Short answer: Genesis 27 records the account of Jacob deceiving his blind father Isaac to receive the blessing meant for Esau. The chapter reveals the painful consequences of family favoritism, deception, and the tension between God's sovereign purposes and human manipulation.
Introduction
Genesis 27 is one of the most morally complex chapters in the Bible. Isaac plans to bless Esau against God's revealed will. Rebekah orchestrates a deception to secure the blessing for Jacob. Jacob lies to his father's face. Esau responds with murderous rage. Yet through all this human scheming, God's sovereign purpose prevails.
When Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his elder son, and said to him, “My son?” He said to him, “Here I am.” He said, “See now, I am old. I don’t know the day of my death. Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and get me venison. Make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat, and that my soul may bless you before I die.” Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it.
Genesis 27:1-5 (World English Bible)
Isaac's Plan and Rebekah's Plot (27:1-17)
Isaac, old and blind, calls Esau to prepare a meal so he can bless him. Rebekah overhears and devises a plan: Jacob will impersonate Esau. She prepares goat meat and covers Jacob's smooth skin with goat skins. Jacob objects, fearing a curse, but Rebekah takes the curse upon herself.
When Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his elder son, and said to him, “My son?” He said to him, “Here I am.” He said, “See now, I am old. I don’t know the day of my death. Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and get me venison. Make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat, and that my soul may bless you before I die.” Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, “Behold, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, ‘Bring me venison, and make me savory food, that I may eat, and bless you before Yahweh before my death.’ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command you. Go now to the flock and get me two good young goats from there. I will make them savory food for your father, such as he loves. You shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.” Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. What if my father touches me? I will seem to him as a deceiver, and I would bring a curse on myself, and not a blessing.” His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son. Only obey my voice, and go get them for me.” He went, and got them, and brought them to his mother. His mother made savory food, such as his father loved. Rebekah took the good clothes of Esau, her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob, her younger son. She put the skins of the young goats on his hands, and on the smooth of his neck. She gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.
Genesis 27:1-17 (World English Bible)
Jacob Receives the Blessing (27:18-29)
Jacob approaches Isaac with the food. Isaac is suspicious — the voice is Jacob's, but the hands are Esau's. He asks: 'Are you really my son Esau?' Jacob lies: 'I am.' Isaac pronounces the blessing: 'Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you.' The blessing cannot be revoked.
He came to his father, and said, “My father?” He said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done what you asked me to do. Please arise, sit and eat of my venison, that your soul may bless me.” Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He said, “Because Yahweh your God gave me success.” Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.” Jacob went near to Isaac his father. He felt him, and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” He didn’t recognize him, because his hands were hairy, like his brother, Esau’s hands. So he blessed him. He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He said, “I am.” He said, “Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s venison, that my soul may bless you.” He brought it near to him, and he ate. He brought him wine, and he drank. His father Isaac said to him, “Come near now, and kiss me, my son.” He came near, and kissed him. He smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him, and said, “Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which Yahweh has blessed. God give you of the dew of the sky, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and new wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers. Let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you. Blessed be everyone who blesses you.”
Genesis 27:18-29 (World English Bible)
Esau's Grief and Jacob's Flight (27:30-46)
Esau returns and discovers the deception. He cries out with 'an exceedingly great and bitter cry.' Isaac trembles but cannot reverse the blessing. Esau resolves to kill Jacob. Rebekah learns of the plot and sends Jacob to Haran. Jacob flees, and the family is broken.
As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had just gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting. He also made savory food, and brought it to his father. He said to his father, “Let my father arise, and eat of his son’s venison, that your soul may bless me.” Isaac his father said to him, “Who are you?” He said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” Isaac trembled violently, and said, “Who, then, is he who has taken venison, and brought it to me, and I have eaten of all before you came, and have blessed him? Yes, he will be blessed.” When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, my father.” He said, “Your brother came with deceit, and has taken away your blessing.” He said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright. See, now he has taken away my blessing.” He said, “Haven’t you reserved a blessing for me?” Isaac answered Esau, “Behold, I have made him your lord, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants. I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then will I do for you, my son?” Esau said to his father, “Do you have just one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, my father.” Esau lifted up his voice, and wept. Isaac his father answered him, “Behold, your dwelling will be of the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of the sky from above. You will live by your sword, and you will serve your brother. It will happen, when you will break loose, that you will shake his yoke from off your neck.” Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him. Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand. Then I will kill my brother Jacob.” The words of Esau, her elder son, were told to Rebekah. She sent and called Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban, my brother, in Haran. Stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away— until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send, and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?” Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good will my life do me?”
Genesis 27:30-46 (World English Bible)
Frequently Asked Questions
Was Jacob wrong to deceive Isaac even though God had chosen him?
Yes, Jacob was wrong. The Bible never condones Jacob's deception — it simply records it. God's sovereign purpose was that Jacob would receive the blessing, but the means were sinful. God could have accomplished His purpose without their lies. This demonstrates that God's will is accomplished in spite of human sin, not because of it.
Why could Isaac not reverse the blessing?
Isaac could not reverse the blessing because in the ancient Near East, a patriarchal blessing was considered irrevocable once spoken. More importantly, Isaac recognized that despite the deception, the blessing had come from God. He trembled violently, realizing God had overruled his own plans.
What does this chapter teach about family favoritism?
Genesis 27 is a powerful warning against parental favoritism. Isaac loved Esau because he ate his game; Rebekah loved Jacob. This divided household created the conditions for deception and family breakdown. Parents who show favoritism sow seeds of division that can last for generations.
Biblical fidelity check
This article is grounded in the World English Bible (WEB) text of Genesis 27. The moral evaluation of Jacob's deception follows the consistent biblical witness that deception is sinful (Proverbs 12:22, Colossians 3:9). The irrevocable nature of the patriarchal blessing is understood in its ancient Near Eastern cultural context.
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