Genesis 27 — Thou shalt steal
Genesis 27 — Thou shalt stealIn this chapter, we see Jacob steal Esau’s blessing, with no immediate consequences for Jacob. Isaac plans to bless Esau as soon as he comes back from the hunt. Jacob takes advantage of his dad Isaac’s advanced age to trick him into thinking he is Esau. His mom helps out, by helping prepare meat like Isaac likes, to trick Isaac into thinking he’s Esau. Isaac suspects something’s up based on Jacob’s voice, and the fact that his son is back from the hunt unexpectedly soon. Esau you’ll remember has very long hair, but apparently Jacob’s hand is hairy, so his dad doesn’t notice this either. [Update: Thanks to a recent Dwindling in Unbelief post , I realized that I missed something the first time around: Rebekah puts Esau's clothes on Jacob as well as goatskin on his neck and hands. This is in part how Jacob fools his dad. So much underhandedness going on, it's hard to keep up!] When Esau finds out that his dad "made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants" (27:37 KJV), he’s understandably not too pleased. But Isaac claims there’s nothing to be done (do undosies with blessings apparently). Jacob had now stolen both the birthright and the blessing. The only consolation Isaac gives is that eventually he’ll get tired of being Jacob’s slave and throw off the shackles. Some minor consolation. No word as to why Isaac couldn’t just share everything between the two sons to begin with, or why after this deceit by Jacob that Isaac can’t do something better for his son (or why God doesn’t intervene). Esau decides he wants to kill his brother, so brave sir Jacob flees on his mom’s advice. And mom is racist, just like Sarah had been. "If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living." (27:46 KJV) From context, it seems Hittite is referring to the same people they are living with (Abimelech et al.), unless I am mistaken. In any case, after the tricks this family have pulled on their neighbors over the years, perhaps no one would want to marry them anyway… |
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