Kejadian 27:29

27:29 May peoples serve you

and nations bow down to you.

You will be ¹  lord ²  over your brothers,

and the sons of your mother will bow down to you. ³ 

May those who curse you be cursed,

and those who bless you be blessed.”

Kejadian 27:37-40

27:37 Isaac replied to Esau, “Look! I have made him lord over you. I have made all his relatives his servants and provided him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?” 27:38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only that one blessing, my father? Bless me too!” ⁴  Then Esau wept loudly. ⁵ 

27:39 So his father Isaac said to him,

“Indeed, ⁶  your home will be

away from the richness ⁷  of the earth,

and away from the dew of the sky above.

27:40 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.” ⁸ 

[27:29]  ¹ tn Heb “and be.” The verb is an imperative, which is used rhetorically in this oracle of blessing. It is an invitation to exercise authority his brothers and indicates that he is granted such authority by the patriarch of the family. Furthermore, the blessing enables the recipient to accomplish this.

[27:29]  ² tn The Hebrew word is גְבִיר (gevir, “lord, mighty one”). The one being blessed will be stronger and therefore more powerful than his brother. See Gen 25:23. The feminine form of this rare noun means “mistress” or “queen-mother.”

[27:29]  ³ tn Following the imperative, the prefixed verbal form (which is either an imperfect or a jussive) with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

[27:38]  ⁴ tn Heb “Bless me, me also, my father.” The words “my father” have not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[27:38]  ⁵ tn Heb “and Esau lifted his voice and wept.”

[27:39]  ⁶ tn Heb “look.”

[27:39]  ⁷ tn Heb “from the fatness.”

[27:40]  ⁸ sn You will tear off his yoke from your neck. It may be that this prophetic blessing found its fulfillment when Jerusalem fell and Edom got its revenge. The oracle makes Edom subservient to Israel and suggests the Edomites would live away from the best land and be forced to sustain themselves by violent measures.