---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Genesis 27"
description: "CHAPTER 27   :-. INFIRMITY OF
ISAAC. 1. when Isaac was old, and his eyes
were dim—He was in his hundred thirty-seventh year; and
apprehending death to be"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/genesis/27"
---

![Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible](/images/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible.jpg)

 The Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
 
Include 66 books
 
Denomination: calvinism
 
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CHAPTER 27

. INFIRMITY OF
ISAAC.

**1. when Isaac was old, and his eyes
were dim**—He was in his hundred thirty-seventh year; and
apprehending death to be near, Isaac prepared to make his last
will—an act of the gravest importance, especially as it included
the conveyance through a prophetic spirit of the patriarchal
blessing.

**4. make . . . savory meat**—perhaps
to revive and strengthen him for the duty; or rather, "as eating
and drinking" were used on all religious occasions, he could not
convey the right, till he had eaten of the meat provided for the
purpose by him who was to receive the blessing [ADAM
CLARKE] (compare ).
**that my soul may bless
thee**—It is difficult to imagine him ignorant of the divine
purpose (compare [Genesis 25:23](../../../kjv/genesis/25/23)). But
natural affection, prevailing through age and infirmity, prompted him
to entail the honors and powers of the birthright on his elder son;
and perhaps he was not aware of what Esau had done ([Genesis 25:23](../../../kjv/genesis/25/23)).

**6-10. Rebekah spake unto Jacob**—She
prized the blessing as invaluable; she knew that God intended it for
the younger son [[Genesis 25:23](../../../kjv/genesis/25/23)]; and
in her anxiety to secure its being conferred on the right object—on
one who cared for religion—she acted in the sincerity of faith; but
in crooked policy—with unenlightened zeal; on the false principle
that the end would sanctify the means.

**11. Jacob said, Esau my brother is a
hairy man**—It is remarkable that his scruples were founded, not
on the evil of the act, but on the risk and consequences of
deception.

**13-17. and his mother said unto him,
Upon me be thy curse**—His conscience being soothed by his
mother, preparations were hastily made for carrying out the device;
consisting, first, of a kid's flesh, which, made into a ragout,
spiced with salt, onions, garlic, and lemon juice, might easily be
passed off on a blind old man, with blunted senses, as game; second,
of pieces of goat's skin bound on his hands and neck, its soft silken
hair resembling that on the cheek of a young man; third, of the long
white robe—the vestment of the first-born, which, transmitted from
father to son and kept in a chest among fragrant herbs and perfumed
flowers used much in the East to keep away moths—his mother
provided for him.

**18-27. he came unto his father**—The
scheme planned by the mother was to be executed by the son in the
father's bedchamber; and it is painful to think of the deliberate
falsehoods, as well as daring profanity, he resorted to. The
disguise, though wanting in one thing, which had nearly upset the
whole plot, succeeded in misleading Isaac; and while giving his
paternal embrace, the old man was roused into a state of high
satisfaction and delight.

**27. the smell of my son is as of a
field**—The aromatic odors of the Syrian fields and meadows,
often impart a strong fragrance to the person and clothes, as has
been noticed by many travellers.
. THE
BLESSING.

**28. God give thee of the dew of
heaven**—To an Oriental mind, this phraseology implied the
highest flow of prosperity. The copious fall of dew is indispensable
to the fruitfulness of lands, which would be otherwise arid and
sterile through the violent heat; and it abounds most in hilly
regions, such as Canaan, hence called the "fat land"
([Nehemiah 9:25](../../../kjv/nehemiah/9/25); [Nehemiah 9:35](../../../kjv/nehemiah/9/35)).
**plenty of corn and
wine**—Palestine was famous for vineyards, and it produced
varieties of corn, namely, wheat, barley, oats, and rye.

**29. Let people serve thee**—fulfilled
in the discomfiture of the hostile tribes that opposed the Israelites
in the wilderness; and in the pre-eminence and power they attained
after their national establishment in the promised land. This
blessing was not realized to Jacob, but to his descendants; and the
temporal blessings promised were but a shadow of those spiritual
ones, which formed the grand distinction of Jacob's posterity.

**30-35. Esau came in from his
hunting**—Scarcely had the former scene been concluded, when the
fraud was discovered. The emotions of Isaac, as well as Esau, may
easily be imagined—the astonishment, alarm, and sorrow of the one;
the disappointment and indignation of the other. But a moment's
reflection convinced the aged patriarch that the transfer of the
blessing was "of the Lord," and now irrevocable. The
importunities of Esau, however, overpowered him; and as the prophetic
afflatus was upon the patriarch, he added what was probably as
pleasing to a man of Esau's character as the other would have been.

**39, 40. Behold, thy dwelling shall
be the fatness of the earth**—The first part is a promise of
temporal prosperity, made in the same terms as Jacob's [] —the second part refers to the roving life of hunting
freebooters, which he and his descendants should lead. Though Esau
was not personally subject to his brother, his posterity were
tributary to the Israelites, till the reign of Joram when they
revolted and established a kingdom of their own ([2 Kings 8:20](../../../kjv/2-kings/8/20);
[2 Chronicles 21:8-10](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/21/8-10)).

**41. Esau hated Jacob**—It is
scarcely to be wondered at that Esau resented the conduct of Jacob
and vowed revenge.
**The days of mourning for my
father are at hand**—a common Oriental phrase for the death of a
parent.

**42-45. these words of Esau were told
Rebekah**—Poor woman! she now early begins to reap the bitter
fruits of her fraudulent device; she is obliged to part with her son,
for whom she planned it, never, probably, seeing him again; and he
felt the retributive justice of heaven fall upon him heavily in his
own future family.

**45. Why should I be deprived of you
both?**—This refers to the law of Goelism, by which the nearest
of kin would be obliged to avenge the death of Jacob upon his
brother.

**46. Rebekah said to Isaac**—Another
pretext Rebekah's cunning had to devise to obtain her husband's
consent to Jacob's journey to Mesopotamia; and she succeeded by
touching the aged patriarch in a tender point, afflicting to his
pious heart—the proper marriage of their younger son.

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