(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)
“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.””
(Genesis 27:5-10)
Rebekah heard what her husband said, but Rebekah doesn’t speak to her husband about it. This is the major issue between these two people: lack of communication. We see it in microcosm when they meet (Genesis 24:63-65). She sees Isaac and veils her face. They don’t speak. After that moment, the servant talks to Isaac and he takes Rebekah for his wife, but they don’t speak to each other – at least, it isn’t recorded. Some of the sages teach that Rebekah didn’t feel worthy. She covered herself because she didn’t think she was as good looking as Isaac. She didn’t see herself as equal in their partnership. So she was always a little aloof from him. She doesn’t appear to have ever shared what God said to her about their sons (Genesis 25:23). Here in this story, we see that she doesn’t feel she can go to him with her issues or her ideas. Lack of communication between these two partners leads to all their problems. And it robs them of their future.
Rebekah had been told by God that her younger son would rule over her older. Here she overhears Isaac about to bless her elder son, which in her mind threatens the prophecy. Instead of talking to Isaac or inquiring of the Lord – which she had done before (Genesis 25:22) – she takes things into her own hands. She hatches a plan to make the prophesy come true. Sarah and Abraham had tried this and it didn’t work for them either (Genesis 16:1-3). It NEVER works. We cannot force God’s hand. It is NEVER a good idea to disobey God’s commands at ANY time, although not all the sages agree with that. God never contradicts Himself. He never tells you to do something ungodly. He is always to be obeyed. If you can’t figure out how to obey without disobeying in some other way, you need wisdom on how to proceed (James 1:5).
Rebekah goes to Jacob and tells him what is going on and the plan that she has as it relates to him. She doesn’t tell him everything that she plans to do, only what she needs to in order to get his obedience. This is entirely her action and her thinking. She is essentially abusing her influence as his mother and the authority of her role as the wife of Isaac.
Both Esau and Jacob were about 77 years old at this time. Esau had been married to several wives since he was 40 years old. They were grown men. But they were also very under the influence of their parents.
None of this situation would have been possible if Isaac had just blessed Esau. Because Isaac made the blessing determinate on actions, he made a place where he could be deceived. Rebekah could have taken no action if the blessing had been given unconditionally. Never put conditions on blessing. Just bless.
The Torah: A Women’s Commentary writes: ‘her son. In contrast to Esau, Jacob is referred to several times as “her son” (see also v. 17). The language used here seems to exclude Esau from the kind of close relationship that Jacob has with Rebekah. “your father.” In this chapter Isaac is never referred to in relation to Rebekah; he is called “father” (vv. 6, 9, 10, 14), but not Rebekah’s husband. Isaac’s importance to Rebekah seems to recede into the background, and her most primary relationship is with Jacob her son. Rebekah and Isaac converse only at the very end of the tale, when Rebekah intervenes (again) for Jacob’s sake (27:46). While Isaac is reported to have loved Rebekah upon seeing her (24:67), the narrative never states that Rebekah returns this love. The language in this section of the text connects her directly to her son Jacob, but not to Isaac. “listen to me.” Rebekah will tell Jacob twice more to listen to her (vv. 13 and 43). She repeats herself to make sure that she has his attention. Carol Meyers notes that authority is the ability to control situations and decision-making through official channels and systems, whereas power involves doing so through more informal and unofficial avenues (Discovering Eve: Ancient Israelite Women in Context, 1988, p. 41). Here, Rebekah does not have the proper authority, but she has power. She cannot formally bestow the blessing upon Jacob, but she can ensure he listens to her. “instructing.” Heb. m’tzavah, literally “command.” Because of their close relationship, Jacob is one person over whom Rebekah can exert some limited power—and, as his mother, also authority. She commands him to do as she directs. “likes.” Heb. ahav, literally “loves”; compare 25:28.’
The sage Radak writes: ‘ורבקה היתה שומעת בדבר יצחק, she saw that Esau had gone to carry out his father’s instructions and she told Yaakov about it as she was jealous that Esau should obtain this blessing. She did not realise that Yaakov would be blessed even if he did not receive a blessing from his father, and that was also what his father had assumed. Yitzchok was a righteous man, and he would never have become guilty of depriving Yaakov of a blessing which he deserved by giving it to Esau instead. Rivkah was so consumed with her love for Yaakov that she advised him to engage in cheating in order to secure the blessing for himself. She did not feel that there was something sinful in doing that. ורבקה..לאמר, she had a conversation with her son Yaakov, at the end of which she told him that his father had sent out Esau to bring him venison as a prelude to receiving the blessing. הביאה, she gratuitously added the words ‘לפני ה, as if they had been Yitzchok’s words (which they were not). She intended thereby to convince her son Yaakov that the blessing about to be given to Esau was of an unusual, critical importance, one that would reflect a prophetic utterance by Yitzchok. טובים, fat ones. We find that Avraham (18,7) also offered the angels calves which were רך וטוב, “tender and fat.” When we read about the seven good cows Pharaoh saw in his dream (41,26), the word for “fat” is also טובות.’
The sage Or HaChaim writes: ‘ורבקה שומעת, and Rebeccah was listening, etc. The Torah tells us that Rebeccah was a prophetess who always listened to Isaac’s words even though she did not speak up in his presence. The. Torah alludes to this by saying ורבקב שומעת בדבר יצחק, “Rebeccah was listening whenever Isaac spoke.” Normally we would have expected the Torah to write: ותשמע רבקה, “Rebeccah happened to overhear.” The present tense employed here by the Torah here is most unusual. Maybe Isaac spoke to Esau in a whisper and that is why he believed that Jacob was really Esau; Isaac thought that Jacob could not have have heard of Isaac’s instructions to Esau. Although Isaac’s eyesight had begun to fail him, he called Esau to help him with something confidentially. Both Isaac’s call and Esau’s response, “I am ready” may be an allusion to the conspirational nature of the conversation. ורבקה אמרה אל יעקב, And Rebeccah said to Jacob, etc. The reason that the Torah introduces the verse with the conjunctive letter ו is to tell us that Rebeccah agreed with the Holy Spirit which had conveyed this conversation between Isaac and Esau to her. לאמר, הנה שמעתי. to say, “here I have heard,” etc. She wanted to make sure that Jacob realised that she had only just become aware of what had transpired between Isaac and Esau and that she could not be accused of having allowed too much time to elapse to take countermeasures. Jacob had enough time to carry out his mother’s instructions. אחיך לאמר, “your brother, saying.” She did not mean that Esau was a true brother of Jacob in character; she used the word “your brother” to indicate that just as Isaac plotted with Esau, she now did the same thing with Jacob. She also used the word לאמר to protect herself since she had not quoted Isaac’s words to Jacob verbatim. She meant that she had told Jacob the gist of Isaac’s words to Esau. ועתה בני שמע בקולי, “and now my son, listen to me and obey my instructions!” “hasten to bring me two young kids at once.” שמע בקולי. “listen to my voice!” Although there is some deception involved in what I will instruct you, you still have to obey me apart from your duty to honour father and mother which is a positive commandment. Rebeccah stressed the fact that she was a prophetess and the Torah commands us to obey the prophets’ instructions (Deut. 18,15). We have already explained (in connection with Genesis 16,5) that when a prophet asks you to disobey one of G’d’s laws temporarily he is to be obeyed.’
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