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The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 27:38
And ESAU said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? Not as desiring either the reversal of the patriarchal sentence upon Jacob, which he appears to have understood to be irrevocable, or an extension of…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 27:39
And Isaac his father (moved by the tearful earnestness of Esau) answered and said unto him,—still speaking under inspiration, though it is doubtful whether what he spoke was a real, or only an apparent, blessing—(vide i…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 27:40
And by thy sword shalt thou live,—literally, upon thy sword shalt thou be, i.e. thy maintenance shall depend on thy sword; a prediction that Esau's descendants should be a warlike and tumultuous people of predatory habi…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 27:41-46
Esau bore malice to Jacob on account of the blessing he had obtained. Thus he went in the way of Cain, who slew his brother, because he gained that acceptance with God of which he had rendered himself unworthy. Esau aim…
Jacob's Life Threatened by Esau. (b. c. 1760.)
JACOB'S LIFE THREATENED BY ESAU. (B. C. 1760.) Here is, I. The malice Esau bore to Jacob upon account of the blessing which he had obtained, Genesis 27:41. Thus he went in the way of Cain, who slew his brother because h…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 27:41-46
EXPOSITION
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 27:41-46
The stolen blessing: a domestic drama.-4. Rebekah and Esau, or fratricide frustrated. I. THE MURDEROUS DESIGN OF ESAU. 1. The ostensible reason. "Because of the blessing wherewith his father had blessed Jacob." No argum…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 27:41
And Esau hated Jacob—a proof that he was not penitent, however disappointed and remorseful (cf. Obadiah 1:10, Obadiah 1:11; 1 John 3:12, 1 John 3:15)—because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him:—notwithstan…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 27:42
And these (literally, the) words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah:—not likely by revelation, but by some one to whom he had made known his secret purpose (Proverbs 29:11)—and she sent and called Jacob her youn…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 27:43-45
Now therefore, my son, obey my voice;—i.e. be guided by my counsel; a request Rebekah might perhaps feel herself justified in making, not only by her maternal solicitude for Jacob's welfare, but also from the successful…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 27:46
Rebekah, the disappointed. "What good shall my life do me?" Rebekah as a mother doubtless promised herself much joy in her children. They grew up. Esau becomes wayward, Jacob becomes a wanderer. Rebekah yielded to favor…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 27:46
And Rebekah said to Isaac (perhaps already discerning in the contemplated flight to Haran the prospect of a suitable matrimonial alliance for the heir of the promise, and secretly desiring to suggest such a thought to h…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 28:1-5
Jacob had blessings promised both as to this world and that which is to come; yet goes out to a hard service. This corrected him for the fraud on his father. The blessing shall be conferred on him, yet he shall smart fo…
Jacob Dismissed with a Blessing. (b. c. 1760.)
JACOB DISMISSED WITH A BLESSING. (B. C. 1760.) Jacob had no sooner obtained the blessing than immediately he was forced to flee from his country; and, as it if were not enough that he was a stranger and sojourner there,…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 28:1-9
Life with, and life without, God. The divergence of the two representative men is seen in this short statement of their marriage relations. 1. Domestic life under the blessing of God and apart from that blessing. 2. The…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 28:1-9
EXPOSITION
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 28:1
And Isaac called Jacob (to his bed-side), and blessed him,—in enlarged form, renewing the benediction previously given (Genesis 27:27)—and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan (cf. Genesi…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 28:1-9
Jacob and Esau, or diverging paths. I. JACOB'S JOURNEY TO PADAN-ARAM. 1. The path of duty. Entered on in obedience to his mother's wish and his father's commandment, it was an evidence of filial piety. It is the token o…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 28:2
Arise, go to Padan-aram (vide Genesis 14:10; Genesis 25:20; Genesis 27:43), to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father;—(vide Genesis 14:24). If yet alive, Bethuel must have been very old, since he was Isaac's cousin,…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 28:3
And God Almighty—El Shaddai (vide Genesis 17:1)—bless thee,—the Abrahamic benediction in its fullest form was given by El Shaddai (vide Genesis 17:1-8)—and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be—lite…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 28:4
And give thee the Blessing of Abraham,—i.e. promised to Abraham (vide Genesis 12:2; Genesis 22:17, Genesis 22:18). The additions of τοῦ παρός μου (LXX.), אביךְ = τοῦ πατρὸς σου (Samaritan), are unwarranted—to thee,…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 28:5
And Isaac sent away Jacob (Rebekah only counseled, Isaac commanded): and he went to Padan-aram unto Laban, son of Bethel the Syrian (vide Hosea 12:12), the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother. The historian he…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 28:6-9
Good examples impress even the profane and malicious. But Esau thought, by pleasing his parents in one thing, to atone for other wrong doings. Carnal hearts are apt to think themselves as good as they should be, because…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 28:6-9
This passage concerning Esau comes in in the midst of Jacob's story, either, 1. To show the influence of a good example. Esau, though the greater man, now begins to think Jacob the better man, and disdains not to take h…