Commentaria in Genesim
Chapter Twenty-Seven. Synopsis of the Chapter
Jacob by guile snatches from his brother the blessing of their father; Esau therefore threatens him with death; whereupon his mother counsels Jacob to flee to Haran. Learn from this that the purpose of God, His promise and election, by which He had said in chapter XXV, verse 23, The elder shall serve the younger, are firm, and that no human counsels can overturn them.
1. And Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, and he could not see: and he called Esau his elder son, and said to him: My son? And he answered: Here I am. 2. And his father said to him: Thou seest that I am old, and know not the day of my death. 3. Take thy arms, thy quiver and bow, and go abroad: and when thou hast taken some venison, 4. Make me savoury meat thereof, as thou knowest I like, and bring it that I may eat: and that my soul may bless thee before I die. 5. And when Rebecca had heard this, and he was gone into the field to fulfil his father’s commandment, 6. She said to her son Jacob: I heard thy father talking with Esau thy brother, and saying to him: 7. Bring me of thy hunting, and make me meats that I may eat, and bless thee in the sight of the Lord before I die. 8. Now therefore, my son, follow my counsels: 9. And go thy way to the flock, and bring me two kids of the best, that I may make of them meats for thy father, such as he gladly eateth: 10. Which when thou hast brought in, and he hath eaten, he may bless thee before he die.
11. And he answered her: Thou knowest that Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am smooth: 12. If my father should feel me, and perceive it, I fear lest he will think I would have mocked him, and I shall bring upon me a curse instead of a blessing. 13. And his mother said to him: Upon me be this curse, my son: only hear thou my voice, and go, fetch me what I have said. 14. He went, and brought, and gave it to his mother. She dressed meats, such as she knew his father liked. 15. And she put on him very good garments of Esau, which she had at home with her: 16. And the little skins of the kids she wrapped about his hands, and covered the bare of his neck. 17. And she gave him the savoury meat, and delivered him the bread that she had baked. 18. Which when he had carried in, he said: My father? But he answered: I hear thee. Who art thou, my son? 19. And Jacob said to him: I am Esau thy firstborn: I have done as thou didst command me: arise, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.
20. And Isaac said again to his son: How couldst thou find it so quickly, my son? He answered: It was the will of God, that what I sought came quickly in my way. 21. And Isaac said: Come hither that I may feel thee, my son, and may prove whether thou be my son Esau, or no. 22. He came near to his father, and when he had felt him, Isaac said: The voice indeed is the voice of Jacob; but the hands are the hands of Esau. 23. And he knew him not, because his hairy hands made him like to the elder. Then blessing him, 24. He said: Art thou my son Esau? He answered: I am. 25. Then he said: Bring me the meats of thy hunting, my son, that my soul may bless thee. Which when he had eaten, he offered him wine also: which after he had drunk, 26. He said to him: Come near me, and give me a kiss, my son. 27. He came near, and kissed him. And immediately as he smelled the fragrant smell of his garments, blessing him, he said: Behold, the smell of my son is like the smell of a plentiful field, which the Lord hath blessed.
28. God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, abundance of corn and wine. 29. And let peoples serve thee, and tribes worship thee: be lord of thy brethren, and let the children of thy mother bow down before thee. Cursed be he that curseth thee: and let him that blesseth thee be filled with blessings. 30. Isaac had scarce ended his words, and Jacob was gone out abroad, when Esau came, 31. And brought in to his father meats made of what he had taken in hunting, saying: Arise, my father, and eat of thy son’s venison: that thy soul may bless me. 32. And Isaac said to him: Why, who art thou? He answered: I am thy firstborn son Esau. 33. Isaac was stricken with a great astonishment: and wondering beyond what can be believed, said: Who is he then that even now brought me venison that he had taken, and I ate of all before thou camest? and I have blessed him, and he shall be blessed. 34. Esau having heard his father’s words, roared out with a great cry: and being in a great consternation, said: Bless me also, my father.
35. And he said: Thy brother came deceitfully and got thy blessing. 36. But he said again: Rightly is his name called Jacob; for he hath supplanted me this second time: my birthright he took away before, and now this second time he hath stolen away my blessing. And again turning to his father he said: Hast thou not reserved me also a blessing? 37. Isaac answered: I have appointed him thy lord, and have made all his brethren his servants: I have established him with corn and wine, and after this, what shall I do more for thee, my son? 38. And Esau said to him: Hast thou only one blessing, father? I beseech thee bless me also. And when he wept with a loud cry, 39. Isaac being moved, said to him: In the fatness of the earth, and in the dew of heaven from above, 40. Shall thy blessing be. Thou shalt live by the sword, and shalt serve thy brother: and the time shall come, when thou shalt shake off and loose his yoke from thy neck. 41. Esau therefore always hated Jacob, for the blessing wherewith his father had blessed him: and he said in his heart: The days will come of the mourning for my father, and I will kill my brother Jacob.
42. These things were told to Rebecca: and she sent and called her son Jacob, and said to him: Behold Esau thy brother threateneth to kill thee. 43. Now therefore, my son, hear my voice, and arise, and flee to Laban my brother to Haran: 44. And thou shalt dwell with him a few days, till the fury of thy brother be assuaged, 45. And his indignation cease, and he forget the things thou hast done to him: afterwards I will send, and bring thee from thence hither. Why shall I be deprived of both my sons in one day? 46. And Rebecca said to Isaac: I am weary of my life, because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the stock of this land, I choose not to live.
1. AND ISAAC WAS OLD.—In this year in which Jacob snatched his blessing from his brother, Isaac was 137 years old, and Esau and Jacob 77. For in this 77th year Jacob, soon after the stolen blessing, fearing his brother’s wrath, at his mother’s counsel fled into Mesopotamia. This is clear from the fact that Joseph was born in the 91st year of Jacob. But Joseph was born 14 years after the flight of his father into Mesopotamia, namely after Jacob had served Laban there for 14 years for Rachel and Lia, as I shall show on chapter xxx, verse 25. Therefore this flight of Jacob took place in the 77th year of Jacob’s life; for from this 77th year to the 91st, in which Joseph was born, there intervene precisely the 14 years just mentioned. So Eusebius, book IX De Praep., chap. iv. See Abulensis here, Question I, and Pererius in the preface of the chapter. Isaac lived after this still 43 years; for he died in the 180th year of his age. AND HIS EYES WERE DIM—both from old age and from frequent illnesses, says St. Augustine, book XVI De Civitate, chap. XXI.
Note here the long patience of Isaac; for, blind, he bore his blindness for 43 years, namely from the year of his age 137 (as I said before) to the year 180, in which he died. St. Syncletica said excellently in the Lives of the Fathers: