Genesis 27:20

Easy-to-Read Version

But Isaac said to his son, "How have you hunted and killed the animals so quickly?" Jacob answered, "Because the Lord your God allowed me to find the animals quickly."

Parallel Translations

English Standard Version
But Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?" He answered, "Because the Lord your God granted me success."

Update Bible Version
And Isaac said to his son, How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because Yahweh your God sent me success.

New Century Version
But Isaac asked his son, "How did you find and kill the animal so quickly?" Jacob answered, "Because the Lord your God helped me to find it."

New English Translation
But Isaac asked his son, "How in the world did you find it so quickly, my son?" "Because the Lord your God brought it to me," he replied.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Isaac said to 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.

World English Bible
Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?" He said, "Because Yahweh your God gave me success."

Amplified Bible
Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have found the game so quickly, my son?" And he said, "Because the LORD your God caused it to come to me."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Eft Ysaac seide to his sone, My sone, hou miytist thou fynde so soone? Which answerde, It was Goddis wille, that this that Y wolde schulde come soone to me.

Young's Literal Translation
And Isaac saith unto his son, `What [is] this thou hast hasted to find, my son?' and he saith, `That which Jehovah thy God hath caused to come before me.'

Berean Standard Bible
But Isaac asked his son, "How did you ever find it so quickly, my son?" "Because the LORD your God brought it to me," he replied.

Contemporary English Version
Isaac asked, "My son, how did you find an animal so quickly?" "The Lord your God was kind to me," Jacob answered.

Complete Jewish Bible
Yitz'chak said to his son, "How did you find it so quickly, my son?" He answered, " Adonai your God made it happen that way."

American Standard Version
And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because Jehovah thy God sent me good speed.

Bible in Basic English
And Isaac said, How is it that you have got it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord your God made it come my way.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Isahac said vnto his sonne: how commeth it that thou hast founde it so quickly my sonne? He aunswered: the lorde thy God brought it to my handes.

Darby Translation
And Isaac said to his son, How is it that thou hast found [it] so quickly, my son? And he said, Because Jehovah thy God put [it] in my way.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
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 sent me good speed.'

King James Version (1611)
And Isaac said vnto his sonne, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my sonne? And he said, Because the LORD thy God brought it to me.

King James Version
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.

New Life Bible
But Isaac said to his son, "How have you found it so fast, my son?" And Jacob said, "Because the Lord your God made it happen."

New Revised Standard
But Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?" He answered, "Because the Lord your God granted me success."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said Isaac unto his son. How is it thou hast been so quick in finding, my son? And he said, Because Yahweh thy God caused it so to fall out before me.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then Izhak said vnto his sonne, Howe hast thou founde it so quickly my sonne? Who sayde, Because the Lorde thy God brought it to mine hande.

George Lamsa Translation
And Isaac said to his son, How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the LORD your God brought it my way.

Good News Translation
Isaac said, "How did you find it so quickly, son?" Jacob answered, "The Lord your God helped me find it."

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Isaac said to his son: How couldst thou find it so quickly, my son? He answered: It was the will of God, that what I sought came quickly in my way:

Revised Standard Version
But Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?" He answered, "Because the LORD your God granted me success."

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Isaac said to his son, What is this which thou hast quickly found? And he said, That which the Lord thy God presented before me.

English Revised Version
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 sent me good speed.

Christian Standard Bible®
But Isaac said to his son, “How did you ever find it so quickly, my son?”

Hebrew Names Version
Yitzchak said to his son, "How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?" He said, "Because the LORD your God gave me success."

Lexham English Bible
Then Isaac said to his son, "How did you find it so quickly, my son?" And he said, "Because Yahweh your God caused me to find it."

Literal Translation
And Isaac said to his son, How then have you quickly found it , my son? And he said, Because Jehovah your God made it come to me.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But Isaac sayde vnto his sonne? My sonne, how hast thou founde it so soone? He answered: The LORDE yi God brought it to my hande.

THE MESSAGE
Isaac said, "So soon? How did you get it so quickly?" "Because your God cleared the way for me."

New American Standard Bible
Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have it so quickly, my son?" And he said, "Because the LORD your God made it come to me."

New King James Version
But Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?" And he said, "Because the LORD your God brought it to me."

New Living Translation
Isaac asked, "How did you find it so quickly, my son?" "The Lord your God put it in my path!" Jacob replied.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have it so quickly, my son?" And he said, "Because the LORD your God caused it to happen to me."

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?" And he said, "Because Yahweh your God caused it to happen to me."

Contextual Overview

¹⁸ Jacob went to his father and said, "Father." His father answered, "Yes, son. Who are you?" ¹⁹ Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau, your first son. I have done what you told me. Now sit up and eat the meat from the animals that I hunted for you. Then you can bless me." ²⁰ But Isaac said to his son, "How have you hunted and killed the animals so quickly?" Jacob answered, "Because the Lord your God allowed me to find the animals quickly." ²¹ Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Come near to me so that I can feel you, my son. If I can feel you, I will know if you are really my son Esau." ²² So Jacob went to Isaac his father. Isaac felt him and said, "Your voice sounds like Jacob's voice, but your arms are hairy like the arms of Esau." ²³ Isaac did not know it was Jacob, because his arms were hairy like Esau's. So Isaac blessed Jacob. ²⁴ Isaac said, "Are you really my son Esau?" Jacob answered, "Yes, I am." ²⁵ Then Isaac said, "Bring me the food. I will eat it and bless you." So Jacob gave him the food, and he ate it. Then Jacob gave him some wine, and he drank it. ²⁶ Then Isaac said to him. "Son, come near and kiss me." ²⁷ So Jacob went to his father and kissed him. When Isaac smelled Esau's clothes, he blessed him and said, "My son smells like the fields the Lord has blessed.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Because: Exodus 20:7, Job 13:7

to me: Heb. before me

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 21:2 - The king 1 Samuel 27:10 - And David Hebrews 7:7 - the less

Cross-References

Genesis 24:12
The servant said, " Lord , you are the God of my master Abraham. Please show your kindness to my master by helping me find a wife for his son Isaac.

Exodus 20:7
"You must not use the name of the Lord your God to make empty promises. If you do, the Lord will not let you go unpunished.

Job 13:7
Will you speak lies for God? Do you really believe your lies are what God wants you to say?

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Isaac said unto his son,.... Supposing him to be Esau:

how [is it] that thou hast found [it] so quickly, my son? that is, the venison; that he had met with it so soon in, the field, and got it dressed and ready in so short a time, which was not common, and seemed to be too little for doing all this in it, and so still created some suspicion of deceit:

and he said, because the Lord thy God brought [it] to me; which was another falsehood; for it was not the Lord, but his mother brought it to him: and this seems to be the most marvellous of all, that so good a man should dare to bring the name of the Lord God into this affair; indeed he does not say the Lord my God, or our God, but thy God; which some think was done on purpose, the more to cover the deceit, because they suppose that Esau, whom Jacob impersonated, was an idolater, but this is not so evident; rather it looks as if Jacob had not the confidence to call the Lord his God with a lie in his mouth.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

- Isaac Blessing His Sons

The life of Isaac falls into three periods. During the first seventy-five years he is contemporary with his father. For sixty-one years more his son Jacob remains under the paternal roof. The remaining forty-four years are passed in the retirement of old age. The chapter before us narrates the last solemn acts of the middle period of his life.

Genesis 27:1-4

Isaac was old. - Joseph was in his thirtieth year when he stood before Pharaoh, and therefore thirty-nine when Jacob came down to Egypt at the age of one hundred and thirty. When Joseph was born, therefore, Jacob was ninety-one, and he had sojourned fourteen years in Padan-aram. Hence, Jacob’s flight to Laban took place when he was seventy-seven, and therefore in the one hundred and thirty-sixth year of Isaac. “His eyes were dim.” Weakness and even loss of sight is more frequent in Palestine than with us. “His older son.” Isaac had not yet come to the conclusion that Jacob was heir of the promise. The communication from the Lord to Rebekah concerning her yet unborn sons in the form in which it is handed down to us merely determines that the older shall serve the younger. This fact Isaac seems to have thought might not imply the transferrence of the birthright; and if he was aware of the transaction between Esau and Jacob, he may not have regarded it as valid. Hence, he makes arrangements for bestowing the paternal benediction on Esau, his older son, whom he also loves. “I am old.” At the age of one hundred and thirty-six, and with failing sight, he felt that life was uncertain. In the calmness of determination he directs Esau to prepare savory meat, such as he loved, that he may have his vigor renewed and his spirits revived for the solemn business of bestowing that blessing, which he held to be fraught with more than ordinary benefits.

Genesis 27:5-13

Rebekah forms a plan for diverting the blessing from Esau to Jacob. She was within hearing when the infirm Isaac gave his orders, and communicates the news to Jacob. Rebekah has no scruples about primogeniture. Her feelings prompt her to take measures, without waiting to consider whether they are justifiable or not, for securing to Jacob that blessing which she has settled in her own mind to be destined for him. She thinks it necessary to interfere that this end may not fail of being accomplished. Jacob views the matter more coolly, and starts a difficulty. He may be found out to be a deceiver, and bring his father’s curse upon him. Rebekah, anticipating no such issue; undertakes to bear the curse that she conceived would never come. Only let him obey.

Verse 14-29

The plan is successful. Jacob now, without further objection, obeys his mother. She clothes him in Esau’s raiment, and puts the skins of the kids on his hands and his neck. The camel-goat affords a hair which bears a great resemblance to that of natural growth, and is used as a substitute for it. Now begins the strange interview between the father and the son. “Who art thou, my son?” The voice of Jacob was somewhat constrained. He goes, however, deliberately through the process of deceiving his father. “Arise, now, sit and eat.” Isaac was reclining on his couch, in the feebleness of advancing years. Sitting was the posture convenient for eating. “The Lord thy God prospered me.” This is the bold reply to Isaac’s expression of surprise at the haste with which the dainty fare had been prepared. The bewildered father now puts Jacob to a severer test. He feels him, but discerns him not. The ear notes a difference, but the hand feels the hairy skin resembling Esau’s; the eyes give no testimony. After this the result is summarily stated in a single sentence, though the particulars are yet to be given. “Art thou my very son Esau?” A lurking doubt puts the definite question, and receives a decisive answer. Isaac then calls for the repast and partakes.

Genesis 27:26-29

He gives the kiss of paternal affection, and pronounces the benediction. It contains, first, a fertile soil. “Of the dew of heaven.” An abundant measure of this was especially precious in a country where the rain is confined to two seasons of the year. “Of the fatness of the earth;” a proportion of this to match and render available the dew of heaven. “Corn and wine,” the substantial products, implying all the rest. Second, a numerous and powerful offspring. “Let peoples serve thee” - pre-eminence among the nations. “Be lord of thy brethren” - pre-eminence among his kindred. Isaac does not seem to have grasped the full meaning of the prediction, “The older shall serve the younger.” Third, Prosperity, temporal and spiritual. He that curseth thee be cursed, and he that blesseth thee be blessed. This is the only part of the blessing that directly comprises spiritual things; and even this of a special form. It is to be recollected that it was Isaac’s intention to bless Esau, and he may have felt that Esau, after all, was not to be the progenitor of the holy seed. Hence, the form of expression is vague enough to apply to temporal things, and yet sufficiently comprehensive to embrace the infliction of the ban of sin, and the diffusion of the blessing of salvation by means of the holy seed.

Genesis 27:30-41

Esau’s blessing. Esau comes in, but it is too late. “Who then?” The whole illusion is dispelled from the mind of Isaac. “Yea, blessed he shall be.” Jacob had no doubt perpetrated a fraud, at the instigation of his mother; and if Esau had been worthy in other respects, and above all if the blessing had been designed for him, its bestowment on another would have been either prevented or regarded as null and void. But Isaac now felt that, whatever was the misconduct of Jacob in interfering, and especially in employing unworthy means to accomplish his end, he himself was culpable in allowing carnal considerations to draw his preference to Esau, who was otherwise unworthy. He knew too that the paternal benediction flowed not from the bias of the parent, but from the Spirit of God guiding his will, and therefore when so pronounced could not be revoked. Hence, he was now convinced that it was the design of Providence that the spiritual blessing should fall on the line of Jacob. The grief of Esau is distressing to witness, especially as he had been comparatively blameless in this particular instance. But still it is to be remembered that his heart had not been open to the paramount importance of spiritual things. Isaac now perceives that Jacob has gained the blessing by deceit. Esau marks the propriety of his name, the wrestler who trips up the heel, and pleads pathetically for at least some blessing. His father enumerates what he has done for Jacob, and asks what more he can do for Esau; who then exclaims, “Hast thou but one blessing?”

Genesis 27:39-41

At length, in reply to the weeping suppliant, he bestows upon him a characteristic blessing. “Away from the fatness.” The preposition (מי mı̂y) is the same as in the blessing of Jacob. But there, after a verb of giving, it had a partitive sense; here, after a noun of place, it denotes distance or separation; for example, Proverbs 20:3 The pastoral life has been distasteful to Esau, and so it shall be with his race. The land of Edom was accordingly a comparative wilderness (Malachi 1:3). “On thy sword.” By preying upon others. “And thy brother shalt thou serve.” Edom was long independent; but at length Saul was victorious over them 1 Samuel 14:47, and David conquered them 2 Samuel 8:14. Then followed a long struggle, until John Hyrcanus, 129 b.c., compelled them to be circumcised and incorporated into Judaism. “Break his yoke.” The history of Edom was a perpetual struggle against the supremacy of Israel. Conquered by Saul, subdued by David, repressed by Solomon, restrained after a revolt by Amaziah, they recovered their independence in the time of Ahab. They were incorporated into the Jewish state, and furnished it with the dynasty of princes beginning with Antipater. Esau was now exasperated against his brother, and could only compose his mind by resolving to slay him during the days of mourning after his father’s death.

Genesis 27:42-46

Rebekah hearing this, advises Jacob to flee to Laban her brother, and await the abatement of his brother’s anger. “That which thou hast done to him.” Rebekah seems not to have been aware that she herself was the cause of much of the evil and of the misery that flowed from it. All the parties to this transaction are pursued by a retributive chastisement. Rebekah, especially, parts with her favorite son to meet him only after an absence of twenty years, if ever in this life. She is moreover grievously vexed with the connection which Esau formed with the daughters of Heth. She dreads a similar matrimonial alliance on the part of Jacob.