Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven,—literally, and the Elohim will give thee, with an optative sense; i.e. and may the—Elohim give thee! The occurrence of הָאֱלֹהִים in what is usually assigned to the Jehovist (Tuch, Bleek, Davidson) is not to be explained as a special Jehovistic formula (Colenso), or as a remnant of the fundamental Elohistic writing (Kalisch), or as indicating that the personal God, and not Jehovah, the God of the covenant, was the source of the blessing (Keil, Gosman in Lange), or as intimating a remaining doubt as to whether Esau was the chosen one of Jehovah (Lange); but as identifying Jehovah with Elohim, the art.
being the art. of reference, as in Genesis 22:1. The blessing craved was substantially that of a fertile soil, in Oriental countries the copious dew deposited by the atmosphere supplying the place of rain.
Hence dew is employed in Scripture as a symbol of material prosperity (Deuteronomy 33:13, Deuteronomy 33:28; Zechariah 8:12), and the absence of dew and rain represented as a signal of Divine displeasure (2 Samuel 1:21; 1 Kings 17:1; Haggai 1:10, Haggai 1:11)—and the fatness of the earth,—literally, of the fat-nesses, or choicest parts, of the earth (Genesis 45:18)—and plenty of corn and wine—i.
e. abundance of the produce of the soil (cf. Deuteronomy 33:28).