Genesis 27:28 Commentary and Bible Study

But notice the blessing which he gave him: it is a very strange one. It is not the full blessing. ‘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.’ That is just the point. Thinking this was Esau, Isaac gave him the headship of the family but he did not give him the blessing of the one who would bear the seed royal. Turning to Genesis 12:2-3 you see, the great blessing given to Abraham: ‘I will make of thee a great nation and I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shall be a blessing, and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee.’ But not that this bit: ‘And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.’ Isaac never said that when he thought he was blessing Esau. He left that out, because that would be reserved for Jacob. What Isaac was doing was wrong; he should not be giving even the headship of the family to Esau, but he did not give him the seed blessing; he left that completely out. It is repeated in chapter 26 when God appears to Isaac. In chapter 22:17-18 you find it again repeated to Abraham: ‘That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore’, and verse 18. ‘And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed’ There it is again: but it is left out of Isaac’s blessing to Esau. Then also in chapter 26:3-4. This is God speaking earlier to Isaac, and giving him the blessing. ‘Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and I will bless thee, for unto thee and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries’, and so on. And then verse four, ‘and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.’ The seed royal promise. Isaac never gave that to Esau; he never intended to. Rebekah thought he was going to give Esau everything; so did Jacob.