Isaac Knows He Is Blessing Jacob: Who Is Really Being Deceived?

As Isaac ages and loses his sight, he apparently decides to bless his elder son, Esau. First, however, Isaac instructs Esau to hunt for game and to prepare a favorite meal for him. While Esau is away, Isaac’s wife, Rebecca disguises their younger son, Jacob, in Esau’s clothes so that Isaac will mistake him as Esau and will give Jacob his blessing instead (Gen 27).

Modern commentators generally view Isaac as a doddering old man—taken shameless advantage of by his dominating wife Rebecca, assisted by their less than stalwart son Jacob.^[1] Ephraim Speiser, in his classic commentary on Genesis, titles this narrative “Isaac Deceived.”^[2] Gerhard von Rad names this chapter “The cunning acquisition of the blessing.” He then describes the “mischief she [Rebecca] had caused” as a “monstrous crime.”^[3] Commentators also highlight the issue of favoritism, suggesting that this “family is divided, and the mother and father each pursue their own interests...Rebekah exerts all the maternal authority she can” to usurp Isaac’s wishes.^[4]

God Participates in the Ruse

Midrash Tanhuma (compiled 4^th century C.E.) takes a less negative stance on Rebecca’s ruse, claiming that God not only approved of the trick, but sent his messenger, the satan (lit. “adversary”) to delay Esau, ensuring Jacob receives the time he needs:

^{מדרש תנחומא, תולדות יא} אֶלָּא כֵּיוָן שֶׁיָּצָא עֵשָׂו לָצוּד, שָׁלַח הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא עָלָיו שָׂטָן וְלֹא הִנִּיחוֹ לָצוּד, עַד שֶׁיָּבֹא יַעֲקֹב וְיִטּוֹל אֶת הַבְּרָכוֹת.... הָיָה עֵשָׂו רָץ וְצָד צְבִי וְקוֹשְׁרוֹ וּמַנִּיחוֹ וְרָץ וְתוֹפֵס אַחֵר וְקוֹשְׁרוֹ וּמַנִּיחוֹ, וְהַשָּׂטָן מַתִּירָן וּמַבְרִיחָן.... וְהָיָה מְגַלְגֵּל בְּשָׁעוֹת עַד שֶׁבָּא יַעֲקֹב וְנָטַל אֶת הַבְּרָכוֹת.

^{Midrash Tanchuma, Toldot 11.2} As soon as Esau went out to hunt, the Holy One, blessed be He, sent Satan after him to keep him from catching anything until Jacob had received the blessing…. ^11.3 When Esau caught a deer, he would tether it and then set out to catch another deer. In the meantime, Satan would release the deer that had been caught … Esau ... was forced to roam around for hours while Jacob received the blessings.^[5]

This midrash clearly sees Rebecca’s scheme as fulfillment of the divine plan, not a “monstrous crime.”

Isaac Knows It Is Jacob

A midrash in Genesis Rabbah (c. 5^th–6^th century C.E.) goes further, suggesting that Isaac is not fooled by Jacob’s ruse and blesses his younger son knowingly. When Jacob, disguised as Esau, brings the meal Isaac requested, Isaac challenges him regarding how he returned so quickly from the hunt. Jacob responds: כִּי הִקְרָה יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לְפָנָי, “Because YHWH your God granted me good fortune” (Gen 27:20), and this choice of words gives him away:

^{בראשית רבה (תיאודור-אלבק) סה} אמר יצחק: "יודע אני שאין עשו מזכיר שמו של הקדוש ברוך הוא וזה מזכיר, אין זה עשו אלא יעקב."

^{Gen Rab 65} “Isaac said, ‘I know that Esau does not mention the name of the Holy One …since this one does mention God, he is not Esau but Jacob.’”^[6]

When Isaac then asks to feel “Esau’s” skin (v. 21) as further proof of his identity, Ramban concludes:

ועל דרך הפשט יהיה זה בעבור טביעות הקול

The straightforward sense is simply that Isaac recognized the voice as Jacob’s.

Why, however, would Isaac continue to play along with the charade and go through with giving Jacob his blessing if he recognizes Jacob’s voice and continues to suspect that it is Jacob serving? Building on this midrashic reading and Isaac and Rebecca’s strong relationship, we can imagine that Isaac knows about Rebecca’s plan all along.

Isaac and Rebecca’s Relationship

Isaac and Rebecca’s close relationship is apparent from the beginning. After Rebecca is chosen for Isaac and arrives in Canaan, Isaac immediately loves her:

‏^{בראשׁית כד:סז} וַיְבִאֶהָ יִצְחָק הָאֹהֱלָה שָׂרָה אִמּוֹ וַיִּקַּח אֶת רִבְקָה וַתְּהִי לוֹ לְאִשָּׁה וַיֶּאֱהָבֶהָ וַיִּנָּחֵם יִצְחָק אַחֲרֵי אִמּוֹ.

^{Gen 24:67} Isaac then brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he took Rebecca as his wife. Isaac loved her, and thus found comfort after his mother’s death.

To state that a husband loves his wife is a rare phenomenon in Genesis, never mind the Bible as a whole. No such language describes the Abraham-Sarah relationship; Jacob does love Rachel (Gen 29:18, 30), but apparently not Leah. His feelings for Bilhah and Zilpah are unrecorded.^[7]

While Isaac and Rebecca are living in Gerar, he pretends that she is his sibling, but the way that their deception is discovered underscores their closeness:

^{בראשׁית כו:ח} וַיְהִי כִּי אָרְכוּ לוֹ שָׁם הַיָּמִים וַיַּשְׁקֵף אֲבִימֶלֶךְ מֶלֶךְ פְּלִשְׁתִּים בְּעַד הַחַלּוֹן וַיַּרְא וְהִנֵּה יִצְחָק מְצַחֵק אֵת רִבְקָה אִשְׁתּוֹ.

^{Gen 26:8} When some time had passed, Abimelech king of the Philistines, looking out of the window, saw Isaac fondling his wife Rebecca.

Everett Fox translates the phrase as “laughing-and-loving.”^[8] Rashi (ad loc.) suggests that they are engaging in intercourse.

Isaac Does Not Take a Second Wife

Unable to produce progeny, Isaac, unlike his father Abraham and son Jacob, foregoes taking on a second wife. Rather, Isaac with Rebecca alongside, approaches YHWH:

^{בראשׁית כה:כא} וַיֶּעְתַּר יִצְחָק לַי־הוָה לְנֹכַח אִשְׁתּוֹ כִּי עֲקָרָה הִוא וַיֵּעָתֶר לוֹ יְ־הוָה וַתַּהַר רִבְקָה אִשְׁתּוֹ.

^{Gen 25:21} Isaac pleaded with YHWH in front of his wife, because she was barren; and YHWH responded to his plea, and his wife Rebecca conceived.

He supplicates YHWH quite literally in front of his wife.^[9]

Childlessness is their mutual problem, not hers alone. When Rebecca gives birth, וַיִּקְרְאוּ שְׁמוֹ עֵשָׂו, “they named him Esau” (25:25), and since the boys are twins, she probably is there at Jacob’s naming as well (v. 26).^[10] This is a couple who works in tandem,^[11] who are close, who share values.

The “Deception” Does Not Harm Their Relationship

Even after ostensibly having been deceived by Rebecca and Jacob over his blessing, Isaac is not angry when the ruse is revealed. Soon after, Rebecca approaches Isaac with the comment that she is disgusted with Esau’s Hittite wives (27:46). Isaac, taking the hint, immediately makes arrangements for Jacob to find a wife from within their own extended family:

‏^{בראשׁית כח:א} וַיִּקְרָא יִצְחָק אֶל יַעֲקֹב וַיְבָרֶךְ אֹתוֹ וַיְצַוֵּהוּ וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ לֹא תִקַּח אִשָּׁה מִבְּנוֹת כְּנָעַן׃ ^כח:ב קוּם לֵךְ פַּדֶּנָה אֲרָם בֵּיתָה בְתוּאֵל אֲבִי אִמֶּךָ וְקַח לְךָ מִשָּׁם אִשָּׁה מִבְּנוֹת לָבָן אֲחִי אִמֶּךָ.

^{Gen 28:1} So Isaac sent for Jacob and blessed him. He instructed him, saying, “You shall not take a wife from among the Canaanite women. ^28:2 Up, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and take a wife there from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.”

Isaac blesses Jacob; absent is any suggestion that Isaac is upset with either Rebecca or Jacob. Yet if Isaac and Rebecca are not at cross-purposes in the matter of the blessing of Esau and Jacob, then why do they bother with the elaborate scheme to “deceive” Isaac?

Jacob Is Isaac and Abraham’s Heir

YHWH informs Rebecca before her sons were born that the younger twin will supersede his brother:

^{בראשׁית כה:כג} וַיֹּאמֶר יְ־הוָה לָהּ שְׁנֵי גֹיִים בְּבִטְנֵךְ וּשְׁנֵי לְאֻמִּים מִמֵּעַיִךְ יִפָּרֵדוּ וּלְאֹם מִלְאֹם יֶאֱמָץ וְרַב יַעֲבֹד צָעִיר.

^{Gen 25:23} And YHWH answered her, “Two nations are in your womb, two separate peoples shall issue from your body; one people shall be mightier than the other, and the older shall serve the younger.”

Though the text doesn’t say this explicitly, presumably, Rebecca would have told Isaac what YHWH said.

God’s Hint to Isaac

In the next chapter, YHWH may be hinting at Jacob’s place as Isaac’s spiritual heir with a subtle word play:

‏^{בראשׁית כו:ד} וְהִרְבֵּיתִי אֶת זַרְעֲךָ כְּכוֹכְבֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם וְנָתַתִּי לְזַרְעֲךָ אֵת כָּל הָאֲרָצֹת הָאֵל וְהִתְבָּרֲכוּ בְזַרְעֲךָ כֹּל גּוֹיֵי הָאָרֶץ. ^כו:ה עֵקֶב אֲשֶׁר שָׁמַע אַבְרָהָם בְּקֹלִי וַיִּשְׁמֹר מִשְׁמַרְתִּי מִצְוֹתַי חֻקּוֹתַי וְתוֹרֹתָי.

^{Gen 26:4} I will make your heirs as numerous as the stars of heaven, and assign to your heirs all these lands, so that all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by your heirs—^26:5 inasmuch as Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge: My commandments, My laws, and My teachings.”

When YHWH says to Isaac, “inasmuch as [ʿeqev] Abraham obeyed me” your heirs will be numerous, he may have heard the echos of his second son’s name, Yaʿaqov, as it comes from this same root ע.ק.ב. This, then, is the son who is to receive the blessing.^[12]

R. Hayyim Joseph David Azulay (known as Chida, 1724–1806) notes this connection in his Pnei David commentary on the Torah (ad loc.), and suggests that Isaac was actually not supposed to get the hint:

^{פני דוד, בראשית תולדות יז} "...והתברכו בזרעך כל גויי הארץ עקב"—כלומר זרעך הוא עקב שהוא יעקב שעיקר שמו עקב ואמר לו ברמז שלא יבין יצחק כדי שיטול הברכות יעקב מדעת השכינה לבד

^{Pnei David Genesis Toledot §17} “And in your seed shall all the nations of the land be blessed, inasmuch (ʿeqev)”—That is, your seed is ʿEqev, i.e., Jacob (yaʿaqov), the core of whose name comes from the word עקב. And [God] said this to him with a hint so that Isaac would not understand, so that Jacob would receive the blessings from the wisdom of the divine presence (shekhinah) alone.

I suggest, however, that Isaac did understand the hint, but also understood that it was Jacob’s job to come to this conclusion on his own.

Jacob’s Unwitting Part

Unlike Esau, Jacob begins life as an אִישׁ תָּם יֹשֵׁב אֹהָלִים, “mild man who stayed in camp” (Gen 25:27). To encourage Jacob to step into a leadership role, Isaac and Rebecca want him to feel that he is earning the primogeniture blessing through his own action, like he did the birthright. The plan begins with Isaac sending Esau away:

‏^{בראשׁית כז:ג} וְעַתָּה שָׂא נָא כֵלֶיךָ תֶּלְיְךָ וְקַשְׁתֶּךָ וְצֵא הַשָּׂדֶה וְצוּדָה לִּי צֵידָה. ^כז:ד וַעֲשֵׂה לִי מַטְעַמִּים כַּאֲשֶׁר אָהַבְתִּי וְהָבִיאָה לִּי וְאֹכֵלָה בַּעֲבוּר תְּבָרֶכְךָ נַפְשִׁי בְּטֶרֶם אָמוּת.

^{Gen 27:3} “Take your gear, your quiver and bow, and go out into the open and hunt me some game. ^27:4 Then prepare a dish for me such as I like, and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my innermost blessing before I die.”

When Rebecca tells Jacob about Isaac’s conversation with Esau, she deliberately changes the wording to include a reference to God:

^{בראשׁית כז:ו} וְרִבְקָה אָמְרָה אֶל יַעֲקֹב בְּנָהּ לֵאמֹר הִנֵּה שָׁמַעְתִּי אֶת אָבִיךָ מְדַבֵּר אֶל עֵשָׂו אָחִיךָ לֵאמֹר. ^כז:ז הָבִיאָה לִּי צַיִד וַעֲשֵׂה לִי מַטְעַמִּים וְאֹכֵלָה וַאֲבָרֶכְכָה לִפְנֵי יְ־הוָה לִפְנֵי מוֹתִי.

^{Gen 27:6} Rebecca said to her son Jacob, “I overheard your father speaking to your brother Esau, saying, ^27:7 ‘Bring me some game and prepare a dish for me to eat, that I may bless you, before YHWH, before I die.’”

Thus, when Isaac asks Jacob about how he returned so quickly, Jacob’s response reflects what he thinks his father said to Esau:

^{בראשׁית כז:כ} וַיֹּאמֶר יִצְחָק אֶל בְּנוֹ מַה זֶּה מִהַרְתָּ לִמְצֹא בְּנִי וַיֹּאמֶר כִּי הִקְרָה יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לְפָנָי.

^{Gen 27:20} Isaac said to his son, “How did you succeed so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because YHWH your God granted me good fortune.”

YHWH’s name serves as a “code word” that will allow Isaac to know that Rebecca has been successful in her undertaking to convince Jacob to try to deceive Isaac. Isaac did not use the word YHWH in his instructions to Esau to hunt game. It is Rebecca who adds this “code word” in her instructions to Jacob.

The Deception of Jacob

The deception plays out over ten verses in which Jacob the trickster is in fact, tricked.^[13] To Jacob, Isaac likely appears frail and confused, if also a bit suspicious. After he has Jacob kiss him, and smells the scent of Esau’s clothes, Isaac blesses Jacob and mentions YHWH explicitly:

^{בראשׁית כז:כז} וַיִּגַּשׁ וַיִּשַּׁק לוֹ וַיָּרַח אֶת רֵיחַ בְּגָדָיו וַיְבָרֲכֵהוּ וַיֹּאמֶר רְאֵה רֵיחַ בְּנִי כְּרֵיחַ שָׂדֶה אֲשֶׁר בֵּרֲכוֹ יְ־הוָה.

^{Gen 27:27} He went up and kissed him. And he smelled his clothes and he blessed him, saying, “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of the fields that YHWH has blessed.”

Isaac does not mention Esau here, and just refers to the man before him as “his son,” and his use of YHWH’s name underscores that he is aware that this is Jacob-pretending-to-be-Esau. Moreover, the agricultural blessing that Isaac offers aligns with Jacob, not with Esau, who is a hunter.^[14]

When Esau finally returns from the hunt and brings his meal to Isaac, the ruse gives Isaac plausible deniability for his role in blessing Jacob:

‏^{בראשׁית כז:לג} וַיֶּחֱרַד יִצְחָק חֲרָדָה גְּדֹלָה עַד מְאֹד וַיֹּאמֶר מִי אֵפוֹא הוּא הַצָּד צַיִד וַיָּבֵא לִי וָאֹכַל מִכֹּל בְּטֶרֶם תָּבוֹא וָאֲבָרֲכֵהוּ גַּם בָּרוּךְ יִהְיֶה.

^{Gen 27:33} Isaac was seized with very violent trembling. “Who was it then,” he demanded, “that hunted game and brought it to me? Moreover, I ate of it before you came, and I blessed him; now he must remain blessed!”

Isaac may love Esau more, but, like Rebecca, he is aware that Jacob is YHWH’s choice to be heir to the patriarchal blessing and does what he is supposed to do. The plan may have given Jacob the impetus he needed to take power, and given Isaac a way to avoid telling Esau about YHWH’s rebuff of him—something which went quite poorly in the Cain and Abel episode—but the plan comes with a high cost. Denying Esau the blessing will enrage him, and Jacob will literally need to leave the land to save his life.

Deception as a Theme in Jacob’s Life

In the standard reading of the text, Rebecca comes off as less than moral and as a cause for Jacob’s exile and Esau’s hurt,^[15] while Isaac’s stature is diminished, he is portrayed as a doddering old man who is the victim of elder abuse. Reading the story in light of the sages’ view that God intended for Jacob to get the blessing, and that Isaac went along with it by pretending to be deceived, allows us to view the patriarch differently, especially if, as I suggest, this means that Rebecca and Isaac were plotting together. Yes, undoubtedly there is a “calculated deception,” but it is Jacob, not Isaac, who is in the dark.

Deception is a theme that persists throughout Jacob’s life. While he sometimes succeeds in being the trickster himself, more often, he is the one to be tricked.^[16] Laban, his soon-to-be father-in-law fools him into marrying his older daughter Leah first, getting an extra seven years of work from his foolish nephew (Gen 29). Later in life, Jacob’s sons also deceive him about the death of their brother, Joseph (Gen 37).

Thus, as tricky as Jacob may be himself at times, the dominant theme is that while he believes he is being savvy, he is more often being fooled. And this starts when he dresses up like his brother Esau and playacts a role that his blind father already knew he would play before he ever donned the goat skins.