--- title: "Genesis 27 - Study King James Bible with ellicotts commentary for english readers" description: "Read Genesis 27 with ellicotts commentary for english readers commentary. 1 And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son:" image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/genesis/27" --- [ Read](/kjv/genesis/27)[ Commentary](/study/genesis/27)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/genesis/27) Audio 1 And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, *here am* I. 2 And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death: 3 Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me *some* venison;* 4 And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring *it* to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die. 5 And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt *for* venison, *and* to bring *it*. 6 ¶ And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying, 7 Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the LORD before my death. 8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee. 9 Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth: 10 And thou shalt bring *it* to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death. 11 And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother *is* a hairy man, and I *am* a smooth man: 12 My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing. 13 And his mother said unto him, Upon me *be* thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me *them*. 14 And he went, and fetched, and brought *them* to his mother: and his mother made savoury meat, such as his father loved. 15 And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which *were* with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son:* 16 And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck: 17 And she gave the savoury meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. 18 ¶ And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here *am* I; who *art* thou, my son? 19 And Jacob said unto his father, I *am* Esau thy firstborn; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. 20 And Isaac said unto his son, How *is it* that thou hast found *it* so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the LORD thy God brought *it* to me.* 21 And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou *be* my very son Esau or not. 22 And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice *is* Jacob’s voice, but the hands *are* the hands of Esau. 23 And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau’s hands: so he blessed him. 24 And he said, *Art* thou my very son Esau? And he said, I *am*. 25 And he said, Bring *it* near to me, and I will eat of my son’s venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he brought *it* near to him, and he did eat: and he brought him wine, and he drank. 26 And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son. 27 And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son *is* as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed: 28 Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: 29 Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed *be* every one that curseth thee, and blessed *be* he that blesseth thee. 30 ¶ And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. 31 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. 32 And Isaac his father said unto him, Who *art* thou? And he said, I *am* thy son, thy firstborn Esau. 33 And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where *is* he that hath taken venison, and brought *it* me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, *and* he shall be blessed.** 34 And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, *even* me also, O my father. 35 And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing. 36 And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?* 37 And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?* 38 And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, *even* me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept. 39 And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above;* 40 And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck. 41 ¶ And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob. 42 And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, *purposing* to kill thee. 43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran; 44 And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother’s fury turn away; 45 Until thy brother’s anger turn away from thee, and he forget *that* which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be deprived also of you both in one day? 46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these *which are* of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me? [Genesis 26](/study/genesis/26) [Genesis 28](/study/genesis/28) ## Commentary To verse 1 **XXVII. JACOB BY SUBTILTY OBTAINS THE FIRSTBORN’S BLESSING.** (1) **It came to pass.**—The importance of this chapter is manifest. Just as in Abraham’s life the decision had to be made which of the two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, was to be the heir of the promise, so, here again, there is the same Divine election ([Romans 9:10-13](/kjv/romans/9/10-13)): but while Abraham obeyed, though with heavy heart ([Genesis 21:11](/kjv/genesis/21/11)), Isaac even struggled against God’s will, and his assent was obtained by human craft working tortuously to effect that which God would have wrought in His own better way. In this case, however, the sons are more closely allied, being twins, born of the same mother, but the younger following so closely upon the very heels of the elder as to seem, even at his birth, as if in eager pursuit. They grow up strangely unlike—the one brave, active, vigorous, but indifferent to everything save earthly things. In his skill and love of hunting, Esau is the very counterpart of Ishmael. The other is calm, sedentary, keenly alive to business, devoted to domestic pursuits, but chiefly valuing the spiritual privileges for which Abraham had left his distant home, and become a wanderer in the highlands of Canaan. Thoroughly as all honest men must disapprove of the mean way in which Jacob bought the birthright, yet, at least, he valued that which Esau so despised as to sell it for the gratification of a hungry appetite. And now again the transfer is ratified by means of another unworthy artifice, but Esau this time is grieved and distressed; for at least he loved his father, and gave proof of the possession of the same warm heart that made him afterwards fall so lovingly upon his brother’s neck, and kiss him with tears of hearty affection ([Genesis 33:4](/kjv/genesis/33/4)). For Jacob, it must be said that he sought no earthly good. It was not the elder brother’s share of the father’s wealth that he wanted. All that was Isaac’s he resigned to Esau, and went away to push his fortunes elsewhere. Even when he returned with the substance he had gotten in Padan-aram, he was no match for Esau ([Genesis 33:1](/kjv/genesis/33/1)), though Isaac was still living. While, too, Esau violated the family law laid down by Abraham, Jacob conformed to it. By marrying Canaanitish women, Esau forfeited by his own act the birthright which previously he had sold; for his children, being illegitimate ([Hebrews 12:16](/kjv/hebrews/12/16)), could not inherit the promise. What was utterly wrong in Rebekah’s and Jacob’s conduct was that they used miserable artifices to do that which should have been left to God; and Isaac was equally wrong in trying to make void and annul the clear intimation of prophecy ([Genesis 25:23](/kjv/genesis/25/23)). **Isaac was old.**—Isaac was now 117 years of age. but he lived to be 180 ([Genesis 35:28](/kjv/genesis/35/28)). (See Excursus on Chronology of Jacob’s Life at end of this book.) He had thus sixty-three more years to live, but not only himself ([Genesis 27:2](/kjv/genesis/27/2)), but Esau also expected his speedy decease ([Genesis 27:41](/kjv/genesis/27/41)). Probably, therefore, his failing eyesight was the result of some acute disorder, which so enfeebled his general health that he had grown despondent, and thought his death near. But evidently he recovered, and attained to a good old age. It seems, however, that though the lives of the patriarchs were so long extended, yet that their bodily vigour slowly decayed through the latter portion of their days. Jacob when but 130 speaks of himself as a grey-haired old man, already upon the brink of the grave ([Genesis 42:38](/kjv/genesis/42/38); [Genesis 47:9](/kjv/genesis/47/9)). Moreover, the term *old*is used in a very general sense in the Old Testament, and thus Samuel is described as old in [1 Samuel 8:1](/kjv/1-samuel/8/1), when we should have spoken of him as at most middle-aged. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/genesis/27#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/genesis/27#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/genesis/27","name":"Genesis 27 - Study King James Bible with ellicotts commentary for english readers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/genesis/27#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read Genesis 27 with ellicotts commentary for english readers commentary. 1 And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son:","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/genesis/27#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/genesis/27"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/genesis/27#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers","name":"ellicotts commentary for english readers"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/genesis","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/genesis","name":"Genesis"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/genesis/27","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/genesis/27","name":"27"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```