He came near, and kissed him. He smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him, and said, “Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which Yahweh has blessed.
Parallel Translations
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He came near, and kissed him. He smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him, and said, “Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which Yahweh has blessed.
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And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed:
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And he came near, and kissed him. And he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said: See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Genesis 27:27 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Hebrews 6:7 For the land which has drunk the rain that comes often on it and produces a crop suitable for them for whose sake it is also tilled, receives blessing from God;
- Psalms 65:10 You drench its furrows. You level its ridges. You soften it with showers. You bless it with a crop.
- Genesis 26:12 Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year one hundred times what he planted. Yahweh blessed him.
- Hebrews 11:20 By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even concerning things to come.
- Hosea 14:6-7 His branches will spread, and his beauty will be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon. Men will dwell in his shade. They will revive like the grain, and blossom like the vine. Their fragrance will be like the wine of Lebanon.
- Song of Solomon 4:11-14 Your lips, my bride, drip like the honeycomb. Honey and milk are under your tongue. The smell of your garments is like the smell of Lebanon. My sister, my bride, is a locked up garden; a locked up spring, a sealed fountain. Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with precious fruits, henna with spikenard plants, spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree; myrrh and aloes, with all the best spices,
- Song of Solomon 7:12-13 Let’s go early up to the vineyards. Let’s see whether the vine has budded, its blossom is open, and the pomegranates are in flower. There I will give you my love. The mandrakes produce fragrance. At our doors are all kinds of precious fruits, new and old, which I have stored up for you, my beloved.
- Song of Solomon 2:13 The fig tree ripens her green figs. The vines are in blossom. They give out their fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 27. See, the smell of my son is as…
27. See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field. The allegory of Ambrose on this passage is not displeasing to me. Jacob, the younger brother, is blessed under the person of the elder; the garments which were borrowed from his brother breathe an odour grateful and pleasant to his father. In the same manner we are blessed, as Ambrose teaches, when, in the name of Christ, we enter the presence of our Heavenly Father: we receive from him the robe of righteousness, which, by its odour, procures his favor; in short, we are thus blessed when we are put in his place. But Isaac seems here to desire and implore nothing for his son but what is earthly; for this is the substance of his words, that it might be well with his son in the world, that he might gather together the abundant produce of the earth, that he might enjoy great peace, and shine in honor above others. There is no mention of the heavenly kingdom; and hence it has arisen, that men without learning, and but little exercised in true piety, have imagined that these holy fathers were blessed by the Lord only in respect to this frail and transitory life. But it appears from many passages to have been far otherwise: and as to the fact that Isaac here confines himself to the earthly favors of God, the explanation is easy; for the Lord did not formerly set the hope of the future inheritance plainly before the eyes of the fathers, (as he now calls and raises us directly towards heaven,) but he led them as by a circuitous course. Thus he appointed the land of Canaan as a mirror and pledge to them of the celestial inheritance. In all his acts of kindness he gave them tokens of his paternal favor, not indeed for the purpose of making them content with present good, so that they should neglect heaven, or should follow a merely empty shadow, as some foolishly suppose; but that, being aided by such helps, according to the time in which they lived, they might by degrees rise towards heaven; for since Christ, the first-fruits of those who rise again, and the author of the eternal and incorruptible life, had not yet been manifested, his spiritual kingdom was, in this way, shadowed forth under figures only, until the fullness of the time should come; and as all the promises of God were involved, and in a sense clothed in these symbols, so the faith of the holy fathers observed the same measure, and made its advances heavenwards by means of these earthly rudiments. Therefore, although Isaac makes the temporal favors of God prominent, nothing is further from his mind than to confine the hope of his son to this world; he would raise him to the same elevation to which he himself aspired. Some proof of this may be drawn from his own words; for this is the principal point, that he assigns him the dominion over the nations. But whence the hope of such a dignity, unless he had been persuaded that his race had been elected by the Lord, and, indeed, with this stipulation, that the right of the kingdom should remain with one son only? Meanwhile, let it suffice to adhere to this principle, that the holy man, when he implores a prosperous course of life for his son, wishes that God, in whose paternal favor stands our solid and eternal happiness, may be propitious to him.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 27:27 And he came near, and kissed him:…
Gen 27:27 And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son [is] as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed:
Ver. 27. As the smell of a field.] Compare Son 2:13; Son 4:12-14. Aristotle {a} writes of a parcel of ground in Sicily that sendeth such a strong smell of fragrant flowers to all the fields and pasturages thereabouts, that no hound can hunt there, the scent is so confounded by the sweet smell of those flowers. Labour we so to resent heavenly sweetnesses, so to savour the things above, that we may have no mind to hunt after earthly vanities, &c. Alexander’s body is said to be of such an exact constitution, that it gave a sweet scent where it went. Christ, the true body, smells so sweet to all heavenly eagles, that, being now lifted up, he draws them after him. {Mat 24:28 Joh 12:32}
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{a} Arist. Lib. de Mirab. Auscult.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Which is full of odoriferous herbs, and flowers, and…
Which is full of odoriferous herbs, and flowers, and fruits, and spices, with some of which Esau’s garments might be perfumed in the chest wherein they were laid, as the manner now is. These garments smell not of the sheepcots and stables, as Jacob’s do, but of the fields, in which Esau is conversant.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And he came near, and kissed him,.... Jacob came…
And he came near, and kissed him,.... Jacob came near and kissed Isaac his father:
and he smelled the smell of his raiment; which being not like the smell of a sheep coat, but of a field, might give him more full satisfaction that it was truly Esau:
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and he blessed him; with his patriarchal and prophetic blessing, which here begins:
and said, see, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed; like a field fall of fragrant herbs, flowers, and spices, watered with the dews and rain of heaven, and so made fruitful, which emits a most, delightful odour; this may respect the scent of Esau's clothes, now on Jacob's back, which they received from the fields, which Esau continually frequented; or rather from the odoriferous herbs and fruits which were put among them in the chest, in which Rebekah had laid them up; and it may be, that whereas the goatskins on his hands and neck would be apt to send forth a rank and disagreeable smell, these might be so scented by Rebekah as to prevent that. Some render these words, "see the smell of my son, whom the Lord hath blessed (w), as the smell of a field"; and so Isaac pronounces him blessed of the Lord, as well as by himself; the sense is the same: as to the smell many interpreters consider this as a type and figure of the acceptance of believers with God, being clothed with the goodly, excellent, and desirable garment of the righteousness of Christ their elder brother, even of their persons, services, and sacrifices; which is indeed truly spiritual and evangelical; but is liable to this objection, that it makes profane Esau a type of Christ. I see not that anything can well be objected to the application of this son of Isaac's to the Messiah himself, whom he may have a special regard unto in this prophetic blessing, reading the words, "the smell of my son shall be as the smell of a field": or "my son, whom the Lord hath blessed", and came before with all the blessings of goodness, and in whom all nations shall be blessed, shall be "as the smell of a field"; all whose garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia, Psa 45:8, even Isaac's principal son, that should be of his seed, of whom Jacob his present son was a type, and who was to spring from him.
(w) So Junius, Tremellius, Gesner. & Walther. apud Calov.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 27. The smell of my son is as…
Verse 27. The smell of my son is as the smell of a field] The smell of these garments, the goodly raiment which had been laid up in the house, was probably occasioned by some aromatic herbs, which we may naturally suppose were laid up with the clothes; a custom which prevails in many countries to the present day. Thyme, lavender, &c., are often deposited in wardrobes, to communicate an agreeable scent, and under the supposition that the moths are thereby prevented from fretting the garments. I have often seen the leaves of aromatic plants, and sometimes whole sprigs, put in eastern MSS., to communicate a pleasant smell, and to prevent the worms from destroying them. Persons going from Europe to the East Indies put pieces of Russia leather among their clothes for the same purpose. Such a smell would lead Isaac's recollection to the fields where aromatic plants grew in abundance, and where he had often been regaled by the scent.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Gen 27:27. He smelled the smell of his raiment…
Gen 27:27. He smelled the smell of his raiment — Probably scented with odoriferous flowers and other perfumes, with which they could easily be supplied from Arabia, famed for aromatic herbs. The smell of my son is as the smell of a field — The grateful odour of my son’s apparel resembles that of a field which God hath adorned with a variety of fruits and flowers, and this I consider as a token and presage that he and his posterity shall be blessed with all sorts of blessings, and become blessings to others.
Three things Jacob is here blessed with, 1st, Plenty, (Gen 27:28,) heaven and earth concurring to make him rich. 2d, Power, (Gen 27:29,) particularly dominion over his brethren, namely, Esau and his posterity. 3d, Prevalency with God, and a great interest in heaven, Cursed be every one that curseth thee — Let God be a friend to all thy friends, and an enemy to all thine enemies. Now, certainly, more is comprised in this blessing than appears at first; it must amount to an entail of the promise of the Messiah: that was, in the patriarchal dialect, the blessing; something spiritual, doubtless, is included in it. First, That from him should come the Messiah, that should have a sovereign dominion on earth, See Num 24:19, Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, the star and sceptre, Gen 27:17.
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Jacob’s dominion over Esau was to be only typical of this, Gen 49:10. Secondly, That from him should come the Church, that should be particularly owned and favoured by Heaven. It was part of the blessing of Abraham when he was first called to be the father of the faithful, Gen 12:3, I will bless them that bless thee; therefore, when Isaac afterward confirmed the blessing to Jacob, he called it, the blessing of Abraham, Gen 28:4.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Plentiful. A word retained by the Samaritan and Septuagint…
Plentiful. A word retained by the Samaritan and Septuagint though lost in the Hebrew copies. (Grotius.) --- Hath blessed with abundance of fruit and odoriferous herbs; such as had probably been shut up in the drawers with Esau’s robes. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain the smell of my son is as of a…
the smell of my son is as of a field--The aromatic odors of the Syrian fields and meadows, often impart a strong fragrance to the person and clothes, as has been noticed by many travellers.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 27. Kissed him — With something of the nature…
27. Kissed him — With something of the nature of a Judas kiss. “But it is altogether a mistake to suppose, with Tuch, that Isaac demanded a kiss, in order thereby to distinguish the shepherd, who would smell of the flock, from the huntsman, who would smell of the field. After Isaac had partaken of the meal he has given up all distrust. The kiss is only the expression of paternal love, excited by having partaken of the savoury dish; it is the acme of his now overflowing emotions and the transition to the blessing.” — Kurtz.
The smell of his raiment — “Many parts of Arabia and Palestine exhale a most delicious odour. Herod., 3:113. After a refreshing rain especially, the air is perfumed with a fragrance inexpressibly sweet, (Plin., 17:5;) and the soil, furrowed by the ploughshare, emits often the balmy treasures hidden in its depths. Thus the garments of Esau, the man of the field, who roamed through hill and valley, were redolent of the scent of aromatic herbs; they called up in Isaac’s mind the pictures of freshness, health, and abundance; his spirit, moved and struck, assumed a prophetic elevation; and he began the blessing.” — Kalisch. We render Isaac’s words as follows:
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See, the odour of my son,
Like the odour of a field
Which Jehovah has blessed.
And the God shall give to thee
Of the dew of the heavens,
And of the fatness of the land,
And abundance of grain and sweet wine.
Nations shall serve thee,
And peoples bow down to thee.
Be lord to thy brethren,
And the sons of thy mother shall bow down to thee.
They that curse thee shall be cursed;
And they that bless thee shall be blessed.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 27. he smelled] The scent of the “field” forms…
27. he smelled] The scent of the “field” forms the starting-point of the Oracle, or Song, of Blessing. The blessing is concerned not with the personal destiny of Jacob, but with the national history of the Israelite people. Cf. the blessing of Jacob on Joseph (Gen_49:22 ff.). What “the smell of his raiment” had to do with “the goodly raiment” of Gen_27:15, is not explained.
as the smell of a field] Cf. Hos_14:6, “and his smell as Lebanon.” Isaac’s words refer to the “field” of Gen_25:27, Gen_27:5, the country of the huntsman. Before Isaac’s mind rises up the picture of a rich and fruitful land.
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which the Lord hath blessed] i.e. by fertility. The versions prefix an adjective denoting “plenty” before the word “field.” LXX ἀγροῦ πλήρους; Lat. agri pleni.
Isaac’s utterance is in poetical form. The two clauses in this verse serve as a prelude to the blessing of Gen_27:28-29.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (27) As the smell of a field.—From the abundance…
(27) As the smell of a field.—From the abundance of aromatic plants, the pastures of Palestine are peculiarly fragrant; but Isaac, deceived by the scent of Esau’s own garments, intended probably to contrast the pure sweetness of one whose life was spent in the open field with the less pleasant odour which Jacob would bring with him from the cattle-shed.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And he came near, and kissed him. Originally the…
And he came near, and kissed him. Originally the act of kissing had a symbolical character. Here it is a sign of affection between a parent and a child; in Gen_29:13 between relatives. It was also a token of friendship (RAPC Tob 7:6 10:12; 2Sa_20:9; Luk_7:45 Luk_15:20; Act_20:37) The kissing of princes was a symbol of homage. (1Sa_10:1; Psa_2:12; Xenoph., "Cyrop.," 7. 5, 32) With the Persians it was a mark of honor (Xenoph., "Agesil.," 5. 4). The Rabbins permitted only three kinds of kisses the kiss of reverence, of reception, and of dismissal. The kiss of charity was practiced among disciples in the early Christian Church (Rom_16:16; 1Co_16:20; 2Co_13:12; 1Th_5:26; 1Pe_5:14; vide Kitto"s" "Cyclopedia," art. Kissing) And he smelled the smell of his raiment, not deliberately, in order to detect whether they belonged to a shepherd or a huntsman (Tuch), but accidentally while, in the act of kissing. The odor of Esau s garments, impregnated with the fragrance of the aromatic herbs of Palestine, excited the dull sensibilities of the aged prophet, suggesting to his mind pictures of freshness and fertility, and inspiring him to pour forth his promised benedictionand blessed him (not a second time, the statement in ver. 23 being only inserted by anticipation), and said, the blessing, as is usual in elevated prophetic utterances, assumes a poetic and antistrophical form (cf. Esau"s blessing, vers. 39, 40)See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field the first clause of the poetic stanza clearly connects with the odor of Esau"s raiment as that which had opened the fount of prophetic song in Isaac"s breast, so far at least as its peculiar form was concerned; its secret inspiration we know was the Holy Ghost operating through Isaac"s faith in the promise (vide Heb_11:20) which the Lord hath blessed. The introduction of the name Jehovah instead of Elohim in this second clause proves that Isaac did not mean to liken his son to an ordinary well-cultivated field, but to a field like that of Paradise, resplendent with traces of the Deity an ideal field, bearing the same relation to an ordinary one as Israel did to the heathen a kind of enchanted garden, such as would be realized at a later period in Canaan, as far as the fidelity of the people permitted it" (Hengstenberg).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.