conflict of the senses. What he hears contradicts what he is about to feel. His ears tell him one thing, "The voice is the voice of Jacob," but his hands will tell him another. Rebekah's plan was shrewd; she knew the goat skins would be convincing to a man whose sense of touch was his primary means of identifying his hairy son. The deception works. Isaac's tactile certainty overrides his auditory suspicion. The text says he "did not recognize him," and so he gave a preliminary blessing. The lie has passed its first major test.

24 And he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he said, “I am.”

Despite the physical evidence, a sliver of doubt remains. Isaac asks one last time, a direct, point-blank question. "Are you really my son Esau?" There is no room for evasion here. Jacob must either confess or double down on the lie. He chooses the latter, with a stark, two-word falsehood in the original: "I am." The Hebrew is emphatic. With this, Jacob fully commits, and Isaac's final reservation is swept away.

25-26 So he said, “Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s game, that my soul may bless you.” And he brought it near to him, and he ate; he also brought him wine, and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come near and kiss me, my son.”

The meal proceeds. Isaac partakes of the food and wine, the physical prelude to the spiritual pronouncement. His soul is being satisfied, just as he desired. But there is one final test, a test of intimacy. "Come near and kiss me." A kiss would bring Jacob's face, his smooth, unbearded face, very close to Isaac's. It was a moment of extreme risk for the deception, but also the final confirmation of acceptance for Isaac.

27 So he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his garments, and then he blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son Is like the smell of a field which Yahweh has blessed;

This is the sensory trigger that finally and fully convinces Isaac. As Jacob leans in for the kiss, Isaac catches the scent of Esau's clothes. These were the clothes of a hunter, saturated with the smell of the outdoors, the "smell of a field." For Isaac, this smell is the smell of blessing, the aroma of Yahweh's favor on the man of the earth. The deception is now complete. Hearing, touch, taste, and now smell have all conspired to confirm the lie. Isaac is ready, and the great blessing is pronounced.

28 Now may God give you of the dew of heaven, And of the fatness of the earth, And an abundance of grain and new wine;

The blessing begins with a prayer for prosperity. This is not just a wish; it is an effectual pronouncement from a patriarch standing in the place of God to his heir. The "dew of heaven" and the "fatness of the earth" represent supreme agricultural abundance and fertility in the arid climate of Canaan. This is a promise of divine provision, the best that God can give from above and below. It is the blessing of Eden, a land of plenty.

29 May peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you; Be master of your brothers, And may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, And blessed be those who bless you.”

The blessing moves from prosperity to power. First, dominion over other nations is granted: "May peoples serve you." This is a royal blessing. Second, and more pointedly, he is given primacy within the family: "Be master of your brothers." This is the direct fulfillment of the prophecy given to Rebekah, and it is the very heart of the birthright. This is what Esau sold and what Jacob now receives. Finally, Isaac concludes by invoking the foundational promise of the Abrahamic covenant (Gen 12:3). Jacob is now the official carrier of that covenant. His friends will be God's friends, and his enemies will be God's enemies. The transfer is complete. The word has gone forth, and it cannot be recalled.

Application

The first thing we must do is refuse to read this story as a lesson in how to be a successful liar. It is a lesson in how God is a successful Savior, despite the raw material He has to work with. The central application here is not about our behavior, but about the Gospel of grace. In a very real sense, we are all Jacob. We are not the firstborn, we have no natural right to the blessing of the Father. We come before Him with nothing in our hands to commend us. But God, in His mercy, has provided a covering for us. We are clothed in the garments of the true Firstborn, the Lord Jesus Christ. When the Father looks at us, He does not see our sin-stained past; He smells the aroma of His beloved Son, a "field which Yahweh has blessed."

We receive the blessing not because we are worthy, but because we are united by faith to the One who is. Jesus is the true Esau, the one who was entitled to everything, but who was cursed on our behalf. And we are Jacob, the deceiver, who receives the blessing He deserved. This story, in all its gritty and sinful reality, is a beautiful, if crooked, picture of substitution. God's purpose of election stands, not because of works, but because of Him who calls. Our confidence should never be in our own ability to be good enough, but in God's sovereign ability to save sinners, to work all things together for good, and to fulfill His covenant promises, even if it requires using a conspiracy involving goat meat and hairy arms.