Genesis 27:45

Gen 27:45 Until thy brother’s anger turn away from thee, and he forget [that] which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be deprived also of you both in one day?

Ver. 45. And he forget, &c.] While wrongs are remembered, they are not remitted. He forgives not, that forgets not. When an inconsiderate fellow had stricken Cato in the bath, and afterwards cried him mercy, he replied, I remember not that thou didst strike me. {a} Our Henry VI is said to have been of that happy memory, that he never forgot anything but injuries. Esau was none such: he was of that sort whom they call πικροχολοι, soon angry, but not soon pleased. His anger was like "coals of juniper," {Psa 120:4} which burn extremely, last long (a whole twelve month about, as some write), and though they seem extinct, revive again: -

“ Flamma redardescit, quae modo nullas fuit .” - Ovid.

{a} Sen., De Ira., lib. i.

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.

For the wicked son will kill the godly: and the plague of God will afterward light on the wicked son.

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

Why should I be deprived of you both?--This refers to the law of Goelism, by which the nearest of kin would be obliged to avenge the death of Jacob upon his brother.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 45. Why should I be deprived also of you both] If Esau should kill Jacob, then the nearest akin to Jacob, who was by the patriarchial law, Ge 9:6, the avenger of blood, would kill Esau; and both these deaths might possibly take place in the same day. This appears to be the meaning of Rebekah. Those who are ever endeavouring to sanctify the means by the end, are full of perplexity and distress. God will not give his blessing to even a Divine service, if not done in his own way, on principles of truth and righteousness. Rebekah and her son would take the means out of God's hands; they compassed themselves with their own sparks, and warmed themselves with their own fire; and this had they at the hand of God, they lay down in sorrow. God would have brought about his designs in a way consistent with his own perfections; for he had fully determined that the elder should serve the younger, and that the Messiah should spring not from the family of Esau but from that of Jacob; and needed not the cunning craftiness or deceits of men to accomplish his purposes. Yet in his mercy he overruled all these circumstances, and produced good, where things, if left to their own operations and issues, would have produced nothing but evil. However, after this reprehensible transaction, we hear no more of Rebekah. The Holy Spirit mentions her no more, her burial excepted, Ge 49:31. See Clarke on Ge 35:8.

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

45. Why should I be deprived of you both in one day? Why does Rebekah fear a double privation? for there was no danger that Jacob, endued with a disposition so mild and placid, should rise up against his brother. We see, therefore, that Rebekah concluded that God would be the avenger of the iniquitous murder. Moreover, although God, for a time, might seem to overlook the deed, and to suspend his judgment, it would yet be necessary for him to withdraw from the parricide. Therefore, by this law of nature, Rebekah declares that she should be entirely bereaved; because she would be compelled to dread and to detest him who survived. But if Rebekah anticipated in her mind what the judgment of God would be, and devoted the murderer to destruction, because she was persuaded that wickedness so great would not be unpunished; much less ought we to close our eyes against the manifest chastisements of God.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

45. I will send, and fetch thee] There is no mention of this part of Rebekah’s promise being fulfilled.

be bereaved of you both] The expression seems to be a reference to the custom of blood-revenge, as in 2Sa_14:7. The life of the murderer would be required by the family. He must either be banished from the family, or judicially put to death. In either case the parents would be “bereaved of both.”

Or, possibly, “you both” refers to Isaac, her husband, and Jacob, her favourite son. On the day of Isaac’s death, Esau intended to slay Jacob.

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.

Until thy brother's anger turn away from thee,.... Which is repeated from the preceding verse, to carry on the connection:

and he forget that which thou hast done to him; in getting the blessing from him; being convinced that Jacob had done him no injury, and that he had no just cause of being angry with him, it being the will of God that he should have the blessing; and besides, having bought the birthright of him, the blessing belonged to him in course; or however would in time forgive and forget what he thought was an injury done him:

then I will send, and fetch thee from thence; send messengers to him that should acquaint him with the disposition of his brother towards him, and, if agreeable, bring him along with them to his mother again; this is said to encourage him to go:

why should I be deprived also of you both in one day? who might either in the quarrel kill one another; or however, as one would be murdered, so the other, the murderer, must die by the hand of the civil magistrate, according to the law in Gen 9:6; or should he escape justice being done him by men, yet the hand of God would find him; or if obliged to flee and hide himself, it would be as if he was not.

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

Both my sons. Esau would have forfeited his life for murder, chap. ix. 6. (Haydock) --- Perhaps she might also fear that Jacob, in his own defence, should in the very agony of death, give the aggressor a mortal wound; or that Esau, at least, would be forced to flee his country. Indeed, she considered him already as a lost man, on account of his marriage with the two women of Chanaan, and his savage manners. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Of thee by Esau’s bloody hands; and of Esau, who was likely to suffer death for his murder, either by the authority of the magistrate, as God commanded, Gen 9:6, or by the hand of God, who ofttimes supplies the magistrate’s defects in that particular, and in some extraordinary manner executes this vengeance. See Gen 4:11,16; Ac 28:4.

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

45. Both in one day — If Esau slew Jacob, the avenger of blood would speedily arise, (Gen_9:6,) and so both of them would perish as in a day. Or, perhaps, she refers to Isaac and Jacob both dying in a day.

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

Why should I be deprived of you both? - Not only of the murdered, but of the murderer, who either by the magistrate, or by the immediate hand of God would be sacrificed to justice.

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

למה אשכל means WHY SHOULD I BE BEREAVED משניכם OF BOTH OF YOU? — The one who buries his children is termed שכול bereaved: so we find in the case of Jacob (43:14), “If I am to be bereaved (שכלתי) let me be bereaved”.

גם שניכם OF YOU BOTH — If he attacks you and you kill him his children will rise and kill you. The Holy Spirit poured itself forth upon her and she prophesied (had a presage) that they would both die on one day just as it is stated in the Chapter המקנה לאשתו (Sotah 13a).

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.

עד שוב...גם שניכם, one to include the other. We find a similar construction of lumping two people together when they share a single common denominator [such as death in this verse. Ed.] in Genesis 43,8 גם אנחנו גם אתה, “both we and you,” where the wordגם introduces two entities instead of merely adding one to another, and Yehudah tells his father that sending Binyamin with him will result in both his father and the brothers and their families being spared death from famine. The rationale of אשכול שניכם יום אחד, is simply that the death of one of the brothers will inevitably be followed immediately by the death of the other.

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.