Read Genesis 27 at Bible Gateway.
Why was Esau so upset when he discovered he did not receive the blessing of the firstborn, when he despised his birthright with barely a second thought?
Blessing is from Strong’s H1288, ברך barak, ‘to bless.’ The ancient pictographs are bet + resh + kaph.
bet ב = house, (house, household, family, in, within)
resh ר = head of man, (head, first, top, beginning, man)
kaph ך כ = open palm, (bend, open, allow, tame)
The Hebrew Root Word parable is of the family (bet) of heads (resh), an idiom for ripened grain. We still call the top of a ripened stalk of wheat a seed head. By extension, it paints the picture of filling and making fat, as cattle were fattened for slaughter by taking them off grass and putting them on grain. To bless, then, is to fill (bet + resh) the upturned palm (kaph). The blessing fills the hands with good things, as the father also filled his palm with his son’s head when conferring the blessing.
Esau believed that because he had missed his father’s blessing, he would miss his hands being filled with good things in his future. Now his anguish makes sense … his grief was all about his own needs and wants.
God Himself was the first Father to confer His blessing on His children, Adam and Eve (Gen 1:28-29). And we have the record of Noah’s blessing over his sons (Gen 9:25-27).
Why This Matters: The high priest’s blessing over God’s covenant people is found in Numbers 6:23-27.
Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, “In this way you shall bless the children of Israel, saying to them:
‘YHVH bless you, and keep you;
YHVH make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
YHVH lift up His countenance upon you;
And give you peace.’And they shall put My name (יהוה) upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.”
This is the blessing that Yeshua, the High Priest of our confession (Heb 3:1), speaks over us, who have been grafted in to YHVH’s covenant with Israel (Rom 11:17, Eph 2:11-22). He has filled our upturned hands with good things.
The Hebrew paragraph for this chapter:
Gen 27:1-28:9 {s} …
If there are questions, these are good resources:
Genesis 27 and 28, The birthright and the blessing – Christine Miller
Fathers: The Blessing and the Curse – Bill Delvaux
The Blessing – Kari Jobe, Elevation Worship
Jacob, The Righteous Deceiver – Zachary Garris
The above author has a different take on why Rebekah and Jacob perpetrated a deception on Isaac. It is well thought out. I am not sure that deceiving is a righteous act, as this is the sin of the serpent in the Garden. But there is much to chew on here.
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