(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)
“Isaac trembled violently, and said, “Who, then, is he who has taken venison, and brought it to me, and I have eaten of all before you came, and have blessed him? Yes, he will be blessed.” When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, my father.” He said, “Your brother came with deceit, and has taken away your blessing.””
(Genesis 27:33-35)
Isaac’s response shows us now that he had no idea it was really Jacob who had come to him. He had so convinced himself it was Esau that he had no idea. He wasn’t a party to it in order to bless his younger son over his older son. He had been completely taken in. Which also shows us that the blessing he intended for Esau was NOT the blessing of the Lord which he and his father Abraham before him had received. He had wanted Esau to be a success, but he clearly knew who Esau was as a person and the blessing hadn’t contained anything inter-generational or spiritual. It had been a physical blessing of physical and temporary things. It was not a blessing worth stealing in the big picture scope of things. But clearly, it had been stolen and just as clearly Isaac had let himself be completely duped.
Like a child who has cleaned its room but been denied the promised treat, Esau throws a fit. He begs. He demands. He had never cared for things of the future before. He had never cared for his father’s good will. He had rejected the spiritual things and responsibilities of his birth. But now, because something he wanted was taken from him, he is crying and carrying on. Yes, he was wronged, but this is hardly mature behaviour.
Isaac had more blessings that it were in his power to bestow – although not THE Blessing, because that is only ever bestowed by the Lord – but they were all of a spiritual or moral quality. They were all things that Esau had rejected. They were all things not suited to him. Of the things that Esau was suited to, what he had earned, and even what he deserved based on his lifestyle, there was very little left for Isaac to bestow. The well had run dry.
Isaac does show integrity, not trying to double bless. Once something is given, it is gone. You can’t give two people the same award. It just doesn’t mean the same thing. Ties can exist in sports, but they are never a satisfactory ending. Ties cannot exist in gifts. It simply does not work. Jacob could void the blessing through unbelief, but it could not be transferred.
Isaac realizes that Jacob used deceit to take the blessing. How much of himself did Isaac see in Jacob in that moment? Did he see that the seed of deceit he sowed with the Philistines had brought home this harvest (Genesis 26:7–11)?
The Torah: A Women’s Commentary writes: ‘“Me too, Father!” Esau’s cry here echoes Jacob’s answer to Isaac in v. 18. They are both his sons; they both deserve his blessing. Although Rebekah had assured Jacob that any blame would be on her (v. 12), Isaac holds Jacob responsible for his actions. Adrien Bledstein reads this as Isaac’s acknowledgement that Jacob is, like himself, a fellow trickster (“Binder, Trickster, Heel…,” 1993, p. 288). “deceit.” Heb. mirmah, which appears only once more in the Torah, when Jacob’s sons deceive Shechem and Hamor in Dinah’s story (34:13).’
The sage Tur HaAroch writes: ‘גם ברוך יהיה,”he shall also retain his blessing.” Since when is the reaction to someone who complains that he has been tricked out of a blessing, that one tells him that the party who received the blessing in his place is to keep it? Surely, the normal reaction would be to curse the swindler who came by the blessing by devious means! Moreover, seeing that Yitzchok repeated the blessing he had given to Yaakov a second time, this clearly indicates that Yaakov did not obtain the blessing by deceitful means in the first place! Why else would he now bless Yaakov willingly and knowingly? This is why Nachmanides explains the entire verse commencing with the words: מי איפוא הצד ציד ויבא לי ואכל מכל as referring to Esau, i.e. “who is the person who has fed me a line which I swallowed hook line and sinker all these years so that I was befuddled enough to bestow the blessing on him?” Alternately, what Yitzchok meant was that once he had uttered the blessing it was too late for him to recall it and to invalidate it, even if it had been obtained under a false premises. Yitzchok had realized as soon as he had finished blessing Yaakov, that he had indeed blessed the son who deserved the blessing. It was this belated inspiration supplied by the Holy Spirit, which made him tremble in the sudden realization that he had lost his beloved son permanently.’
The sage Radak writes: ‘ויחרד; he displayed his emotional upset in front of Esau in order that Esau should not think he had deliberately fooled Esau by blessing Yaakov. He said: מי איפוא, the words mean: “who is he, and where is he now?” ואכל מכול, of all the tasty dishes which he served me. בטרם תבא, “before you could come. If I had not eaten of all the type of food he had prepared for me, and you would have arrived while I was in the middle of eating, I would have stopped eating from his food and have helped myself to yours and have blessed you. However, since I have eaten my fill before you came I cannot do this now since I have blessed him already.” גם ברוך יהיה, since I have already blessed him I confirm my blessing for I knew that he was my son (not an outsider).’
The sage Or HaChaim writes: ‘ויחרד יצחק. Isaac trembled. Isaac experienced contradictory feelings; he trembled because he had been tricked. At the same time he was aware that he had blessed Jacob by saying that anyone cursing him should himself be cursed. When he understood that the person upon whom he had bestowed the blessing was his son Jacob he blessed him because he realised that the fragrance that emanated from Jacob’s clothing indicated his moral superiority over Esau. This prompted Isaac to confirm his blessing. He may also have been afraid to bring a curse upon himself if he were to revoke the blessing.’
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