54 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Isaac trembled very exceedingly,.... Or "trembled with a great trembling exceedingly" (b); he was amazed, and astonished, and seized with a trembling all over his body, and with terror and confusion of mind; at the craft of Jacob in getting the blessing; at the disappointment of Esau in losing it; at his own act in blessing Jacob instead of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when Esau heard the words of his father,.... That another person had been before him, and got the blessing; and especially when he heard this ratified, and confirmed, and made irrevocable: he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry; as loud as he possibly could, and in as doleful and hideous a manner as can be imagined; according to the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said, thy brother came with subtilty,.... The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, and so Jarchi, interpret it, "with wisdom", taking it in a good sense, and as excusing the fact; or rather commending it, as if it was wisely and prudently managed; but the word signifies fraud and deceit, and so it must be understood; though it may be Isaac says...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said, is not he rightly named Jacob?.... As he was by his parents, and those that were at his birth, because he took his brother by the heel as he came out of his mother's womb; for Jacob signifies "heeler", a supplanter, and was given him to keep up the memory of what he had done, to which Esau here refers: for he hath supplanted me these...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Isaac answered and said unto Esau,.... Giving an account of the blessing be had bestowed upon his brother: behold, I have made him thy lord; the lord of his posterity, who would be subdued and become tributary to his seed: and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; the Edomites, who sprung from his brother Esau, who, according to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Esau said unto his father, hast thou but one blessing, my father?.... He seems to speak diminutively of what had been given to Jacob, calling it one blessing: whereas there were many, and of different sorts, both temporal and spiritual; but it may be Esau had not so clear and comprehensive a view of what was contained in Jacob's blessing; or...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Isaac his father answered and said unto him,.... Being willing to bestow what he could upon him, without lessening or breaking in upon the grant made to Jacob: behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above: this agrees with part of the blessing of Jacob, only the clauses are inverted, and no...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him,.... It being a better blessing than his; giving him a better country, and greater plenty of good things, a larger dominion, and even dominion over him and his seed; for as for the promise of the Messiah, and spiritual blessings, he seems to have no concern about them,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And these words of Esau her eldest son were told to Rebekah,.... Jarchi and Jonathan say, by the Holy Ghost; but Aben Ezra thinks, by one of Esau's friends and confidants, to whom out of the abundance of his heart he had revealed this secret, which is not at all unlikely: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son; who might be in another tent...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Now therefore, my son, obey my voice,.... Hearken to what I say, and do according to it, as he had already in many instances, and particularly in a late one, in which he succeeded, and therefore had good reason to attend to her advice and direction, see Genesis 27:13; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother, to Haran; where Laban her brother,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And tarry with him a few days,.... Which Aben Ezra interprets a few years; rather, as Hiscuni, one year; perhaps it may be better should it be said one or two years; but instead of so short a time Jacob stayed there twenty years, and perhaps Rebekah never saw him anymore, being dead before he returned; after this account, no more mention is made...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Until thy brother's anger turn away from thee,.... Which is repeated from the preceding verse, to carry on the connection: and he forget [that] which thou hast done to him; in getting the blessing from him; being convinced that Jacob had done him no injury, and that he had no just cause of being angry with him, it being the will of God that he...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Rebekah said to Isaac,.... Not what she had told Jacob concerning the enmity of Esau to Jacob, and his intention to kill him, lest it should grieve him, and bring his gray hairs with sorrow to the grave; but what follows, as an excuse to get Isaac's leave for Jacob's departure, concealing the true reason of it: I am weary of my life because of...