Genesis 27:3

Gen 27:3 Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me [some] venison;

Ver. 3. Take me some venison.] It is some blemish to holy Isaac, that he so favoured and loved Esau, and that because he did eat of his venison, or because venison was in his mouth. {Gen 25:28} "All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under of any thing". {1Co 6:12} It is a shame to a saint, to be a slave to his appetite, that it should be said of him, as it was of Epicurus, Dum palato quid sit optimum iudicat, coeli palatium suspexit. {a}

{a} Ennius

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Gen 27:3. Take me some venison — In this Isaac designed, not so much the refreshment of his own spirits, as the receiving a fresh instance of his son’s filial duty and affection to him, before he bestowed the designed favour upon him. That my soul may bless thee before I die — May confer my solemn, extraordinary, and prophetic blessing, and thereby may declare and constitute thee the heir of all the blessings bestowed by God upon me and my fathers. For it was no common blessing that Isaac meant for Esau, but that important patriarchal benediction which chiefly related to the peculiar and extraordinary covenant which God entered into with Abraham, to be a God to him and his seed, and to give them the land of Canaan, and in particular to that fundamental part of it, that the Messiah should be of his seed, and bless all the families of the earth. Isaac, out of a fond affection for Esau, endeavoured to entail this blessing on him, unmindful of the oracle that the elder should serve the younger.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

27:3-4 Like Esau, Isaac allowed his palate to govern his heart (cp. 25:28-34).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Hebrew, hunt.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 3. Thy weapons] The original word כלי keley signifies vessels and instruments of any kind; and is probably used here for a hunting spear, javelin, sword, c.

Quiver] תלי teli, from תלה talah, to hang or suspend. Had not the Septuagint translated the word φαρετραν, and the Vulgate pharetram, a quiver, I should rather have supposed some kind of shield was meant but either can be suspended on the arm or from the shoulder. Some think a sword is meant; and because the original signifies to hang or suspend, hence they think is derived our word hanger, so called because it is generally worn in a pendent posture; but the word hanger did not exist in our language previously to the Crusades, and we have evidently derived it from the Persian [Persian] khanjar, a poniard or dagger, the use of which, not only in battles, but in private assassinations, was well known.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(3) Thy quiver.—This word does not occur elsewhere, and is rendered in the Targum and Syriac a sword. As it is derived from a root signifying to hang, it probably means, like our word hanger, a sort of knife; but all that we can say for certain is that it was some sort of hunting implement.

Take me some venison.—The Heb. is hunt me a hunting. “Venison,” the Latin venatio, means anything taken by hunting.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. thy weapons] The quiver and bow are the huntsman’s weapons. Esau as “a man of the field” (Gen_25:27) is to go out “to the field,” i.e. the open country. Targum of Onkelos, “thy sword and thy bow”; cf. Gen_48:22.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Now therefore, take, I pray thee, thy weapons,.... Or "thy vessels", or "instruments" (n), his instruments of hunting: as

thy quiver and thy bow; the former is the vessel or instrument, in which arrows were put and carried, and has its name in the Hebrew language from its being hung at the girdle, though another word is more commonly used for a quiver; and Onkelos and Jarchi interpret this of a sword; and which is not disapproved of by Aben Ezra and Ben Melech, who explain it either a quiver or a sword; and the latter was as necessary for hunting as the former, see Gen 27:40; and such a sword may be meant, as Mr. Fuller observes (o), which we call a "hanger" (i.e. a small sword often worn by seamen); and of the bow being an instrument of hunting, not anything need be said:

and go out to the field, and take me some venison; this does not necessarily intend what we commonly call so, but anything hunted in the field, as hares, wild goats, &c. and indeed the latter seems to be what Isaac loved, by the preparation Rebekah afterwards made.

(n) "instrumenta tua", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "vasa tua", Vatablus. (o) Miscell. Sacr. l. 1. c. 17.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Thy quiver, or, as the Chaldee and Hebrew doctors render it, thy sword; a weapon no less necessary for a hunter of beasts than a bow.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. Take me some venison — Hebrews, Hunt for me a hunting. The word does not necessarily mean venison, but any kind of edible game taken by hunting. See Pro_12:27.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, the word "weapon" signifying a utensil, vessel, or finished instrument of any sort. (cf. Gen_14:5 Gen_31:37 Gen_45:20) Here it manifestly denotes weapons employed in hunting, and in particular those next specifiedthy quiver the apax legomenon, yliT: from hlT to hang, properly is "that which is suspended;" hence a quiver, faretran (LXX), pharetram (Vulgate), which commonly depends from the shoulders or girdle (Aben Ezra, Rosenm Keil, Kalisch, et alii), though by some it is rendered "sword" (Onkelos; Syriac)and thy bow, (vide Gen_21:16) and go oat to the field, i.e. the open country inhabited by wild beasts, as opposed to cities, villages, or camps (cf. Gen_25:27) and take me some venison literally, hunt for me hunt ing, i.e. the produce of hunting, as in Gen_25:28.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Take me some venison that I may; bless thee - Esau must go a hunting and bring some venison. In this he designed not so much the refreshment of his own spirits, as the receiving a fresh instance of his son's, filial duty and affection to him, before he bestowed this favour upon him. That my soul may bless thee before I die - Prayer is the work of the soul, and not of the lips only; as the soul must be employed in blessing God, Psalm ciii, 1, so it must be in blessing ourselves and others: the blessing will not go to the heart, if it do not come from the heart.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

General Information:

Isaac continues giving instructions to his older son Isaac.

your weapons

"your hunting equipment"

your quiver

A quiver is a case for holding arrows. AT: "your quiver of arrows" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

hunt game for me

"hunt a wild animal for me"

Make delicious food for me, the sort that I love

The word "delicious" refers to something that tastes very good. AT: "Cook for me the tasty meat that I love" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

bless you

In Bible times, a father would often pronounce a formal blessing on his children.

translationWords

bow and arrow

bless

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

שא נא — The word שא means sharpen, similar to what שא read in the Mishna (Beitzah 28a) “One may not sharpen the knife in the usual manner but one may sharpen it by passing it (משיאין) over another”. Isaac said to Esau, “Sharpen your knife and slaughter an animal according to the regulations so that you may not give me to eat נבלה” (i.e. the flesh of animal that is not killed according to the ritual rules) (Genesis Rabbah 65:13).

תליך means thy sword which is usually hung (at the side).

צודה לי AND HUNT FOR ME [SOME VENISON] of animals that are ownerless, but not of such as are acquired by theft (literally, by robbery).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

ועתה...כליך, the tools you use to hunt with.

תליך וקשתך, now he spelled out the tools in detail. Possibly, there were other hunting instruments in addition to these. תליך, is the quiver in which one keeps the arrows. Onkelos translates it as סיפך, “your sword,” (the ending ך in the word as a personal pronoun.). A sword would also be a tool which is hung in a scabbard, or suspended from one’s belt, so. that the root תלה implied in the word תליך is part of his translation.

וצא השדה, Yitzchok issued this instruction as Esau did not go out hunting on a daily basis.

צידה, spelled with the letter ה, but read as ציד. According to a well known aggadic interpretation the letter ה is an allusion to 5 major halachic requirements in killing an animal to make it fit for consumption by Jews. (compare Torah Shleymah 23)

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.