And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.
Esau ... came in from his hunting. Scarcely had the former scene been concluded, when the fraud was discovered. The emotions Isaac, as well as Esau, may easily be imagined-the astonishment, alarm, and sorrow of the one, the disappointment and indignation of the other. But a moment's reflection convinced the aged patriarch that the transfer of the blessing was "of the Lord," and now irrevocable. The importunities of Esau, however, overpowered him; and as the prophetic afflatus was upon the patriarch, he gave utterance to what was probably as pleasing to a man of Esau's character as the honours of primogeniture would have been.
`Behold, thy dwelling shall be far from (outside) the fatness of the earth, And far from (outside) the dew of heaven from above; But by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt have the dominion,
That thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.'
There is a paranomasia, or play of words, in the framing of these two addresses, arising from the different use of the preposition х min (H4480)], which is used (Genesis 27:38) in a partitive sense, but (Genesis 27:39) in a privative sense, signifying 'without,' as it frequently does in poetry (2 Samuel 1:22; Job 11:15). This translation, which is different from that in the King James Version, gives a meaning both in better accordance with the context and at the same time exactly descriptive of the physical character of Idumea. The first part of the address predicts that Esau and his descendants should be settled in a region 'without the fatness of the earth, or the dew of heaven;' and such is the state of Edom; because though some portions in the eastern division of it are watered and productive, the whole of the western district along the Arabah is the most arid and sterile that can be imagined. The second part of the prediction refers to the roving life of hunting freebooters, which he and his descendants should lead. Though Esau was not personally subject to his brother, his posterity were tributary to the Israelites from the time of David (2 Samuel 8:14) until the reign of Joram, when they revolted, and established a king of their own (2 Kings 8:20; 2 Chronicles 21:8-10), but were subdued a second time by Amaziah (2 Kings 14:7; 2 Chronicles 25:11), and continued to be subject under Uzziah and Jotham (2 Kings 14:22; 2 Chronicles 26:2). It was not until the reign of Ahaz they succeeded in finally throwing off the yoke of the Jews (2 Chronicles 28:17).
We are informed, on apostolic authority Hebrews 11:20), that Isaac "blessed" both his sons "concerning things to come, by faith" - faith grounded on the promise to his posterity made by the Word of God; and he considered himself called instrumentally to convey the precious legacy by a solemn benediction to his heir. He erred, indeed, through the weakness of nature, in assigning it to a wrong individual, but by the secret overruling providence of God was guided unconsciously to a right conclusion; because his warrant was derived from the revealed Word, and the direct inspiration of the Faithful Promiser qualified him for the extraordinary act of conveying it to his chosen successor. In the case of Esau he acted by faith also; because although that benediction referred only to temporal things, and did not rest upon any special promise, yet it was the fruit of earnest prayer, and contained predictions which he received by divine revelation.