(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)
“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 27:27-29)
Isaac gives the blessing. This is what Rebekah had worked for. This is what Jacob agreed to receive. This is what Esau was out hunting and preparing a meal for. This is what Isaac was wanting to give Esau, his eldest son, before he died. This was NOT God’s blessing. This was NOT God’s plan. This was NOT God’s will. Lies and deceit are NEVER God’s will. There is ALWAYS a way to get what God wants using the truth – it just isn’t always comfortable.
What is it that Isaac blesses ‘Esau’ with? Temporary things. Things during his life. Things based on his efforts. This is not the same as the blessing that God gave to Abraham or to Isaac. Knowing his son and his son’s character, the truth that Esau was a little selfish and concerned only with what was in front of him, the blessing addressed only that. This was not a blessing worth fighting over.
The one part of the blessing shows that Rebekah never shared the prophecy she received from God (Genesis 25:19–23). Isaac contradicts the word of the Lord in his blessing and Isaac wouldn’t do that. If he knew God’s will over something, he wouldn’t go against it. It’s natural for the elder son to be in a position over the younger children – especially in the ancient world. Isaac wasn’t trying to get one over on anyone. He was simply giving Esau his birthright – something Isaac didn’t know that he sold to Jacob.
This blessing has temporary benefit. This blessing has the firstborn birthright. This blessing has nothing worn deceiving for. Nothing to strive for. This whole thing Rebekah cooked up was a waste of time, energy, and a source of strife that would cost them. This was not THE blessing. This was a tragedy.
The sage Siftei Chakhamim writes: ‘May he give repeatedly. Rashi is answering the question: Why is it written ויתן, with a ו? Perforce, it means as follows: He will give to you — and even if sins cause the blessing to cease, He will give again. This explanation follows the Midrash. But according to the simple meaning, the ו connects it to what preceded, saying: Hashem gave you one blessing; may He give you another. And where did Hashem bless Yaakov before? The answer is: It is written (v. 27), “Blessed by Hashem.” Here, Hashem blessed Yaakov, as this phrase refers back to, “My son,” written earlier in the verse. It is as if saying: “See that the fragrance of my son, whom Hashem has blessed, is like the fragrance of a field to which Hashem gave a pleasant fragrance.” Whereas here that he married only one woman he says, “Your mother’s sons.” [Yitzchok said it in this manner] because he did not want to say that his sons will be slaves, relating the curse to himself. (Gur Aryeh). Regarding Bilam it states, “Those who bless you… and those who curse you…” Meaning: Concerning the righteous, the troubles come first. Thus Yitzchok mentioned the curses of the cursers first. The Ramban asks: Why is it written in Lech Lecha (12:3), “I will bless those who bless you, and he who curses you, I will curse”? He answers: Because it is written afterward, “And through you, will be blessed…” Thus, the curses of the cursers indeed precede the blessings of those who bless. Although Bilam said to B’nei Yisrael, “Those who bless you are blessed,” he spoke as he did because he was accustomed to addressing the wicked. Alternatively, he blessed them with the reward of the wicked: B’nei Yisrael too, should have tranquility at the beginning.’
The sage Rav Hirsch writes: ‘V. 29 States and nations do not bow before spiritual greatness, they only bow before material greatness. But it was Esau that Isaac thought he had before him. God had promised Abraham that his people would become a blessing for the whole world. In this mission, Isaac imagined Esau’s role was to be to gain the respect of the nations by the material well-being of the Abrahamitic nation. הֶוֵה is imperative, the task, not “be blessed”, but “become a blessing”. By the material prosperity which God will grant you, nations and states will bow down before you, but seek to compete with your brother Jacob to obtain the spiritual greatness also, so that not only strangers but also the sons of your mother bow down before you that you stand before them too as a “man”, then, if you achieve this, then אורריך ארור ומברכיך ברוך.’
The sage Or HaChaim writes: ‘יעבדוך עמים וגו׳. “Nations will serve you, etc.” This might mean that the king would not impose on the people the taxes due him. We find that even when the second Jewish commonwealth was still a satellite of the Persians, their leaders, i.e. their Torah scholars were exempt from taxes as we know from Ezra, 7,24. When verse 40 continues “and you will serve your brother,” this refers to a descendant of Esau when the latter had become king. הוה גביר לאחיך. “Be your brother’s superior;” This refers to Esau personally, i.e. that Esau himself will never become Jacob’s servant, as opposed to some of his descendants to whom the words וישתחוו לך בני אמך, “your mother’s sons will bow down to you” will apply. Another meaning contained in the blessing may be that as long as Jacob will exercise his dominion over Esau by serving the Lord in holiness, the blessing would remain in effect; were he not to do so, one brother could never become a servant to another brother. Should Jacob (or his descendants) fail to serve the Lord, Esau would assume dominion over him. This is why we find that even a relatively mild dereliction of duty towards G’d by the kingdom of Yehudah led to Edom recovering politically (Kings II 8,22). אררך ארור ומברכיך ברוך. “Those who curse you will be cursed and those who bless you will be blessed.” Those who plan to curse you in the future will already be cursed now so as to make their curse ineffective, whereas those who plan to bless you will already be blessed now so as to make their blessing effective.’
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