Genesis 27:19-23

27:19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I’ve done as you told me. Now sit up ¹  and eat some of my wild game so that you can bless me.” ²  27:20 But Isaac asked his son, “How in the world ³  did you find it so quickly, ⁴  my son?” “Because the Lord your God brought it to me,” ⁵  he replied. ⁶  27:21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come closer so I can touch you, ⁷  my son, and know for certain if you really are my son Esau.” ⁸  27:22 So Jacob went over to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s.” 27:23 He did not recognize him because his hands were hairy, like his brother Esau’s hands. So Isaac blessed Jacob. ⁹ 

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¹ tn 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.

² tn 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.

³ tn 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?”

⁴ tn Heb “you hastened to find.” In translation the infinitive becomes the main verb and the first verb becomes adverbial.

⁵ tn Heb “caused to meet before me.”

⁶ tn 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.

⁷ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.

⁸ tn Heb “Are you this one, Esau, my son, or not?” On the use of the interrogative particle here, see BDB 210 s.v. הֲ.

⁹ tn Heb “and he blessed him.” The referents of the pronouns “he” (Isaac) and “him” (Jacob) have been specified in the translation for clarity.