Make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat, and that my soul may bless you before I die.”
Parallel Translations
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Make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat, and that my soul may bless you before I die.”
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And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.
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and make me savoury food, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.'
Cross-references (18)
Passages linked to Genesis 27:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Hebrews 11:20 By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even concerning things to come.
- Genesis 48:9 Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” He said, “Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.”
- Genesis 27:25 He said, “Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s venison, that my soul may bless you.” He brought it near to him, and he ate. He brought him wine, and he drank.
- Genesis 49:28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them, and blessed them. He blessed everyone according to his own blessing.
- Luke 24:51 While he blessed them, he withdrew from them, and was carried up into heaven.
- Genesis 27:7 ‘Bring me venison, and make me savory food, that I may eat, and bless you before Yahweh before my death.’
- Joshua 14:13 Joshua blessed him; and he gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance.
- Joshua 22:6 So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away; and they went to their tents.
- Luke 2:34 and Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, “Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against.
- Genesis 14:19 He blessed him, and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth.
- Genesis 24:60 They blessed Rebekah, and said to her, “Our sister, may you be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your offspring possess the gate of those who hate them.”
- Genesis 27:23 He didn’t recognize him, because his hands were hairy, like his brother, Esau’s hands. So he blessed him.
- Genesis 27:27 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.
- Genesis 27:31 He also made savory food, and brought it to his father. He said to his father, “Let my father arise, and eat of his son’s venison, that your soul may bless me.”
- Genesis 28:3 May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a company of peoples,
- Genesis 48:15-20 He blessed Joseph, and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads, and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. Let them grow into a multitude upon the earth.” When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him. He held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.” His father refused, and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also will become a people, and he also will be great. However, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring will become a multitude of nations.” He blessed them that day, saying, “Israel will bless in you, saying, ‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh’ ” He set Ephraim before Manasseh.
- Leviticus 9:22-23 Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people, and blessed them; and he came down from offering the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings. Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of Meeting, and came out, and blessed the people; and Yahweh’s glory appeared to all the people.
- Deuteronomy 33:1-29 This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. He said, “Yahweh came from Sinai, and rose from Seir to them. He shone from Mount Paran. He came from the ten thousands of holy ones. At his right hand was a fiery law for them. Yes, he loves the people. All his saints are in your hand. They sat down at your feet. Each receives your words. Moses commanded us a law, an inheritance for the assembly of Jacob. He was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Israel together. “Let Reuben live, and not die; Nor let his men be few.” This is for Judah. He said, “Hear, Yahweh, the voice of Judah. Bring him in to his people. With his hands he contended for himself. You shall be a help against his adversaries.” About Levi he said, “Your Thummim and your Urim are with your godly one, whom you proved at Massah, with whom you contended at the waters of Meribah. He said of his father, and of his mother, ‘I have not seen him.’ He didn’t acknowledge his brothers, nor did he know his own children; for they have observed your word, and keep your covenant. They shall teach Jacob your ordinances, and Israel your law. They shall put incense before you, and whole burnt offering on your altar. Yahweh, bless his skills. Accept the work of his hands. Strike through the hips of those who rise up against him, of those who hate him, that they not rise again.” About Benjamin he said, “The beloved of Yahweh will dwell in safety by him. He covers him all day long. He dwells between his shoulders.” About Joseph he said, “His land is blessed by Yahweh, for the precious things of the heavens, for the dew, for the deep that couches beneath, for the precious things of the fruits of the sun, for the precious things that the moon can yield, for the best things of the ancient mountains, for the precious things of the everlasting hills, for the precious things of the earth and its fullness, the good will of him who lived in the bush. Let this come on the head of Joseph, on the crown of the head of him who was separated from his brothers. Majesty belongs to the firstborn of his herd. His horns are the horns of the wild ox. With them he will push all the peoples to the ends of the earth. They are the ten thousands of Ephraim. They are the thousands of Manasseh.” About Zebulun he said, “Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out; and Issachar, in your tents. They will call the peoples to the mountain. There they will offer sacrifices of righteousness, for they will draw out the abundance of the seas, the hidden treasures of the sand.” About Gad he said, “He who enlarges Gad is blessed. He dwells as a lioness, and tears the arm and the crown of the head. He provided the first part for himself, for the lawgiver’s portion reserved was reserved for him. He came with the heads of the people. He executed the righteousness of Yahweh, His ordinances with Israel.” About Dan he said, “Dan is a lion’s cub that leaps out of Bashan.” About Naphtali he said, “Naphtali, satisfied with favor, full of Yahweh’s blessing, Possess the west and the south.” About Asher he said, “Asher is blessed with children. Let him be acceptable to his brothers. Let him dip his foot in oil. Your bars will be iron and bronze. As your days, so your strength will be. “There is no one like God, Jeshurun, who rides on the heavens for your help, in his excellency on the skies. The eternal God is your dwelling place. Underneath are the everlasting arms. He thrust out the enemy from before you, and said, ‘Destroy!’ Israel dwells in safety, the fountain of Jacob alone, In a land of grain and new wine. Yes, his heavens drop down dew. You are happy, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by Yahweh, the shield of your help, the sword of your excellency? Your enemies will submit themselves to you. You will tread on their high places.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 4. That my soul may bless thee. Wonderfully was…
4. That my soul may bless thee. Wonderfully was the faith of the holy man blended with a foolish and inconsiderate carnal affection. The general principle of faith flourishes in his mind, when, in blessing his son, he consigns to him, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, the right of the inheritance which had been divinely promised to himself. Meanwhile, he is blindly carried away by the love of his firstborn son, to prefer him to the other; and in this way he contends against the oracle of God. For he could not be ignorant of that which God had pronounced before the children were born. If any one would excuse him, inasmuch as he had received no command from God to change the accustomed order of nature by preferring the younger to the elder; this is easily refuted: because when he knew that the firstborn was rejected, he still persisted in his excessive attachment. Again, in neglecting to inquire respecting his duty, when he had been informed of the heavenly oracle by his wife, his indolence was by no means excusable. For he was not altogether ignorant of his calling; therefore, his obstinate attachment to his son was a kind of blindness, which proved a greater obstacle to him than the external dimness of his eyes. Yet this fault, although deserving of reprehension, did not deprive the holy man of the right of pronouncing a blessing; but plenary authority remained with him, and the force and efficacy of his testimony stood entire, just as if God himself had spoken from heaven; to which subject I shall soon again allude.
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.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain The carnal affection, which he bare to his son…
The carnal affection, which he bare to his son made him forget that which God spake to his wife, Gen. 25:23.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 27:4 And make me savoury meat, such as…
Gen 27:4 And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring [it] to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.
Ver. 4. That my soul may bless thee before I die.] The words of dying men are living oracles. It was the patriarch’s care, and must be ours, to leave a blessing behind us; to seek the salvation of our children while we live, and to say something to the same purpose when we die, that may stick by them. So when we are laid in our graves, our stock remains, goes forward, and shall do till the day of doom.
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 Quest. Why doth he require that he may eat…
Quest. Why doth he require that he may eat before he bless him?
Answ.
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1. That being refreshed and delighted therewith, his spirit might be more cheerful, and so the fitter for the giving of this prophetical benediction; for which reason also the prophet Elisha called for a minstrel ere he could utter his prophecy, 2Ki 3:15.
2. By the special direction of Divine Providence, that Esau’s absence might give Jacob the advantage of getting the blessing. He speaks not here of a common and customary blessing, which parents may bestow upon any of their children as and when they please; but of the last, solemn, extraordinary, and prophetical benediction, whereby these holy patriarchs did by God’s appointment, and with his concurrence, constitute one of their sons heir, not only of their inheritance, but of Abraham’s covenant, and all the promises, both temporal and spiritual, belonging to it. As for the oracle delivered to Rebekah, which transferred this blessing upon Jacob, Gen 25:23, either Isaac knew not of it, not being sufficiently informed thereof by Rebekah; or he did not thoroughly understand it; or he might apprehend that it was to be accomplished not in the persons of Esau and Jacob, but in their posterity; or at this time it was quite out of his mind; or he was induced to neglect it through his passionate affection to his son Esau.
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 make me savoury meat, such as I love,....…
And make me savoury meat, such as I love,.... For, though he had lost his sight, he had not lost his taste, nor his appetite for savoury food:
and bring it to me, that I may eat; this, was enjoined to make trial of his filial affection and duty to him, before he blessed him:
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that my soul may bless thee before I die; not only that he might do it with cheerfulness and vivacity, having eaten a comfortable meal, and being refreshed with it, but that having had proof of his son's duty and affection to him, he might confer the blessing on him heartily: this blessing was not an ordinary and common one, but what parents used to bestow upon their children at the time of their death, or a little before it; and good men oftentimes did this under a spirit of prophecy, declaring what would be the case and circumstances of their children in time to come; and particularly the principal part of the blessing of Isaac, which Abraham had entailed upon him by divine direction, and he thought to have entailed on Esau his firstborn, was the promise of the descent of the Messiah from him and his seed, and of the possession of the land of Canaan by them: and this shows that Rebekah had not made known the oracle to Isaac, that the "elder should serve the younger", Gen 25:23, or, if she had, he had forgot, or did not understand it, and might think it respected not the persons of his sons, but their posterity; or however, from a natural affection for Esau his firstborn, and that the blessing and inheritance might go in the common channel, he was desirous he should have it; and he might also be ignorant of Esau's having sold his birthright to Jacob, or that he made no account of it.
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 4. Savoury meat] מטעמים matammim, from טעם taam,…
Verse 4. Savoury meat] מטעמים matammim, from טעם taam, to taste or relish; how dressed we know not, but its name declares its nature.
That I may eat] The blessing which Isaac was to confer on his son was a species of Divine right, and must be communicated with appropriate ceremonies. As eating and drinking were used among the Asiatics on almost all religious occasions, and especially in making and confirming covenants, it is reasonable to suppose that something of this kind was essentially necessary on this occasion, and that Isaac could not convey the right till he had eaten of the meat provided for the purpose by him who was to receive the blessing. As Isaac was now old, and in a feeble and languishing condition, it was necessary that the flesh used on this occasion should be prepared so as to invite the appetite, that a sufficiency of it might be taken to revive and recruit his drooping strength, that he might be the better able to go through the whole of this ceremony.
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This seems to be the sole reason why savoury meat is so particularly mentioned in the text. When we consider,
1. That no covenant was deemed binding unless the parties had eaten together;
2. That to convey this blessing some rite of this kind was necessary; and,
3. That Isaac's strength was now greatly exhausted, insomuch that he supposed himself to be dying; we shall at once see why meat was required on this occasion, and why that meat was to be prepared so as to deserve the epithet of savoury.
As I believe this to be the true sense of the place, I do not trouble my readers with interpretations which I suppose to be either exceptionable or false.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain That, &c. He does not mean, that the meat…
That, &c. He does not mean, that the meat would induce him to give his blessing. Neither can we suppose, that he intended to pervert the order of God, in making the younger son subject to the elder, if he was informed by Rebecca, of that disposition of providence. (Calmet) --- But of this he seems to have been ignorant, ver. 29, 35. (Worthington)
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 make . . . savory meat--perhaps to revive and…
make . . . savory meat--perhaps to revive and strengthen him for the duty; or rather, "as eating and drinking" were used on all religious occasions, he could not convey the right, till he had eaten of the meat provided for the purpose by him who was to receive the blessing [ADAM CLARKE] (compare Gen 18:7).
that my soul may bless thee--It is difficult to imagine him ignorant of the divine purpose (compare Gen 25:23). But natural affection, prevailing through age and infirmity, prompted him to entail the honors and powers of the birthright on his elder son; and perhaps he was not aware of what Esau had done (Gen 25:34).
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 4. That I may eat; that my soul may…
4. That I may eat; that my soul may bless thee — “There appears a singular mixture of the carnal and the spiritual in this. Isaac recognises his own character as that of the priestly and prophetic head of his house, privileged to bless as father and priest, and to foretell the fortunes of his family in succession to Abraham in his office of the prophet of God. Yet his carnal affection causes him to forget the response to the inquiry of Rebekah, “the elder shall serve the younger,” and the fact that Esau had sold his birthright and alienated it from him forever by a solemn oath. Moreover, that his heart may be the more warmed to him whom he desires to bless, he seeks to have some of that savoury meat brought to him such as he loved.” — Speaker’s Commentary.
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 4. that my soul may bless thee] Cf. 19,…
4. that my soul may bless thee] Cf. 19, 25, 31. See note on Gen_12:13. A sacrificial meal is not intended. The strengthening food is from the chase, not the flesh of domestic animals.
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 (4) Savoury meat.—On the rare occasions on which an…
(4) Savoury meat.—On the rare occasions on which an Arab sheik tastes flesh, it is flavoured with almonds, pistachio nuts, and raisins. It would thus not be easy for Isaac to distinguish the taste of the flesh of a kid from that of an antelope. As the Arabs always spare their own flocks and herds, the capture of a wild animal gives them the greater pleasure, and a feast thus provided seemed to the patriarch a proper occasion for the solemn decision which son should inherit the promises made to Abraham.
That my soul may bless thee.—We gather from the solemn blessing given to his sons by Jacob (Genesis 49) that this was a prophetic act, by which the patriarchs, under the influence of the Spirit, and in expectation of death, decided to which son should belong the birthright. Jacob when dying bestowed it on Judah (Gen_27:8-12). But here Isaac resisted the Spirit; for the clear warning had been given that “the elder should serve the younger” (Gen_25:23). Isaac may have been moved to this act by indignation at the manner in which Esau had been induced to sell the birthright, and in annulling that sale he would have been within his rights; but he was not justified in disregarding the voice of prophecy, nor in his indifference to Esau’s violation of the Abrahamic law in marrying heathen women. And thus he becomes the victim of craft and treachery, while Jacob is led on to a deed which was the cause of endless grief to him and Rebekah, and has stained his character for ever. But had Jacob possessed the same high standard of honour as distinguished David afterwards, he would equally have received the blessing, but without the sin of deception practised upon his own father.
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 make me savory meat, food," from a root…
And make me savory meat, food," from a root whose primary idea is to taste, or try the flavor, of a thing. Schultens observes that the corresponding Arabic term is specially applied to dishes made of flesh taken in hunting, and highly esteemed by nomad tribes (vide Gesenius, p. 467)such as I love (cf., Gen_25:28, the ground of his partiality for Esau) and bring it to me, that I may eat; Isaac was blind and weak in his eyes, yet it seem-eth his body was of a strong constitution, seeing he was able to eat of wild flesh, which is of harder digestion" (Willet) that the conjunction rWb) followed by a future commonly expresses a purpose (cf. Exo_9:14) my soul may bless thee notwithstanding the oracle (Gen_25:23) uttered so many (fifty-seven or seventy-seven) years ago, Isaac appears to have clung to the belief that Esau was the destined heir of the covenant blessing; quoedam fuit coecitatis species, quae illi magis obstitit quam externa oeulorum caligo (Calvin)before I die.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.