Evaluating Jacob's Character in Genesis 27
Genesis 27 details Jacob's deception of his blind father, Isaac, to receive the blessing intended for his older brother, Esau. The narrative begins with Isaac, old and blind, instructing Esau to hunt game and prepare a savory meal so he might bless him before his death [Gen. 27:1-4]. Rebekah, overhearing this, conspires with Jacob to impersonate Esau, preparing a meal herself and covering Jacob's hands and neck with goatskins to mimic Esau's hairiness [Gen. 27:5-17]. Jacob expresses concern about being discovered and cursed, but Rebekah insists, taking the potential curse upon herself [Gen. 27:12-13]. Jacob then presents the meal to Isaac, who, despite his suspicions about the voice, is convinced by the hairy hands and the smell of Esau's garments, ultimately bestowing the blessing upon Jacob [Gen. 27:18-29].
Jacob, whose name itself means "supplanter" or "heel-grabber," was born grasping Esau's heel [6, 9]. This name was originally positive, meaning "protect" like a rear guard, but it acquired a negative connotation of "deceiver" due to Jacob's actions, particularly in Genesis 27:36 [9]. Esau, in contrast, was a "skillful hunter" and an outdoorsman, while Jacob was described as having a "quiet temperament" and preferring to stay at home [7]. The narrative highlights a contrast between Esau, who cared more for physical things and sold his birthright for food, and Jacob, who understood the value of the birthright and ruthlessly pursued it [7].
Jacob's character in this chapter is often viewed critically. His scruples about the deception were not based on the moral wrongness of the act, but rather on the risk of being caught and cursed [13]. When Isaac felt Jacob, he noted, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau" [Gen. 27:22, 17]. This moment underscores the depth of the deception. The Midrash Rabbah interprets Jacob's statement about Esau being "hairy" as implying a "demon-like" quality, contrasting with Jacob's "smooth skin" which is likened to "the Lord's portion" [8].
Despite the deceptive means, the blessing Jacob received was part of God's sovereign plan. Commentators note that Jacob did not obtain the blessing because of his deceit, but in spite of it. The promise would have been fulfilled in another way, but Jacob and Rebekah, distrusting God's promise, resorted to cunning [5]. This event is a pivotal moment in Jacob's life, setting the stage for his subsequent flight from Esau and his encounters with Laban, where he himself would experience deception [3].
Jacob's life was marked by both divine favor and personal struggles. He served seven years for Rachel, which "seemed to him but a few days, for the love he had for her" [1]. Later, he would wrestle with God, and his name would be changed to Israel, signifying a transformation of character [2, 12]. Even in his old age, Jacob experienced comfort, living seventeen years in Egypt under Joseph's care, a period that Matthew Henry notes as a providential ordering of his affairs [4, 10]. John Calvin highlights that Jacob's life, though blessed, was also filled with vexations, including famine, family strife, and conflict with neighbors [11]. This complex portrayal of Jacob, a man of both faith and significant flaws, demonstrates that God works through imperfect individuals to accomplish His purposes.
Sources
- Genesis “Jacob served seven years for Rachel. They seemed to him but a few days, for the love he had for her. -- Genesis 29:20”
- Genesis “He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob”. -- Genesis 32:27”
- Genesis “Jacob saw the expression on Laban’s face, and, behold, it was not toward him as before. -- Genesis 31:2”
- Genesis “Genesis 47:28 (YLT) — and Jacob liveth in the land of Egypt seventeen years, and the days of Jacob, the years of his life, are an hundred and forty and seven years.”
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Jacob — (supplanter), the second son of Isaac and Rebekah. He was born with Esau, probably at the well of Lahai-roi, about B.C. 1837. His history is related in the latter half of the book of Genesis. He bought the birthright from his brother Esau, and afterward acquired the blessing intended for Esau, by practicing a well-known deceit on Isaac. (Jacob did not obtain the blessing because of his deceit, but in spite of it. That which was promised he would have received in some good way; but Jacob and his mother, distrusting God's promise, sought the promised blessing in”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Jacob — One who follows on another's heels; supplanter, (Gen. 25:26; 27:36; Hos. 12:2-4), the second born of the twin sons of Isaac by Rebekah. He was born probably at Lahai-roi, when his father was fifty-nine and Abraham one hundred and fifty-nine years old. Like his father, he was of a quiet and gentle disposition, and when he grew up followed the life of a shepherd, while his brother Esau became an enterprising hunter. His dealing with Esau, however, showed much mean selfishness and cunning (Gen. 25:29-34). When Isaac was about 160 years of age, Jacob and his moth”
- Genesis (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Genesis 25:27: 25:27-34 Jacob and Esau each developed in accord with his initial characteristics (25:24-26). Esau, the reddish, hairy man, cared about physical things rather than spiritual things (see Heb 12:16); he was finally overcome by physical appetites and sold his birthright. Jacob, the heel grabber, knew the birthright’s value and drove a ruthless bargain to gain it presumptuously from his brother. 25:27 Esau was a skillful hunter and an outdoorsman—a wild man who loved wild country. Jacob had a quiet (or even) temperament and preferred to stay at home (literally dwell”
- Midrash Rabbah (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Midrash Rabbah, Bereishit Rabbah 65:15: “Jacob said to Rebecca his mother: Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a man of smooth skin” (Genesis 27:11). “Jacob said to Rebecca his mother: Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy [ sa’ir ] man” – a demon-like man, just as it says: “Demons [ se’irim ] will dance there” (Isaiah 13:21). “And I am a man of smooth [ ḥalak ] skin” –just as it says: “For the Lord's portion [ ḥelek ] is His people” (Deuteronomy 32:9). Rabbi Levi said: This is analogous to one with a full head of hair and a bald person who were standing at the edge of the threshing ”
- Genesis (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Genesis 25:26: 25:26 The name Jacob (Hebrew ya‘aqob, from Hebrew ‘aqeb, “heel, footprint”) was originally positive, meaning “protect” (like a rear guard), but it took on the negative meaning of “heel grabber” or “deceiver” in the context of Jacob’s deceptive, grasping, usurping character (see 27:36).”
- Genesis (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Genesis 47:27: Observe, 1. The comfort Jacob lived in (Gen 47:27, Gen 47:28); while the Egyptians were impoverished in their own land, Jacob was replenished in a strange land. He lived seventeen years after he came into Egypt, far beyond his own expectation. Seventeen years he had nourished Joseph (for so old he was when he was sold from him, Gen 37:2), and now, by way of requital, seventeen years Joseph nourished him. Observe how kindly Providence ordered Jacob's affairs, that when he was old, and least able to bear care or fatigue, he had least occasion for it, being well pr”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 46: afflicted, but he enjoys very few of the sweets of life. He also meets with those vexations which do not permit a man to be happy on the earth. Famine drives him from the land of Canaan; his wife is torn from his bosom; his neighbours are ever and anon annoying and vexing him in all kinds of ways, so that he is even obliged to fight for water. At home, he suffers great annoyance from his daughters-in-law; he is stung by the dissension of his sons, and has no other cure for this great evil than to send the son whom he had blessed in”
- Genesis (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Genesis 32:27: 32:27 What is your name? The Lord’s question was really about Jacob’s character, not his identity (cp. 3:9; 4:9). By giving his name, Jacob confessed his nature, his way of doing things as “Heel-grabber, Deceiver, Usurper.” Before God would bless him, he had to acknowledge who he was, and then God would change his identity.”
- Genesis (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Genesis 27:11: Jacob said, Esau my brother is a hairy man--It is remarkable that his scruples were founded, not on the evil of the act, but on the risk and consequences of deception.”