translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: GEN

label: NET translator note

text: The clause begins with the temporal indicator (“and it happened”), making it subordinate to the main clause that follows later in the sentence.


text: Heb “and his eyes were weak from seeing.”


text: Heb “greater” (in terms of age).


text: Heb “he”; the referent (Esau) is specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “he”; the referent (Isaac) is specified in the translation for clarity.


text: The particle הִנֵּה ( hinneh , “look”) here introduces a logically foundational statement, upon which the coming instruction will be based.


text: Heb “I do not know the day of my death.”


text: The Hebrew word is to be spelled either צַיִד ( tsayid ) following the marginal reading ( Qere ), or צֵידָה ( tsedah ) following the consonantal text ( Kethib ). Either way it is from the same root as the imperative צוּדָה ( tsudah , “hunt down”).


text: Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.


text: Heb “so that my soul may bless you.” The use of נַפְשִׁי ( nafshi , “my soul”) as the subject emphasizes that the blessing will be made with all Isaac’s desire and vitality. The conjunction “so that” closely relates the meal to the blessing, suggesting that this will be a ritual meal in conjunction with the giving of a formal blessing.


text: The disjunctive clause (introduced by a conjunction with the subject, followed by the predicate) here introduces a new scene in the story.


label: NET textual note

text: The LXX adds here “to his father,” which may have been accidentally omitted in the MT.


text: The cohortative, with the prefixed conjunction, also expresses logical sequence. See vv. 4, 19, 27 .


text: In her report to Jacob, Rebekah plays down Isaac’s strong desire to bless Esau by leaving out נַפְשִׁי ( nafshi , “my soul”), but by adding the phrase “in the presence of the Lord, ” she stresses how serious this matter is.


text: Heb “listen to my voice.” The Hebrew idiom means “to comply; to obey.”


text: Heb “to that which I am commanding you.”


text: The form is the perfect tense with the vav ( ו ) consecutive. It carries forward the tone of instruction initiated by the command to “go…and get” in the preceding verse.


text: The form is the perfect with the vav ( ו ) consecutive; it carries the future nuance of the preceding verbs of instruction, but by switching the subject to Jacob, indicates the expected result of the subterfuge.


text: Heb “so that.” The conjunction indicates purpose or result.


text: Heb “And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, ‘Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, but I am a smooth [skinned] man.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “Perhaps my father will feel me and I will be in his eyes like a mocker.” The Hebrew expression “I will be in his eyes like” means “I would appear to him as.”


text: Heb “upon me your curse.”


text: Heb “only listen to my voice.”


text: The words “the goats” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “his mother.” This has been replaced by the pronoun “she” in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: In the Hebrew text the object (“the skins of the young goats”) precedes the verb. The disjunctive clause draws attention to this key element in the subterfuge.


text: The word “hands” probably includes the forearms here. How the skins were attached is not specified in the Hebrew text; cf. NLT “she made him a pair of gloves.”


text: Heb “gave…into the hand of.”


text: Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “get up and sit.” This may mean simply “sit up,” or it may indicate that he was to get up from his couch and sit at a table.


text: Heb “so that your soul may bless me.” These words, though not reported by Rebekah to Jacob (see v. 7 ) accurately reflect what Isaac actually said to Esau (see v. 4 ). Perhaps Jacob knew more than Rebekah realized, but it is more likely that this was an idiom for sincere blessing with which Jacob was familiar. At any rate, his use of the precise wording was a nice, convincing touch.


text: Heb “What is this?” The enclitic pronoun “this” adds emphasis to the question, which is comparable to the English rhetorical question, “How in the world?”


text: Heb “you hastened to find.” In translation the infinitive becomes the main verb and the first verb becomes adverbial.


text: Heb “caused to meet before me.”


text: Heb “and he said, ‘Because the Lord your God….’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Following the imperative, the cohortative (with prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.


text: Heb “Are you this one, Esau, my son, or not?” On the use of the interrogative particle here, see BDB 210 s.v. הֲ .


text: Heb “and he blessed him.” The referents of the pronouns “he” (Isaac) and “him” (Jacob) have been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “Bring near to me and I will eat of the wild game, my son.” Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.


text: Heb “so that my soul may bless you.” The presence of נַפְשִׁי ( nafshi , “my soul”) as subject emphasizes Isaac’s heartfelt desire to do this. The conjunction indicates that the ritual meal must be first eaten before the formal blessing may be given.


text: Heb “and he brought”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “and he drank”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “and he smelled the smell”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “see.”


text: Heb “and from the dew of the sky.”


text: Heb “and from the fatness.”


text: Heb “and be.” The verb is an imperative, which is used rhetorically in this oracle of blessing. It is an invitation to exercise authority his brothers and indicates that he is granted such authority by the patriarch of the family. Furthermore, the blessing enables the recipient to accomplish this.


text: The Hebrew word is גְבִיר ( gevir , “lord, mighty one”). The one being blessed will be stronger and therefore more powerful than his brother. See Gen 25:23 . The feminine form of this rare noun means “mistress” or “queen-mother.”


text: Following the imperative, the prefixed verbal form (which is either an imperfect or a jussive) with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.


text: The use of the infinitive absolute before the finite form of the verb makes the construction emphatic.


text: Heb “the presence of Isaac his father.” The repetition of the proper name (“Isaac”) was


text: Heb “and Esau his brother came from his hunt.”


text: Heb “and he said to his father”; the referent of “he” (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity, while the words “his father” have been replaced by the pronoun “him” for stylistic reasons.


text: Or “arise” (i.e., sit up).


text: Heb “so that your soul may bless me.”


text: Heb “said.”


text: Heb “and he said, ‘I [am] your son, your firstborn.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “and Isaac trembled with a great trembling to excess.” The verb “trembled” is joined with a cognate accusative, which is modified by an adjective “great,” and a prepositional phrase “to excess.” All of this is emphatic, showing the violence of Isaac’s reaction to the news.


text: Heb “Who then is he who hunted game and brought [it] to me so that I ate from all before you arrived and blessed him?”


text: The temporal clause is introduced with the temporal indicator and has the infinitive as its verb.


text: Heb “and he yelled [with] a great and bitter yell to excess.”


text: Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Or “took”; “received.”


text: Heb “Is he not rightly named Jacob?” The rhetorical question, since it expects a positive reply, has been translated as a declarative statement.


text: Heb “Bless me, me also, my father.” The words “my father” have not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “and Esau lifted his voice and wept.”


text: Heb “look.”


text: Heb “from the fatness.”


text: Or “bore a grudge against” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV). The Hebrew verb שָׂטַם ( satam ) describes persistent hatred.


text: Heb “because of the blessing which his father blessed him.”


text: Heb “said in his heart.” The expression may mean “said to himself.” Even if this is the case, v. 42 makes it clear that he must have shared his intentions with someone, because the news reached Rebekah.


text: Heb “days.”


text: The cohortative here expresses Esau’s determined resolve to kill Jacob.


text: Heb “and the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah.”


text: Heb “she sent and called for.”


text: Heb “is consoling himself with respect to you to kill you.” The only way Esau had of dealing with his anger at the moment was to plan to kill his brother after the death of Isaac.


text: Heb “listen to my voice.”


text: Heb “arise, flee.”


text: Heb “a few days.” Rebekah probably downplays the length of time Jacob will be gone, perhaps to encourage him and assure him that things will settle down soon. She probably expects Esau’s anger to die down quickly. However, Jacob ends up being gone twenty years and he never sees Rebekah again.


text: The words “stay there” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “and I will send and I will take you from there.” The verb “send” has no object in the Hebrew text; one must be supplied in the translation. Either “someone” or “a message” could be supplied, but since in those times a message would require a messenger, “someone” has been used.


text: If Jacob stayed, he would be killed and Esau would be forced to run away.


text: Heb “loathe my life.” The Hebrew verb translated “loathe” refers to strong disgust (see Lev 20:23 ).


text: Some translate the Hebrew term “Heth” as “Hittites” here (see also Gen 23:3 ), but this gives the impression that these people were the classical Hittites of Anatolia. However, there is no known connection between these sons of Heth, apparently a Canaanite group (see Gen 10:15 ), and the Hittites of Asia Minor. See H. A. Hoffner, Jr., “Hittites,” Peoples of the Old Testament World , 152-53.


text: Heb “If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, why to me life?”