25:27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled 1 hunter, a man of the open fields, but Jacob was an even-tempered man, living in tents. 2 25:28 Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for fresh game, 3 but Rebekah loved 4 Jacob.
1 tn Heb “knowing.”
2 tn The disjunctive clause juxtaposes Jacob with Esau and draws attention to the striking contrasts. In contrast to Esau, a man of the field, Jacob was civilized, as the phrase “living in tents” signifies. Whereas Esau was a skillful hunter, Jacob was calm and even-tempered (תָּם, tam), which normally has the idea of “blameless.”
3 tn Heb “the taste of game was in his mouth.” The word for “game,” “venison” is here the same Hebrew word as “hunter” in the last verse. Here it is a metonymy, referring to that which the hunter kills.
4 tn The disjunctive clause juxtaposes Rebekah with Jacob and draws attention to the contrast. The verb here is a participle, drawing attention to Rebekah’s continuing, enduring love for her son.