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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
G E N E S I S
CHAP. XXVII.
In this chapter we return to the typical story of the struggle between
Esau and Jacob. Esau had profanely sold the birthright to
Jacob; but Esau hopes he shall be never the poorer, nor Jacob
the richer, for that bargain, while he preserves his interest in
his father’s affections, and so secures the blessing. Here therefore
we find how he was justly punished for his contempt of the
birthright (of which he foolishly deprived himself) with the loss
of the blessing, of which Jacob fraudulently deprives him. Thus
this story is explained,
“Because he sold the
birthright, when he would have inherited the blessing he was
rejected.” For those that make light of the name and profession
of religion, and throw them away for a trifle, thereby forfeit the
powers and privileges of it. We have here,
I. Isaac’s purpose to
entail the blessing upon Esau,
II. Rebekah’s plot to
procure it for Jacob,
III. Jacob’s successful management
of the plot, and his obtaining the blessing,
IV. Esau’s resentment of this, in which,
1. His great importunity with
his father to obtain a blessing,
2. His great enmity
to his brother for defrauding him of the first blessing,
&c.
| Rebekah’s Contrivance. | B. C. 1760. |
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1 And it came to pass, that when
Isaac was old, and his eyes were
dim, so that he could not see, he called
Esau his eldest son, and said unto
him, My son: and he said unto him,
Behold, here am I.
2 And he said,
Behold now, I am old, I know not
the day of my death:
3 Now therefore
take, I pray thee, thy weapons,
thy quiver and thy bow, and go out
to the field, and take me some venison;
4 And make me savoury meat,
such as I love, and bring it to me,
that I may eat; that my soul may
bless thee before I die.
5 And Rebekah
heard when Isaac spake to Esau
his son. And Esau went to the field
to hunt for venison, and to bring it.
Here is,
I. Isaac’s design to make his will,
and to declare Esau his heir. The promise
of the Messiah and the land of Canaan was
a great trust, first committed to Abraham,
inclusive and typical of spiritual and eternal
blessings; this, by divine direction, he transmitted
to Isaac. Isaac, being now old, and
not knowing, or not understanding, or not
duly considering, the divine oracle concerning
his two sons, that the elder should serve
the younger, resolves to entail all the honour
and power that were wrapped up in the promise
upon Esau his eldest son. In this he
was governed more by natural affection, and
the common method of settlements, than he
ought to have been, if he knew (as it is probable
he did) the intimations God had given
of his mind in this matter. Note, We are
very apt to take our measures rather from
our own reason than from divine revelation,
and thereby often miss our way; we think
the wise and learned, the mighty and noble,
should inherit the promise; but God sees
not as man sees. See
II. The directions he gave to Esau, pursuant
to this design. He calls him to him,
v. 1.
For Esau, though married, had not
yet removed; and, though he had greatly
grieved his parents by his marriage, yet they
had not expelled him, but it seems were
pretty well reconciled to him, and made the
best of it. Note, Parents that are justly
offended at their children yet must not be
implacable towards them.
1. He tells him upon what considerations
he resolved to do this now
(v. 2):
“I am old,
and therefore must die shortly, yet I know
not the day of my death, nor when I must
die; I will therefore do that at this time
which must be done some time.” Note,
(1.) Old people should be reminded by the growing
infirmities of age to do quickly, and with
all the little might they have, what their hand
finds to do. See
(2.) The
consideration of the uncertainty of the time
of our departure out of the world (about
which God has wisely kept us in the dark)
should quicken us to do the work of the day
in its day. The heart and the house should
both be set, and kept, in order, because at
such an hour as we think not the Son of man
comes; because we know not the day of our
death, we are concerned to mind the business
of life.
2. He bids him to get things ready for the
solemnity of executing his last will and testament,
by which he designed to make him his
heir,
Esau must go a hunting, and
bring some venison, which his father will eat
of, and then bless him. In this he designed,
not so much the refreshment of his own
spirits, that he might give the blessing in a
lively manner, as it is commonly taken, but
rather the receiving of a fresh instance of his
son’s filial duty and affection to him, before
he bestowed this favour upon him. Perhaps
Esau, since he had married, had brought his
venison to his wives, and seldom to his father,
as formerly
(ch. xxv. 28),
and therefore Isaac,
before he would bless him, would have him
show this piece of respect to him. Note, It
is fit, if the less be blessed of the greater, that
the greater should be served and honoured
by the less. He says, That my soul may
bless thee before I die. Note,
(1.) Prayer is
the work of the soul, and not of the lips only;
as the soul must be employed in blessing God
(Ps. ciii. 1),
so it must be in blessing ourselves
and others: the blessing will not come
to the heart if it do not come from the heart.
(2.) The work of life must be done before we
die, for it cannot be done afterwards
(Eccl. ix. 10);
and it is very desirable, when we
come to die, to have nothing else to do but
to die. Isaac lived above forty years after
this; let none therefore think that they shall
die the sooner for making their wills and
getting ready for death.
6 And Rebekah spake unto Jacob
her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy
father speak unto Esau thy brother,
saying,
7 Bring me venison, and make
me savoury meat, that I may eat, and
bless thee before the LORD before
my death.
8 Now therefore, my son,
obey my voice according to that which
I command thee.
9 Go now to the
flock, and fetch me from thence two
good kids of the goats; and I will
make them savoury meat for thy father,
such as he loveth:
10 And thou
shalt bring it to thy father, that
he may eat, and that he may bless thee
before his death.
11 And Jacob said
to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau
my brother is a hairy man, and I am
a smooth man:
12 My father peradventure
will feel me, and I shall
seem to him as a deceiver; and I
shall bring a curse upon me, and not
a blessing.
13 And his mother said
unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my
son: only obey my voice, and go fetch
me them.
14 And he went, and
fetched, and brought them to his mother:
and his mother made savoury
meat, such as his father loved.
15 And Rebekah took goodly raiment of
her eldest son Esau, which were with
her in the house, and put them upon
Jacob her younger son:
16 And she
put the skins of the kids of the goats
upon his hands, and upon the smooth
of his neck:
17 And she gave the
savoury meat and the bread, which
she had prepared, into the hand of
her son Jacob.
Rebekah is here contriving to procure for
Jacob the blessing which was designed for
Esau; and here,
I. The end was good, for she was directed
in this intention by the oracle of God, by
which she had been governed in dispensing
her affections. God had said it should be so,
that the elder should serve the younger; and
therefore Rebekah resolves it shall be so, and
cannot bear to see her husband designing to
thwart the oracle of God. But,
II. The means were bad, and no way justifiable.
If it was not a wrong to Esau to
deprive him of the blessing (he himself
having forfeited it by selling the birthright), yet
it was a wrong to Isaac, taking advantage of
his infirmity, to impose upon him; it was
a wrong to Jacob too, whom she taught to deceive,
by putting a lie into his mouth, or at
least by putting one into his right hand. It
would likewise expose him to endless scruples
about the blessing, if he should obtain it thus
fraudulently, whether it would stand him or
his in any stead, especially if his father should
revoke it, upon the discovery of the cheat,
and plead, as he might, that it was nulled by
an error personæ–a mistake of the person.
He himself also was aware of the danger, lest
(v. 12),
if he should miss of the blessing, as
he might probably have done, he should
bring upon himself his father’s curse, which
he dreaded above any thing; besides, he laid
himself open to that divine curse which is
pronounced upon him that causeth the blind
to wander out of the way,
Deut. xxvii. 18.
If Rebekah, when she heard Isaac promise
the blessing to Esau, had gone, at his return
from hunting, to Isaac, and, with humility
and seriousness, put him in remembrance of
that which God had said concerning their
sons,–if she further had shown him how
Esau had forfeited the blessing both by selling
his birthright and by marrying strange
wives, it is probable that Isaac would have
been prevailed upon knowingly and wittingly
to confer the blessing upon Jacob,
and needed not thus to have been cheated
into it. This would have been honourable
and laudable, and would have looked well
in the history; but God left her to herself, to
take this indirect course, that he might have
the glory of bringing good out of evil, and
of serving his own purposes by the sins and
follies of men, and that we might have the
satisfaction of knowing that, though there is
so much wickedness and deceit in the world,
God governs it according to his will, to his
own praise. See
With him are
strength and wisdom, the deceived and the deceiver
are his. Isaac had lost the sense of
seeing, which, in this case, could not have
been imposed upon, Providence having so
admirably well ordered the difference of
features that no two faces are exactly alike:
conversation and commerce could scarcely
be maintained if there were not such a variety.
Therefore she endeavours to deceive,
1. His sense of tasting, by dressing some
choice pieces of kid, seasoning them, serving
them up, so as to make him believe they were
venison: this it was no hard matter to
do. See the folly of those that are nice and curious
in their appetite, and take a pride in
humouring it. It is easy to impose upon
them with that which they pretend to despise
and dislike, so little perhaps does it differ
from that to which they give a decided preference.
Solomon tells us that dainties are
deceitful meat; for it is possible for us to be
deceived by them in more ways than one,
2. His sense of feeling and
smelling. She put Esau’s clothes upon
Jacob, his best clothes, which, it might be
supposed, Esau would put on, in token of
joy and respect to his father, when he was to
receive the blessing. Isaac knew these, by
the stuff, shape, and smell, to be Esau’s. If
we would obtain a blessing from our heavenly
Father, we must come for it in the garments
of our elder brother, clothed with his righteousness,
who is the first-born among many
brethren. Lest the smoothness and softness
of Jacob’s hands and neck should betray
him, she covered them, and probably part
of his face, with the skins of the kids that
were newly killed,
Esau was rough
indeed when nothing less than these would
serve to make Jacob like him. Those that
affect to seem rough and rugged in their carriage
put the beast upon the man, and really
shame themselves, by thus disguising themselves.
And, lastly, it was a very rash word
which Rebekah spoke, when Jacob objected
the danger of a curse: Upon me be thy curse,
my son,
v. 13.
Christ indeed, who is mighty
to save, because mighty to bear, has said,
Upon me be the curse, only obey my voice; he
has borne the burden of the curse, the curse
of the law, for all those that will take upon
them the yoke of the command, the command
of the gospel. But it is too daring for any
creature to say, Upon me be the curse, unless
it be that curse causeless which we are sure
shall not come,
Prov. xxvi. 2.
| The Fraud of Jacob. | B. C. 1760. |
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18 And he came unto his father,
and said, My father: and he said,
Here am I; who art thou, my son?
19 And Jacob said unto his father, I
am Esau thy firstborn; I have done
according as thou badest me: arise, I
pray thee, sit and eat of my venison,
that thy soul may bless 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.
Observe here,
I. The art and assurance
with which Jacob managed this intrigue.
Who would have thought that this plain man
could have played his part so well in a design
of this nature? His mother having put him
in the way of it, and encouraged him in it, he
dexterously applied himself to those methods
which he had never accustomed himself to,
but had always conceived an abhorrence of.
Note, Lying is soon learnt. The psalmist
speaks of those who, as soon as they are born,
speak lies,
Ps. lviii. 3; Jer. ix. 5.
I wonder
how honest Jacob could so readily turn his
tongue to say
(v. 19),
I am Esau thy first-born;
nor do I see how the endeavour of
some to bring him off with that equivocation,
I am made thy first-born, namely by purchase,
does him any service; for when his father
asked him
(v. 24),
Art thou my very son Esau?
he said, I am. How could he say, I have
done as thou badest me, when he had received
no command from his father, but was doing
as his mother bade him? How could he say,
Eat of my venison, when he knew it came,
not from the field, but from the fold? But
especially I wonder how he could have the
assurance to father it upon God, and to use
his name in the cheat
(v. 20):
The Lord thy
God brought it to me. Is this Jacob? Is this
Israel indeed, without guile? It is certainly
written, not for our imitation, but for our admonition.
Let him that thinks he stands take
heed lest he fall. Good men have sometimes
failed in the exercise of those graces for which
they have been most eminent.
II. The success of this management. Jacob
with some difficulty gained his point, and
obtained the blessing.
1. Isaac was at first dissatisfied, and would
have discovered the fraud if he could have
trusted his own ears; for the voice was Jacob’s
voice,
v. 22.
Providence has ordered a strange
variety of voices as well as faces, which is
also of use to prevent our being imposed
upon; and the voice is a thing not easily disguised
nor counterfeited. This may be alluded
to to illustrate the character of a hypocrite.
His voice is Jacob’s voice, but his
hands are Esau’s. He speaks the language of
a saint, but does the works of a sinner; but
the judgment will be, as here, by the hands.
2. At length he yielded to the power of
the cheat, because the hands were hairy
(v. 23),
not considering how easy it was to counterfeit
that circumstance; and now Jacob
carries it on dexterously, sets his venison
before his father, and waits at table very
officiously, till dinner is done, and the blessing
comes to be pronounced in the close of
this solemn feast. That which in some small
degree extenuates the crime of Rebekah and
Jacob is that the fraud was intended, not so
much to hasten the fulfilling, as to prevent
the thwarting, of the oracle of God: the
blessing was just going to be put upon the
wrong head, and they thought it was time to
bestir themselves. Now let us see how Isaac
gave Jacob his blessing,
(1.) He embraced him, in token of a particular
affection to him. Those that are blessed of
God are kissed with the kisses of his mouth,
and they do, by love and loyalty, kiss the
Son,
Ps. ii. 12.
(2.) He praised him. He
smelt the smell of his raiment, and said, See,
the smell of my son is as the smell of a field
which the Lord hath blessed, that is, like that
of the most fragrant flowers and spices. It
appeared that God had blessed him, and
therefore Isaac would bless him.
(3.) He
prayed for him, and therein prophesied concerning
him. It is the duty of parents to
pray for their children, and to bless them in
the name of the Lord. And thus, as well as
by their baptism, to do what they can to preserve
and perpetuate the entail of the covenant
in their families. But this was an extraordinary
blessing; and Providence so ordered
it that Isaac should bestow it upon Jacob
ignorantly and by mistake, that it might appear
he was beholden to God for it, and not
to Isaac. Three things Jacob is here blessed
with:–
[1.] Plenty
(v. 28),
heaven and earth concurring to make him rich.
[2.] Power
(v. 29),
particularly dominion over his brethren,
namely, Esau and his posterity.
[3.] Prevalency with God, and a great interest in
Heaven: “Cursed by every one that curseth
thee and blessed be he that blesseth thee. Let
God be a friend to all thy friends, and an
enemy to all thy enemies.” More is certainly
comprised in this blessing than appears
prima facie–at first sight. It must amount
to an entail of the promise of the Messiah, and
of the church; this was, in the patriarchal
dialect, the blessing: something spiritual,
doubtless, is included in it. First, That from
him should come the Messiah, who should
have a sovereign dominion on earth. It was
that top-branch of his family which people
should serve and nations bow down to. See
Out of Jacob shall come he
that shall have dominion, the star and sceptre,
v. 17.
Jacob’s dominion over Esau was to
be only typical of this,
Secondly,
That from him should come the church, which
should be particularly owned and favoured
by Heaven. It was part of the blessing of
Abraham, when he was first called to be the
father of the faithful
I will bless
those that bless thee; therefore, when Isaac
afterwards confirmed the blessing to Jacob, he
called it the blessing of Abraham,
ch. xxviii. 4.
Balaam explains this too,
Note, It is the best and most desirable blessing
to stand in relation to Christ and his
church, and to be interested in Christ’s power
and the church’s favours.
| The Blessing Pronounced on Jacob and Esau. | B. C. 1760. |
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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 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 subtlety, 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 birthright; 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?
38 And Esau
said unto his father, Hast thou but
one blessing, my father? bless me,
even me also, O my father. And Esau
lifted up his voice, and wept.
39 And
Isaac his father answered and said unto
him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be
the fatness of the earth, and of the
dew of heaven from above;
40 And by thy sword shalt
thou live, and shalt serve
thy brother; and it shall come
to pass when thou shalt have the dominion,
that thou shalt break his yoke
from off thy neck.
Here is,
I. The covenant-blessing denied
to Esau. He that made so light of the birthright
would now have inherited the blessing,
but he was rejected, and found no place of repentance
in his father, though he sought it
carefully with tears,
Heb. xii. 17.
Observe,
1. How carefully he sought it. He prepared
the savoury meat, as his father had directed
him, and then begged the blessing which his
father had encouraged him to expect,
When he understood that Jacob had obtained
it surreptitiously, he cried with a great
and exceedingly bitter cry,
v. 34.
No man could
have laid the disappointment more to heart
than he did; he made his father’s tent to
ring with his grief, and again
(v. 38)
lifted up his voice and wept. Note, The day is
coming when those that now make light of
the blessings of the covenant, and sell their
title to them for a thing of nought, will in
vain be importunate for them. Those that
will not so much as ask and seek now will
knock shortly, and cry, Lord, Lord. Slighters
of Christ will then be humble suitors to
him.
2. How he was rejected. Isaac, when
first made sensible of the imposition that had
been practised on him, trembled exceedingly,
v. 33.
Those that follow the choice of their
own affections, rather than the dictates of the
divine will, involve themselves in such perplexities
as these. But he soon recovers
himself, and ratifies the blessing he had given
to Jacob: I have blessed him, and he shall
be blessed; he might, upon very plausible
grounds, have recalled it, but now, at last, he
is sensible that he was in an error when he
designed it for Esau. Either himself recollecting
the divine oracle, or rather having
found himself more than ordinarily filled with
the Holy Ghost when he gave the blessing to Jacob, he
perceived that God did, as it were,
say Amen to it. Now,
(1.) Jacob was hereby
confirmed in his possession of the blessing,
and abundantly satisfied of the validity of it,
though he obtained it fraudulently; hence
too he had reason to hope that God graciously
overlooked and pardoned his misconduct.
(2.) Isaac hereby acquiesced in the will of
God, though it contradicted his own expectations
and affection. He had a mind to give
Esau the blessing, but, when he perceived
the will of God was otherwise, he submitted;
and this he did by faith
(Heb. xi. 20),
as Abraham before him, when he had solicited
for Ishmael. May not God do what he will
with his own?
(3.) Esau hereby was cut off
from the expectation of that special blessing
which he thought to have preserved to himself
when he sold his birthright. We, by
this instance, are taught,
[1.] That it is not
of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but of God that showeth mercy,
Rom. ix. 16.
The apostle seems to allude to this story.
Esau had a good will to the blessing, and
ran for it; but God that showed mercy designed
it for Jacob, that the purpose of God
according to election might stand,
v. 11.
The Jews, like Esau, hunted after the law of righteousness
(v. 31),
yet missed of the blessing
of righteousness, because they sought it by
the works of the law
(v. 32);
while the Gentiles,
who, like Jacob, sought it by faith in
the oracle of God, obtained it by force, with
that violence which the kingdom of heaven
suffers. See
[2.] That those
who undervalue their spiritual birthright,
and can afford to sell it for a morsel of meat,
forfeit spiritual blessings, and it is just with
God to deny them those favours they were
careless of. Those that will part with their
wisdom and grace, with their faith and a
good conscience, for the honours, wealth, or
pleasures, of this world, however they may
pretend a zeal for the blessing, have already
judged themselves unworthy of it, and so
shall their doom be.
[3.] That those who
lift up hands in wrath lift them up in vain.
Esau, instead of repenting of his own folly,
reproached his brother, unjustly charged him
with taking away the birthright which he
had fairly sold to him
(v. 36),
and conceived
malice against him for what he had now
done,
Those are not likely to speed
in prayer who turn those resentments upon
their brethren which they should turn upon
themselves, and lay the blame of their miscarriages
upon others, when they should
take shame to themselves.
[4.] That those
who seek not till it is too late will be rejected.
This was the ruin of Esau, he did not come
in time. As there is an accepted time, a
time when God will be found, so there is a
time when he will not answer those that call
upon him, because they neglected the appointed
season. See
The time
of God’s patience and our probation will not
last always; the day of grace will come to
an end, and the door will be shut. Then many that
now despise the blessing will seek it carefully;
for then they will know how to
value it, and will see themselves undone, for
ever undone, without it, but to no purpose,
O that we would therefore,
in this our day, know the things that
belong to our peace!
II. Here is a common blessing bestowed
upon Esau.
1. This he desired: Bless me also,
v. 34.
Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?
v. 36.
Note,
(1.) The worst of men know how to
wish well to themselves; and even those who
profanely sell their birthright seem piously to
desire the blessing. Faint desires of happiness,
without a right choice of the end and a
right use of the means, deceive many into
their own ruin. Multitudes go to hell with
their mouths full of good wishes. The desire
of the slothful and unbelieving kills them.
Many will seek to enter in, as Esau, who
shall not be able, because they do not strive,
(2.) It is the folly of most
men that they are willing to take up with any
good
(Ps. iv. 6),
as Esau here, who desired
but a second-rate blessing, a blessing separated
from the birthright. Profane hearts
think any blessing as good as that from God’s
oracle: Hast thou but one? As if he had said,
“I will take up with any: though I have not
the blessing of the church, yet let me have
some blessing.”
2. This he had; and let him make his best
of it,
(1.) It was a good thing, and better than
he deserved. It was promised him,
[1.] That he should have a competent livelihood–the
fatness of the earth, and the dew of heaven.
Note, Those that come short of the blessings
of the covenant may yet have a very good
share of outward blessings. God gives good
ground and good weather to many that reject
his covenant, and have no part nor lot in it.
[2.] That by degrees he should recover his
liberty. If Jacob must rule
(v. 29),
Esau must serve; but he has this to comfort him,
he shall live by his sword. He shall serve,
but he shall not starve; and, at length, after
much skirmishing, he shall break the yoke of
bondage, and wear marks of freedom.
This was fulfilled
when the Edomites revolted.
(2.) Yet it was far short of Jacob’s blessing.
For him God had reserved some better thing.
[1.] In Jacob’s blessing the dew of heaven is
put first, as that which he most valued, and
desired, and depended upon; in Esau’s the
fatness of the earth is put first, for it was this
that he had the first and principal regard to.
[2.] Esau has these, but Jacob has them
from God’s hand: God give thee the dew of
heaven,
v. 28.
It was enough to Esau to have
the possession; but Jacob desired it by promise,
and to have it from covenant-love.
[3.] Jacob shall have dominion over his brethren:
hence the Israelites often ruled over the
Edomites. Esau shall have dominion, that
is, he shall gain some power and interest,
but shall never have dominion over his brother:
we never find that the Jews were sold
into the hands of the Edomites, or that they
oppressed them. But the great difference in
that there is nothing in Esau’s blessing that
points at Christ, nothing that brings him or
his into the church and covenant of God,
without which the fatness of the earth, and
the plunder of the field, will stand him in
little stead. Thus Isaac by faith blessed them
both according as their lot should be. Some
observe that Jacob was blessed with a kiss
(v. 27),
so was not Esau.
| Jacob’s Life Threatened by Esau. | B. C. 1760. |
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41 And Esau hated Jacob because
of the blessing wherewith his father
blessed him: and Esau said in his
heart, The days of mourning for my
father are at hand; then will I slay
my brother Jacob.
42 And these
words of Esau her elder son were told
to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob
her younger son, and said unto him,
Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching
thee, doth comfort himself, purposing
to kill thee.
43 Now therefore, my
son, obey my voice; and arise, flee
thou to Laban my brother to Haran;
44 And tarry with him a few days,
until thy brother’s fury turn 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?
46 And Rebekah
said to Isaac, I am weary of my life
because of the daughters of Heth: if
Jacob take a wife of the daughters of
Heth, such as these which are of the
daughters of the land, what good shall
my life do me?
Here is,
I. The malice Esau bore to Jacob
upon account of the blessing which he had
obtained,
Thus he went in the way of
Cain, who slew his brother because he had
gained that acceptance with God of which
he had rendered himself unworthy. Esau’s
hatred of Jacob was,
1. A causeless hatred.
He hated him for no other reason but because
his father blessed him and God loved him.
Note, The happiness of saints is the envy of
sinners. Whom Heaven blesses, hell curses.
2. It was a cruel hatred. Nothing less would
satisfy him than to slay his brother. It is
the blood of the saints that persecutors thirst
after: I will slay my brother. How could he
say that word without horror? How could
he call him brother, and yet vow his death?
Note, The rage of persecutors will not be tied
up by any bonds, no, not the strongest and
most sacred.
3. It was a politic hatred. He
expected his father would soon die, and then
titles must be tried and interests contested
between the brothers, which would give him
a fair opportunity for revenge. He thinks it
not enough to live by his sword himself
(v. 40),
unless his brother die by it. He is loth to
grieve his father while he lives, and therefore
puts off the intended murder till his death,
not caring how much he then grieved his
surviving mother. Note,
(1.) Those are bad
children to whom their good parents are a
burden, and who, upon any account, long for
the days of mourning for them.
(2.) Bad
men are long held in by external restraints
from doing the mischief they would do, and
so their wicked purposes come to nought.
(3.) Those who think to defeat God’s purposes
will undoubtedly be disappointed themselves.
Esau aimed to prevent Jacob, or his
seed, from having the dominion, by taking
away his life before he was married; but who
can disannul what God has spoken? Men
may fret at God’s counsels, but cannot change
them.
II. The method Rebekah took to prevent
the mischief.
1. She gave Jacob warning of his danger,
and advised him to withdraw for a while, and
shift for his own safety. She tells him what
she heard of Esau’s design, that he comforted
himself with the hope of an opportunity to
kill his brother,
Would one think
that such a bloody barbarous thought as this
could be a comfort to a man? If Esau could
have kept his design to himself his mother
would not have suspected it; but men’s impudence
in sin is often their infatuation; and
they cannot accomplish their wickedness because
their rage is too violent to be concealed,
and a bird of the air carries the voice. Observe
here,
(1.) What Rebekah feared–lest
she should be deprived of them both in one
day
(v. 45),
deprived, not only of the murdered,
but of the murderer, who either by the magistrate,
or by the immediate hand of God,
would by sacrificed to justice, which she herself
must acquiesce in, and not obstruct: or,
if not so, yet thenceforward she would be
deprived of all joy and comfort in him. Those
that are lost to virtue are in a manner lost to
all their friends. With what pleasure can a
child be looked upon that can be looked upon
as no other than a child of the devil?
(2.) What Rebekah hoped–that, if Jacob for a
while kept out of sight, the affront which his
brother resented so fiercely would by degrees
go out of mind. The strength of passions is
weakened and taken off by the distances both
of time and place. She promised herself that
his brother’s anger would turn away. Note,
Yielding pacifies great offences; and even
those that have a good cause, and God on
their side, must yet use this with other prudent
expedients for their own preservation.
2. She impressed Isaac with an apprehension
of the necessity of Jacob’s going among
her relations upon another account, which
was to take a wife,
She would not tell
him of Esau’s wicked design against the life
of Jacob, lest it should trouble him; but
prudently took another way to gain her point.
Isaac saw as uneasy as he was to Esau’s being
unequally yoked with Hittites; and therefore,
with a very good colour of reason, she
moves to have Jacob married to one that was
better principled. Note, One miscarriage
should serve as a warning to prevent another;
those are careless indeed that stumble twice
at the same stone. Yet Rebekah seems to
have expressed herself somewhat too warmly
in the matter, when she said, What good will
my life do me if Jacob marry a Canaanite?
Thanks be to God, all our comfort is not
lodged in one hand; we may do the work of
life, and enjoy the comforts of life, though
every thing do not fall out to our mind, and
though our relations be not in all respects
agreeable to us. Perhaps Rebekah spoke
with this concern because she saw it necessary,
for the quickening of Isaac, to give
speedy orders in this matter. Observe,
Though Jacob was himself very towardly,
and well fixed in his religion, yet he had need
to be put out of the way of temptation. Even
he was in danger both of following the bad
example of his brother and of being drawn
into a snare by it. We must not presume too
far upon the wisdom and resolution, no, not
of those children that are most hopeful and
promising; but care must be taken to keep
them out of harm’s way.
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