27 18Jacob came to his father and said, “Father!”
And he said, “Here I am. Which one are you, my son?”
19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you asked me. Rise, sit, and eat of my game so you may give me your blessing.”
20 Isaac said to his son, “How did you find it so soon, my son?”
He said, “Because YHWH, your God, made it happen.”[a]
21 Isaac said to Jacob, “Here, come close, so I may feel you, my son, whether you are Esau my son or not?” 22 So Jacob came close to Isaac his father, and Isaac felt him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, and the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 Isaac did not recognize him because his hands were like the hands of Esau, hairy, and he blessed him.
24 Isaac said, “Are you my son Esau?”
And he said, “I am.”
25 Isaac said, “Bring the dish here that I may eat some of the game of my son in order that I may give you my own blessing.” Jacob served him, and he ate and brought him wine, and he drank. 26 And Isaac his father said to him, “Come close and kiss me, my son.” 27 So he came close and kissed him, and he smelled his garments, and he blessed him, and he said, “See, the scent of my son is like the scent of the field that YHWH has blessed.
28 May God grant you
from the dew of the heavens and the fat of the earth,
with abundant grain and new wine.
29 May peoples serve you;
may tribes bow down to you.
Be the master of your brothers;
may your mother’s sons bow down toyou.
Those who curse you, cursed,
those who bless you, blessed.”
The plot is laid. Action is begun. With the first word, danger increases. Jacob’s tent-voice is likely different than Esau’s voice-of-the-wild. Voice changing technologies are still a myriad of generations away. Blind Isaac is particularly attuned to sound.
The only way through is boldness. Jacob claims to be Esau. For whatever reason, Isaac appears to accept this. However, a niggling question remains. If the voice is different, but the hands convince differently, how did Esau return so quickly? Sight and its absence does affect the sense of passing time. Jacob quickly substitutes the luck of Isaac’s G*D for the practical planning of Rebekah.
A third, fifth, and sixth test rise with the senses of touch and smell. Between them, another test of truth—“Are you truly Esau?” Along with a kid’s skin, the taste of the stew, and Esau’s odor deep within his clothes (Febreze is also a long way off)—the lie holds.
Finally, Isaac offers his blessing. The one blessed, Jacob, is formally invested with power over his brother. The heel-grabber has stomped on the one who had opened his way.
The text does not explain who might be Isaac’s other sons as it only records his relationship with Rebekah and Esau.
G*D blessed Abraham to be a blessing, and G*D would curse those who troubled Abraham (12:1-3). The G*D of Abraham blessed Isaac for Abraham’s sake (26:24). Now Isaac passes on more than he had received and Jacob receives the gift of having those who bless him be blessed and those who curse him be cursed. This is a precursor to his encounter with a ladder and a wrestling opponent and the blessings attendant in the dark of night