Genesis 27:39

And Isaac his father answered and said unto him,.... Being willing to bestow what he could upon him, without lessening or breaking in upon the grant made to Jacob: behold, thy dwelling shall be the

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?

In a country competently fruitful and refreshed with convenient dews and showers. Object. Thus Esau seems to have the same blessing which was before given to Jacob. Answ. 1. Though it may seem to be the same as to the fertility of the soil, in which divers other parts of the world did and do equal the land of Canaan; yet there is an observable difference in the manner of Isaac’ s expression. When he speaks of Esau, he only saith: Thy dwelling shall be the fatness, & c. But when he speaks to Jacob, he saith: God give thee, or shall give thee of the fatness, &c.; which words being, as it may seem, purposely omitted concerning Esau, and so emphatically expressed concerning Jacob, seem to intimate, especially if compared with many other scriptures where that phrase is applied to good men, that Esau’ s fat soil was rather taken by himself than given by God; or if given by God to him, it was only by his general providence, by which he giveth food to all creatures; whereas Jacob’ s fat and fruitful soil was derived to him and his by God’ s special gift, as a token of his singular kindness, and pledge of greater blessings: 2. This is but one branch of the blessing; the other part, which concerns dignity and superiority, is expressly given to Jacob, , and denied to Esau, .

Genesis 27:39 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;Ver. 39. Answered and said unto him.] Dixit, non benedixit; quia potius fuit praedictio futurae conditionis, quam benedictio, saith Pareus. And whereas we read, "Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven"; Castalio renders it thus: Tua quidem sedes a terrae pinguitudine, et a supero coeli rore aberit. For Mishmanne, saith he, signifieth ab pinguitudine, sive sine pinguitudine: as it doth also, Psalms 109:24, "My flesh faileth from fatness," that is, for lack of fatness, or, without fatness." So the sense he sets upon this text is, Thou shalt dwell far from the fatness of the earth, in a barren country, &c. For Isaac could not give Esau what he had given Jacob afore: and this was what Esau so grieved at, and threatened his brother for. Or if he could, what cause had Esau so to take on? why should it trouble me, that another partakes of the sunlight with me, when I have never the less? &c. Objection. But the apostle saith, "Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau". Solution. It was a blessing, no doubt, that Edom should shake off Israel’ s yoke; as it follows, Genesis 27:40, and happened, 2 Kings 8:20. Sic dicimus Ab re, αποτροπου, αποπατριδος: et composite, Amens, abesse, απογινεσθαι.

(39) Isaac his father answered.—Unwillingly, and only after repeated entreaty and earnest expostulation, and even tears, upon Esau’s side, does Isaac bring himself to the effort to lessen in any way the painful consequences to his favourite son of his brother having robbed him of the blessing. Plainly, he felt that he had endeavoured to do what was wrong, and was afraid lest he should still be found resisting God’s will. Thy dwelling shall be the fatness.—Heb., thy dwelling shall be of the fat places of the earth. (See Note on Genesis 27:28.) But most modern expositors consider that the preposition should not be translated “of,” but from, that is:— “Behold thy dwelling shall be away from the fat places of the earth, And away from the dew of heaven from above, And by (Heb., upon—depending upon) thy sword thou shalt live,” &c. By this rendering the parts of the blessing agree together. Those who have fertile lands live by agriculture, but the inhabitants of sterile regions must look to more adventurous enterprises for a living. So the Swiss, like the Greeks of old, long served as mercenaries in the armies of other states. Idumæa, though not destitute of fruitful tracts, and even famous for its orchards, was, as a whole, sterile and unproductive, and the people were restless and unquiet. Moreover, Isaac had already given the corn-land and vineyards to Jacob (Genesis 27:37), and had no second gift of them in his power. It is no answer to this to say that as the same preposition is used in Genesis 27:28, it cannot have a contrary sense in the two blessings. It there follows a verb of giving, and necessarily has a partitive signification. Here there is nothing absolutely to settle its meaning, and we are left to the general sense. Possibly, Isaac may have purposely used an ambiguous word; but the meaning as a whole is clear. Esau was to inhabit a land which by its barrenness would force him to a life of adventure, military service, and freebooting.

39. Behold, &c.] Isaac’s utterance again takes the form of poetry. His prediction as to Esau’s future is contained in 6 strophes; 1 and 2 refer to the physical conditions of the nation’s existence; 3 to its manner of life; 4 to its temporary subjection to Israel; 5 to its revolt; 6 to its ultimate independence. of] Better, as R.V. marg., away from. The Heb. preposition min, “from,” admits of both renderings. The oracle is intentionally ambiguous. In Genesis 27:28 (“of the dew … of the fatness”) there can be no doubt the preposition is used in its partitive sense, (a) The English versions in this verse translate min by “of,” as in Genesis 27:28. It might be expected that a preposition used by the same person, with the same nouns, and in a similar context in the same passage, would be identical in meaning. According to this rendering, Isaac promises to Esau a country blessed with rich soil and favourable physical conditions: but he cannot promise a settled or happy government; only a struggle for existence, a temporary servitude, and final freedom. This interpretation, however, seems to miss the point of Isaac’s prediction as to the future material conditions of Esau’s lot. The land of Edom was rugged and mountainous; Esau will live by the sword, not by the fertility of the soil. (b) It is better to follow the margin, “away from”; cf. 2 Samuel 1:22. Isaac has really only one blessing; cf. Genesis 27:33. Esau’s future will not be as Jacob’s. His country in Mount Seir will not be rich and fertile, like the land of Canaan. His people will not be peaceful cultivators of the soil; they will dwell in the mountains, and get their livelihood as robbers. Edom will serve Israel; but only for a time. This is the climax of the prediction. In spite of hardships, in spite of social inferiority, and in spite of subjugation, Edom shall at last win freedom. According to this interpretation, Isaac’s words contain no soft blessing; but a stern, truthful, continuous prediction, describing (1) the barrenness and aridity of the soil of Edom, (2) the warlike temper of the people, (3) their subjugation to Israel, (4) their ultimate revolt and freedom. The blessing of Jacob excludes the blessing of Esau; but does not shut out the hope of successful rebellion against the favoured brother. The play of words, produced by the different use of the same preposition, is what might be expected in the language of an ancient oracle; and is quite congenial to the genius of Heb. literature. For the oracular and different use of the same words, cf. Genesis 40:13; Genesis 40:19. fatness … dew of heaven] See note on Genesis 27:28.

39. His father answered — Isaac’s words now again take the form of prophecy, and, moved by the grief of his beloved son, and strong desire on his own part, he says:Behold, of the fatness of the land