Year of the Bible
Genesis 27
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Commentary on the Book of Genesis, Chapter 27:
We are near the end of Isaac’s life and it is time for him to bless his sons. He asks his favored son Esau for meat so a meal might be prepared. Rebekah, seeking the best for her favored son Jacob, takes advantage of her husband’s failing eyesight to gain for Jacob the blessing Isaac intends to bestow on Esau. As a result, second-born Jacob receives the material birthright (25:29-34) as well as the family blessing that would normally go to the eldest son. This fulfills what God had told Rebekah when she was pregnant with the twins (25:23). Esau is furious, so to protect Jacob from harm, Rebekah suggests he be sent to her brother’s home to find a wife.
The Book of Genesis, Chapter 27:
Isaac Blesses Jacob
1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that
he could not see, he called Esau his older son, and said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. 3 Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and hunt game for me, 4 and prepare for me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat; that I may bless you before I die.”
5 Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me game, and prepare for me savory food, that I may eat it, and bless you before the Lord before I die.’ 8 Now therefore, my son, obey my word as I command you. 9 Go to the flock, and fetch me two good kids, that I may prepare from them savory food for your father, such as he loves; 10 and you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.” 11 But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. 12 Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him, and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.”
13 His mother said to him, “Upon me be your curse, my son; only obey my word, and go, fetch them to me.” 14 So he went and took them and brought them to his mother; and his mother prepared savory food, such as his father loved. 15 Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her older son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son; 16 and the skins of the kids she put upon his hands and upon the smooth part of his neck; 17 and she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.
18 So he went in to his father, and said, “My father”; and he said, “Here I am; who are you, my son?” 19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your first-born. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, that you may bless me.” 20 But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the Lord your God granted me success.” 21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.” 22 So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him. 24 He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.” 25 Then he said, “Bring it to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he brought it to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” 27 So he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him, and said,
“See, the smell of my son
is as the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed!
28 May God give you of the dew of heaven,
and of the fatness of the earth,
and plenty of grain and wine.
29 Let peoples serve you,
and nations bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons
bow down to you.
Cursed be every one who curses you,
and blessed be every one who blesses you!”
Esau’s Lost Blessing
30 As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting. 31 He also prepared savory food, and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father arise, and eat of his son’s game, that you may bless me.” 32 His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am your son, your first-born, Esau.” 33 Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him?—yes, and he shall be blessed.” 34 When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!” 35 But he said, “Your brother came with guile, and he has taken away your blessing.” 36 Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright; and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” 37 Isaac answered Esau, “Behold, I have made him your lord, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?” 38 Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.
39 Then Isaac his father answered him:
“Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be,
and away from the dew of heaven on high.
40 By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your
brother; but when you break loose you shall break his yoke from your neck.”
Jacob Escapes Esau’s Fury
41 Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” 42 But the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah; so she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself by planning to kill you. 43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; arise, flee to Laban my brother in Haran, 44 and stay with him a while, until your brother’s fury turns away; 45 until your brother’s anger turns away, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send, and fetch you from there. Why should I be bereft of you both in one day?”
46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women such as these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?”
*Daily Lectio Divina Question:
Lord, have I in any way grown envious or covetous of what others have? Am I striving for things of this world and not for things that matter in your eyes? If there has been any deceit or wrongdoing, especially in my family, make me a channel of your peace.
Biblical Commentary provided by the Catholic Biblical School of Michigan. Join a Catholic Biblical School of Michigan class this September at Holy Family in Grand Blanc, or online.
Revised Standard Version; Second Catholic Edition. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006).
Permission to use the RSV-2CE given for Bishop's Year of the Bible by Ignatius Press. Many thanks to Ignatius for this.
If you're looking for a good Catholic edition of the Bible, look no further.
Isaac envejeció y sus ojos se debilitaron
hasta perder la vista. Llamó a
su hijo mayor Esaú, y le dijo:
–¡Hijo mío!
Éste le respondió:
–Aquí estoy.
2 Dijo el padre:
–Mira, soy viejo y desconozco el
día de mi muerte; 3 toma, pues, por favor,
tus armas, tu aljaba y tu arco, ve al
campo y cázame alguna pieza; 4 luego
me preparas un buen guiso, como a mí
me gusta, y me lo traes para comer con
el fin de bendecirte antes de que muera.
5 Rebeca había escuchado la conversación
de Isaac con su hijo Esaú. Esaú
salió al campo a cazar algo que traerle.
6 Entonces Rebeca habló a su hijo Jacob
diciéndole:
–Mira, he oído a tu padre hablar con
tu hermano Esaú y decirle: 7 «Tráeme
caza y prepárame un buen guiso para
comer con el fin de bendecirte delante
del Señor antes de mi muerte». 8 Ahora,
pues, hijo mío, escucha lo que te voy a
mandar: 9 Ve al rebaño y tráeme de allí
los dos mejores cabritos; yo los prepararé
en un buen guiso para tu padre,
como a él le gusta. 10 Luego lo llevarás
a tu padre para que coma con el fin de
que te bendiga antes de su muerte.
11 Respondió Jacob a su madre Rebeca:
–Sabes que mi hermano Esaú es
un hombre velludo y yo en cambio soy
lampiño. 12 Puede ser que mi padre me
palpe, yo le parezca un impostor, y entonces
atraiga sobre mí su maldición en
vez de su bendición.
13 Le replicó su madre:
–Carga sobre mí la maldición, hijo
mío. Hazme caso; ve y tráemelos.
Él fue, los tomó y los llevó a su madre
que preparó un buen guiso, como le
gustaba a Isaac. 15 Luego Rebeca tomó
los mejores vestidos de su hijo mayor,
Esaú, que había en casa, y vistió a Jacob,
su hijo menor. 16 Recubrió sus manos
y la parte lampiña de su cuello con
las pieles de los cabritos 17 y puso el sabroso
guiso y el pan que había preparado
en las manos de su hijo Jacob.
18 Él se acercó a su padre y le dijo:
–¡Padre mío!
Éste respondió:
–Aquí estoy. ¿Quién eres tú, hijo
mío?
19 Jacob repuso a su padre:
–Soy Esaú, tu primogénito; he hecho
lo que me mandaste. Incorpórate,
ponte sentado y come de mi caza, con el
fin de que me bendigas.
20 Isaac respondió a su hijo:
–¡Qué rápido has sido en encontrarla,
hijo mío!
Él replicó:
–Porque el Señor tu Dios me la ha
puesto delante.
21 Isaac dijo a Jacob:
–Acércate para que pueda tocarte,
hijo mío, a ver si eres mi hijo Esaú o no.
22 Jacob se acercó a su padre Isaac
quien lo palpó y dijo:
–La voz es la de Jacob, pero las manos
son las de Esaú.
23 No lo reconoció porque sus manos
estaban velludas como las de su hermano
Esaú, y le bendijo. 24 Aún le preguntó:
–¿Eres tú mi hijo Esaú?
Él respondió:
–Yo soy.
25 Dijo Isaac:
–Acércame la caza, hijo mío, y la comeré
con el fin de bendecirte.
Se la acercó y comió; le dio vino y
bebió. 26 Y le dijo su padre Isaac:
–Acércate y bésame, hijo mío.
27 Se acercó y le besó. Entonces percibió
el olor de su vestido, y le bendijo
diciendo:
–El olor de mi hijo
es como el olor de un campo
que ha bendecido el Señor.
28 Que Dios te conceda el rocío del
cielo
y la riqueza de la tierra;
abundancia de trigo y de vino.
29 Que los pueblos te sirvan
y las naciones se postren ante ti;
que seas señor de tus hermanos
y se te postren los hijos de tu madre.
Maldito el que te maldiga
y bendito el que te bendiga.
30 Apenas había terminado Isaac de
bendecir a Jacob, justo cuando Jacob salía
de la presencia de su padre Isaac, su
hermano Esaú regresó de cazar. 31 También
él preparó un buen guiso y se lo llevó
a su padre, diciéndole:
–Que mi padre se incorpore y coma
de la caza de su hijo, para que tu alma
me bendiga.
32 Le preguntó su padre Isaac:
–¿Quién eres tú?
Él respondió:
–Soy Esaú, tu hijo primogénito.
33 Entonces Isaac se llenó de gran espanto
y preguntó:
–¿Quién es, pues, el que trajo caza,
me la presentó y comí de todo antes de
que tú vinieras? Le he bendecido y por
tanto quedará bendito.
34 Cuando Esaú oyó las palabras de
su padre, lanzó un tremendo grito lleno
de amargura, y pidió a su padre:
–Bendíceme a mí también, padre
mío.
35 Éste le dijo:
–Tu hermano ha venido con engaño
y ha recibido la bendición que te pertenecía
a ti.
36 Él contestó: –Con razón se llama Jacob, pues me
ha suplantado dos veces: me arrebató la
primogenitura y ahora se lleva la bendición
que me pertenecía a mí.
Y preguntó:
–¿No te ha quedado una bendición
para mí?
37 Respondió Isaac y dijo a Esaú:
–Le he constituido tu señor, le he
dado a todos sus hermanos como siervos,
y le he entregado el trigo y el mosto,
¿qué voy ya a hacer por ti, hijo mío?
38 Respondió Esaú a su padre:
–¿Solamente tienes una bendición?
Bendíceme también a mí, padre mío.
Y Esaú rompió a llorar a gritos.
39 Isaac, su padre, le respondió diciendo:
–Mira, lejos de las tierras ricas
tendrás tu morada,
lejos del rocío que baja del cielo;
40 gracias a la espada vivirás
y a tu hermano servirás.
Pero cuando te rebeles,
echarás su yugo de tu cuello.
41 Esaú odiaba a su hermano por la
bendición con que le había bendecido
su padre; y pensó en su corazón: «Ya están
cerca los días de duelo por mi padre;
entonces mataré a mi hermano Jacob
».
42 Le contaron a Rebeca las palabras
de su hijo mayor Esaú, y ella mandó llamar
a Jacob, su hijo menor, y le dijo:
–Tu hermano se quiere vengar de
ti matándote. 43 Ahora, hijo mío, escucha
mi consejo: Ponte en marcha y huye
a donde mi hermano Labán, a Jarán;
44 quédate allí algún tiempo hasta que se
le pase la furia a tu hermano, 45 hasta que
se calme su ira contra ti y se olvide de lo
que le has hecho. Entonces mandaré a
buscarte allí. ¿Por qué he de perderos a
los dos en un solo día?
46 Rebeca dijo a Isaac:
–Estoy asqueada de la vida junto a
las hijas de Het; si Jacob toma esposa de
las hijas de Het, nativas del país como
ésas, ¿para qué quiero vivir?
Pregunta de Lectio Divina del día de hoy
La Biblia de Navarra
Permiso para usar esta versión de la primera edición de la Biblia de Navarra
para el Año de la Biblia del Obispo
dado por Ediciones Universidad de Navarra, S.A. (EUNSA).