NOTES for Gen 27:1-41
The story of a blessing obtained through deception is, at the very least, perplexing. Indeed, even if we set aside the moral side of the matter, what meaning can there be in a blessing that is, in essence, intended for someone else? Even by pretending to be that other person, you cannot receive the relationship that was meant for him. But in the times described in the story, people did not look at blessing exactly as we look at it today. A blessing was then understood simply as the transfer from one person to another of a certain supernatural power possessed by some people, especially tribal leaders. And together with this power, the leader handed over authority to the successor whom he blessed. No wonder that when Isaac learned of the deception, he still told Esau that he had no other blessing for him: the leader's power could be given only once. What was done was done, and the situation could no longer be played back. But then the natural question arises: what about God? Of course, it is hard to find a positive hero in this whole story; each of the characters involved turns out to be more antihero than hero. Yet one of these antiheroes had to become the leader of God's people. Of course. But God has to deal with the people who are actually there. There are no others. And He has to educate the leader of His people. For that, there must be initial qualities with which one can work. Jacob had, perhaps, only one: for him, becoming a leader was the goal and meaning of life. Of course, at first he wanted to become only the leader of his own tribe. In the beginning he apparently did not think at all about being the leader of God's people, and did not even imagine what that meant. But God, relying on a desire so important for Jacob, will do the rest. And Jacob will become a leader. Not only of his own tribe, but of God's people.