of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

31 And he also had made savoury meat, and brought it unto his father: and said unto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that thy soul may bless me.

32 And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau.

33 And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, § and said, Who, where is he that hath taken venison and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed.

34 And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father.

35 And he said, Thy brother came with subtility, † and hath taken away thy blessing.

36 And he said, is not he rightly named Jacob? || for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birth-right; and behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?

37 And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?

away;

45 Until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him; then I will send, and fetch thee from thence. Why should I be deprived also of you both in one day?

* This is a manisfestation of God's concurrence in giving the blessing to Jacob: for had it been delayed any little while longer, it might have been frustrated by the coming of Esau.

§ Heb. Trembled with a great trembling exceedingly.

In the Targums of Onkeles and Jonathan, it is translated on which signifies in wisdom. Though Aben Ezra seems to think, that it implies his telling an untruth: but as Isaac doth not seem to recall his blessing, but on the contrary seems to confirm it, see verse 3, and as he did not appear angry with Jacob, it is to be presumed that he did not speak it in a bad sense.

That is, I suppose you called him Jacob, because he laid hold of my heel; (for app in Hebrew, is derived from apy the heel,) but of this there was no necessity: for he hath fully verified his name by supplanting me twice; and so I may be said to be twice under his heel or foot, as having gotten the advantage of me.

20 And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the LORD thy God brought it to me. ||

21 And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee my son, whether

thou be my very son Esau or not.

22 And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father, and he felt him; and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. **

23 And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands: So he blessed him.

24 And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said I

am.

25 And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat: and he brought him wine, and he drank.

26 And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me my son.

27 And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field, which the LORD hath blessed. §§

28 Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, ‡‡ and plenty of corn and wine.

29 Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee; be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee; cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.

30 And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence

* She spoke so from an assured confidence in the Divine promise, which had foretold unto her, that the eldest should serve the youngest, chap. xxv, verse 23. Heb. Desirable,

These, as some conjecture, were the garments usually worn by Esau when he waited on, and Heb. Before me.

attended his father.

For as Jarchi observes, there was some doubt in Isaac's breast, on account of the expression in the preceding verse, "Because the Lord thy God hath brought it to me." And which was not common with Esau; for which reason, as Esau was an hairy man, he endeavoured by the touch, to discern, whether it was Esau or Jacob.

** Hence, Isaac's suspicion is clear, but having felt his hands, and finding them to be hairy, he says, I should by the voice have thought it was Jacob, but I find by the hands it is Esau.

For as he thought that it really was Esau, and who had just come from the field, he compared

the smell of his garments to the fragrance of a field which God had blessed.

A fat and fruitful land, which Canaan was; abounding with all sorts of the most precious fruits.