the Week of Proper 26 / Ordinary 31
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Genesis 27:40
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- CondensedParallel Translations
By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you grow restless you shall break his yoke from your neck."
And by your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother. And it shall come to pass, when you shall break loose, That you shall shake his yoke from off your neck.
You will live by using your sword, and you will be a slave to your brother. But when you struggle, you will break free from him."
You will live by your sword but you will serve your brother. When you grow restless, you will tear off his yoke from your neck."
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.
By your sword will you live, and you will serve your brother. It will happen, when you will break loose, That you shall shake his yoke from off your neck."
But you shall live by your sword, And serve your brother; However it shall come to pass when you break loose [from your anger and hatred], That you will tear his yoke off your neck [and you will be free of him]."
thou schalt lyue bi swerd, and thou schalt serue thi brothir, and tyme schal come whanne thou schalt shake awei, and vnbynde his yok fro thi nollis.
and by thy sword dost thou live, and thy brother dost thou serve; and it hath come to pass when thou rulest, that thou hast broken his yoke from off thy neck.'
You shall live by the sword, and serve your brother. But when you rebel, you will tear his yoke from your neck."
You will live by the power of your sword and be your brother's slave. But when you decide to be free, you will break loose."
You will live by your sword, and you will serve your brother. But when you break loose, you will shake his yoke off your neck."
And by thy sword shalt thou live, and thou shalt serve thy brother; And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt break loose, That thou shalt shake his yoke from off thy neck.
By your sword will you get your living and you will be your brother's servant; but when your power is increased his yoke will be broken from off your neck.
And through thy sworde shalt thou liue, and shalt be thy brothers seruaunt: and it shal come to passe, that thou shalt get the maisterie, & thou shalt loose his yoke from of thy necke.
And by thy sword shalt thou live; And thou shalt serve thy brother; And it shall come to pass when thou rovest about, That thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.
And by thy sword shalt thou live, and thou shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt break loose, that thou shalt shake his yoke from off thy neck.
And by thy sword shalt thou liue, and shalt serue thy brother: and it shall come to passe when thou shalt haue the dominion, that thou shalt breake his yoke from off thy necke.
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.
You will live by your sword and you will serve your brother. But when you break loose, you will throw his load off your back."
By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you break loose, you shall break his yoke from your neck."
And on thy sword, shalt thou live, And thy brother, shalt thou serve: But it shall come to pass when thou shalt rove at large, Then shalt thou break his yoke from off thy neck.
And by thy sword shalt thou liue, and shalt be thy brothers seruant. But it shall come to passe, when thou shalt get the masterie, that thou shalt breake his yoke from thy necke.
And by your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but if you shall repent, his yoke shall pass away from off your neck.
You will live by your sword, But be your brother's slave. Yet when you rebel, You will break away from his control."
Shall thy blessing be. Thou shalt live by the sword, and shalt serve thy brother: and the time shall come, when thou shalt shake off and loose his yoke from thy neck.
By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you break loose you shall break his yoke from your neck."
And thou shalt live by thy sword, and shalt serve thy brother; and there shall be a time when thou shalt break and loosen his yoke from off thy neck.
And by thy sword shalt thou live, and thou shalt serve thy brother; And it shall come to pass when thou shalt break loose, That thou shalt shake his yoke from off thy neck.
You will live by your sword,and you will serve your brother.But when you rebel,you will break his yoke from your neck.
By your sword will you live, and you will serve your brother. It will happen, when you will break loose, That you shall shake his yoke from off your neck."
But by your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother. But it shall be that when free yourself you shall tear off his yoke from your neck.
and you shall live by your sword, and you shall serve your brother; and when it shall be that you are restless, you shall break his yoke from your neck.
with thy swerde shalt thou get thy lyuynge, and shalt serue thy brother. And it shall come to passe, yt thou shalt put of his yock, and plucke it from thy neck.
"And by your sword you shall live, And you shall serve your brother; But it shall come about when you become restless, That you will break his yoke from your neck."
By your sword you shall live, And you shall serve your brother; And it shall come to pass, when you become restless, That you shall break his yoke from your neck."
You will live by your sword, and you will serve your brother. But when you decide to break free, you will shake his yoke from your neck."
"By your sword you shall live, And your brother you shall serve; But it shall come about when you become restless, That you will break his yoke from your neck."
By your sword you shall live,And your brother you shall serve;But it shall be when you become restless,That you will break his yoke from your neck."
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
thy sword: Genesis 32:6, Matthew 10:34
serve: Genesis 25:23, 2 Samuel 8:14, 1 Kings 11:15-17, 2 Kings 14:7, 2 Kings 14:10, 1 Chronicles 18:11-13, 2 Chronicles 25:11, 2 Chronicles 25:12, Psalms 60:8, Obadiah 1:17-21
that thou: 2 Kings 8:20-22, 2 Chronicles 21:8, 2 Chronicles 21:10, 2 Chronicles 28:17
Reciprocal: Genesis 9:26 - his servant Genesis 16:12 - his hand Genesis 25:27 - a cunning Genesis 49:26 - have prevailed Numbers 24:18 - General 1 Kings 22:47 - no king 2 Kings 8:22 - Yet 1 Chronicles 16:22 - prophets 1 Chronicles 18:13 - all the Edomites Job 24:5 - the wilderness Psalms 105:15 - and do Isaiah 9:4 - For thou hast broken Jeremiah 28:4 - I will break Ezekiel 33:26 - stand Amos 1:11 - because
Cross-References
The Lord said to her, "The leaders of two nations are in your body. Two nations will come from you, and they will be divided. One of them will be stronger, and the older will serve the younger."
But Jacob told his mother Rebekah, "My brother Esau is a hairy man. I am not hairy like him.
If my father touches me, he will know that I am not Esau. Then he will not bless me—he will curse me because I tried to trick him."
So Rebekah said to him, "I will accept the blame if there is trouble. Do what I said. Go get the goats for me."
Then Rebekah took the clothes that her older son Esau loved to wear. She put these clothes on the younger son Jacob.
Then she got the food she had cooked and gave it to Jacob.
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."
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."
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."
The messengers came back to Jacob and said, "We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you. He has 400 men with him."
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And by thy sword shalt thou live,.... By what he could get by it; his land being so poor that he could not live upon it, but must be obliged to such methods for a livelihood; or his country being surrounded with enemies, his posterity would be obliged to defend themselves by the sword, and other weapons of war:
and shalt serve thy brother; which is the sense and language of the oracle, Genesis 25:23; and which Isaac perhaps now remembered, and had a clear understanding of it, and delivers out his prophetic blessing agreeably to it:
and it shall come to pass, when thou shalt have the dominion; not over the Israelites, the posterity of Jacob, which the Edomites, Esau's posterity, never had; but when they should get a greater degree of strength, power, authority, and dominion in the world:
that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck; the Edomites should revolt from the posterity of Jacob, and shake off the yoke of bondage and subjection they had been long under; as they did in the times of Joram, king of Judah, and set up a king of their own, and continued in such a state of freedom a long time, see 2 Kings 8:20.
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.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Genesis 27:40. By thy sword shalt thou live — This does not absolutely mean that the Edomites should have constant wars; but that they should be of a fierce and warlike disposition, gaining their sustenance by hunting, and by predatory excursions upon the possessions of others. Bishop Newton speaks on this subject with his usual good sense and judgment: "The elder branch, it is here foretold, should delight more in war and violence, but yet should be subdued by the younger. By thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother. Esau might be said to live much by the sword; for he was a cunning hunter, a man of the field. He and his children got possession of Mount Seir by force and violence, expelling from thence the Horites, the former inhabitants. By what means they spread themselves farther among the Arabians is not known; but it appears that upon a sedition and separation several of the Edomites came and seized upon the south-west parts of Judea, during the Babylonish captivity, and settled there ever after. Before and after this they were almost continually at war with the Jews; upon every occasion they were ready to join with their enemies; and when Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem, they encouraged him utterly to destroy the city, saying, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundations thereof. Psalms 137:7. And even long after they were subdued by the Jews, they retained the same martial spirit; for Josephus in his time gives them the character of 'a turbulent and disorderly nation, always erect to commotions, and rejoicing in changes; at the least adulation of those who beseech them, beginning war, and hasting to battles as to a feast.' And a little before the last siege of Jerusalem they came, at the entreaty of the Zealots, to assist them against the priests and people; and there, together with the Zealots, committed unheard-of cruelties, and barbarously murdered Annas, the high priest, from whose death Josephus dates the destruction of the city." See Dr. Dodd.
And - when thou shalt have the dominion — It is here foretold that there was to be a time when the elder was to have dominion and shake off the yoke of the younger. The word תריד tarid, which we translate have dominion, is rather of doubtful meaning, as it may be deduced from three different roots, ירד yarad, to descend, to be brought down or brought low; דרה radah, to obtain rule or have dominion; and רוד rud, to complain; meaning either that when reduced very low God would magnify his power in their behalf, and deliver them from the yoke of their brethren; or when they should be increased so as to venture to set up a king over them, or when they mourned for their transgressions, God would turn their captivity. The Jerusalem Targum gives the words the following turn: "When the sons of Jacob attend to the law and observe the precepts, they shall impose the yoke of servitude upon thy neck; but when they shall turn away themselves from studying the law and neglect the precepts, thou shalt break off the yoke of servitude from thy neck."
"It was David who imposed the yoke, and at that time the Jewish people observed the law; but the yoke was very galling to the Edomites from the first; and towards the end of Solomon's reign Hadad, the Edomite, of the blood royal, who had been carried into Egypt from his childhood, returned into his own country, and raised some disturbances, but was not able to recover his throne, his subjects being over-awed by the garrisons which David had placed among them; but in the reign of Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, the Edomites revolted from under the dominion of Judah, and made themselves a king. Jehoram made some attempts to subdue them again, but could not prevail; so the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day, 2 Chronicles 21:8; 2 Chronicles 21:10, and hereby this part of the prophecy was fulfilled about nine hundred years after it was delivered." See Bishop Newton.
"Thus," says Bishop Newton, "have we traced, in our notes on this and the Genesis 25:0, the accomplishment of this prophecy from the beginning; and we find that the nation of the Edomites has at several times been conquered by and made tributary to the Jews, but never the nation of the Jews to the Edomites; and the Jews have been the more considerable people, more known in the world, and more famous in history. We know indeed little more of the history of the Edomites than as it is connected with that of the Jews; and where is the name or nation now? They were swallowed up and lost, partly among the Nabathean Arabs, and partly among the Jews; and the very name, as Dr. Prideaux has observed, was abolished and disused about the end of the first century of the Christian era. Thus were they rewarded for insulting and oppressing their brethren the Jews; and hereby other prophecies were fulfilled, viz., Jeremiah 49:7, c. Ezekiel 25:12. c. Joel 3:19; Amos 1:11, c. and particularly Obadiah; for at this day we see the Jews subsisting as a distinct people, while Edom is no more, agreeably to the words of Obadiah, Obadiah 1:10: For thy violence against thy brother Jacob, in the return of his posterity from Egypt, shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. And again, Obadiah 1:18: There shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau, for the Lord hath spoken it. In what a most extensive and circumstantial manner has God fulfilled all these predictions! and what a proof is this of the Divine inspiration of the Pentateuch, and the omniscience of God!"
