Section 55 of 10427:6–29Genesis

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King James VersionGenesis 27:6–29

And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying,

Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the LORD before my death.

Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee.

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:

And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death.

And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man:

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.

And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.

And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savoury meat, such as his father loved.

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:

And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck:

And she gave the savoury meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son?

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.

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.

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.

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.

And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau’s hands: so he blessed him.

And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am.

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.

And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son.

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:

Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:

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.

Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.

Scripture text: King James Version, Standardized 1769 text. Public domain in the United States.About this Bible text

Genesis 27:6–29

Rebekah and Jacob Obtain Isaac's Blessing

Food, skins, and a stolen blessing

Rebekah commands Jacob to impersonate Esau. He objects, then participates. Goat skins, Esau's garments, a prepared meal, and repeated lies overcome Isaac's tests of voice, touch, and smell. Jacob even attributes his speed to the LORD.

Isaac gives the blessing of abundance and rule intended for Esau. The narrator shows how the result was obtained. The earlier oracle does not make deception righteous, and a father's blessing is not identical with God's whole covenant.

How this should shape us

Do not use another person's identity, access, or limitation to obtain a decision they did not knowingly make. A desired outcome does not baptize the method.

Teach it back

Explain how Rebekah and Jacob obtain Isaac's blessing in Genesis 27:6–29. Include Rebekah's commands, Jacob's objection, the disguise, Jacob's two identity claims, his use of God's name, Isaac's sensory tests, the content of the blessing, and why God's earlier oracle does not make the deceptive method righteous.

Explain the section in your own words

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Go deeper

The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.

Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties

Does Rebekah's phrase 'before the LORD' quote Isaac or interpret his plan?

Best judgment: The phrase is part of Rebekah's report, but the text does not tell us whether it is omitted wording, interpretation, or rhetorical intensification. No moral conclusion should depend on selecting one with certainty.

How certain? uncertain

How does the final-form narrator evaluate the deception?

Best judgment: The final narrative most strongly preserves God's purpose while exposing the deception as morally compromised and relationally destructive. Diachronic proposals can illuminate tensions but should remain labeled reconstructions.

How certain? strong

Is Isaac's blessing magical, legally irreversible, divinely guaranteed, or socially effective?

Best judgment: The combined view best fits the narrative: Isaac's blessing has serious performative force, while God's covenant purpose is not a magical substance controlled by deceptive access to one speech.

How certain? probable

Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Supports: Displayed wording, unit boundary, commands, objection, disguise, lies, sensory tests, blessing, and later narrative connections.

Genesis 27:6–29 in the pinned eng-kjv2006 source; compared with Genesis 25:23, 28–34; 27:1–5, 30–45; 28:1–22; 29:15–30; 37:31–35; and 49:1–28

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis

Supports: Obedience language, deceiver wording, curse and blessing, garments, recognition, false divine attribution, voice and hands, kiss and smell, agricultural abundance, service, and reciprocal curse-blessing formula.

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 27:6–29; lemmas and morphology for shama beqol, taah, kelalah, berakhah, beged and khamad, nakar, qarah, qol and yad, nashaq, reakh, tal, shemen, dagan, tirosh, avad, havah, arar, and barakh

NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes

Supports: Before-the-LORD report, obey language, deceiver nuance, garment wording, providence claim, blessing sequence, and agricultural and dominance language.

NET Bible, Genesis 27:6–29 and translator notes, especially verses 7–13, 15, 20, 23, and 27–29

Genesis

Supports: Final-form placement, oracle and blessing relationship, promise continuity, flight, and God's direct confirmation at Bethel.

Genesis commentary, treatment of Genesis 25:19–28:9 within the Jacob-Esau movement

Genesis

Supports: Literary and historical orientation only; no uninspected disputed passage-specific claim attributed.

Genesis, official Cambridge contents and introduction; commentary locator for Genesis 27:6–29

Genesis 25–35, 46–49: Jacob — Study Guide

Supports: Literary characterization, social force of blessing, sensory deception, family pattern, and modern critical counterpoint.

Yale Bible Study, Genesis 25–35, 46–49: Jacob Study Guide, paragraphs on Jacob as trickster, the paternal blessing, Isaac's blindness, and later deception reversals

Not Only in God's Service: Reevaluating Rebekah

Supports: Rebekah's agency, danger of using the oracle to justify deception, final-form tension, and diachronic alternatives.

Journal of Theological Studies 77.1 (2026), pp. 1–14, Genesis 27 section and conclusion

The Blessing of a Wounded Patriarch: Genesis 27.1-40

Supports: Scene structure, Isaac's characterization, sensory tests, meal and blessing relationship, and limits of the accessible record; no unseen argument attributed.

Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 32.3 (2008), pp. 267–286; official abstract, four-scene division, and indexed notes only where publicly available

Brotherhood and Inheritance: A Canonical Reading of the Esau and Edom Traditions

Supports: Election and inheritance distinction, protection against making Jacob morally ideal or Esau wholly wicked, and restraint in national or ethnic application.

Brotherhood and Inheritance, official contents and accessible scholarly review; Genesis 25–36 and Esau-Edom trajectory

Sources for This Section

These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Displayed wording, unit boundary, commands, objection, disguise, lies, sensory tests, blessing, and later narrative connections.

Exact location: Genesis 27:6–29 in the pinned eng-kjv2006 source; compared with Genesis 25:23, 28–34; 27:1–5, 30–45; 28:1–22; 29:15–30; 37:31–35; and 49:1–28

Open source ↗

hebrew text morphology and lemma data

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project

Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026

Supports: Obedience language, deceiver wording, curse and blessing, garments, recognition, false divine attribution, voice and hands, kiss and smell, agricultural abundance, service, and reciprocal curse-blessing formula.

Exact location: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 27:6–29; lemmas and morphology for shama beqol, taah, kelalah, berakhah, beged and khamad, nakar, qarah, qol and yad, nashaq, reakh, tal, shemen, dagan, tirosh, avad, havah, arar, and barakh

Open source ↗

Translation and textual notes

NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes

Biblical Studies Press

Biblical Studies Press, Digital edition accessed 2026

Supports: Before-the-LORD report, obey language, deceiver nuance, garment wording, providence claim, blessing sequence, and agricultural and dominance language.

Exact location: NET Bible, Genesis 27:6–29 and translator notes, especially verses 7–13, 15, 20, 23, and 27–29

Open NET Genesis 27 ↗

modern open whole book commentary

Genesis

T. Desmond Alexander

The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, 2023

Supports: Final-form placement, oracle and blessing relationship, promise continuity, flight, and God's direct confirmation at Bethel.

Exact location: Genesis commentary, treatment of Genesis 25:19–28:9 within the Jacob-Esau movement

Open source ↗

modern scholarly commentary publisher material

Genesis

Bill T. Arnold

Cambridge University Press, 2009

Supports: Literary and historical orientation only; no uninspected disputed passage-specific claim attributed.

Exact location: Genesis, official Cambridge contents and introduction; commentary locator for Genesis 27:6–29

Open source ↗

modern critical open study guide

Genesis 25–35, 46–49: Jacob — Study Guide

Joel S. Baden and Yale Bible Study

Yale Divinity School, 2021 course; page inspected 2026

Supports: Literary characterization, social force of blessing, sensory deception, family pattern, and modern critical counterpoint.

Exact location: Yale Bible Study, Genesis 25–35, 46–49: Jacob Study Guide, paragraphs on Jacob as trickster, the paternal blessing, Isaac's blindness, and later deception reversals

Open source ↗

peer reviewed open access article

Not Only in God's Service: Reevaluating Rebekah

Gili Kugler

The Journal of Theological Studies 77(1), Oxford University Press, 2026

Supports: Rebekah's agency, danger of using the oracle to justify deception, final-form tension, and diachronic alternatives.

Exact location: Journal of Theological Studies 77.1 (2026), pp. 1–14, Genesis 27 section and conclusion

Open source ↗

peer reviewed article official record abstract and indexed notes

The Blessing of a Wounded Patriarch: Genesis 27.1-40

Dennis Sylva

Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 32(3), SAGE Publications, 2008

Supports: Scene structure, Isaac's characterization, sensory tests, meal and blessing relationship, and limits of the accessible record; no unseen argument attributed.

Exact location: Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 32.3 (2008), pp. 267–286; official abstract, four-scene division, and indexed notes only where publicly available

Open source ↗

modern scholarly monograph

Brotherhood and Inheritance: A Canonical Reading of the Esau and Edom Traditions

Bradford A. Anderson

T&T Clark, Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 556, 2011

Supports: Election and inheritance distinction, protection against making Jacob morally ideal or Esau wholly wicked, and restraint in national or ethnic application.

Exact location: Brotherhood and Inheritance, official contents and accessible scholarly review; Genesis 25–36 and Esau-Edom trajectory

Open source ↗

Genesis 27:6–29, King James Version

Food, skins, and a stolen blessing

How this should shape us

Teach it back

Go deeper

Does Rebekah's phrase 'before the LORD' quote Isaac or interpret his plan?

How does the final-form narrator evaluate the deception?

Is Isaac's blessing magical, legally irreversible, divinely guaranteed, or socially effective?

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis

NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes

Genesis

Genesis

Genesis 25–35, 46–49: Jacob — Study Guide

Not Only in God's Service: Reevaluating Rebekah

The Blessing of a Wounded Patriarch: Genesis 27.1-40

Brotherhood and Inheritance: A Canonical Reading of the Esau and Edom Traditions