ותכהינה עיניו, just as what happened to the High Priest Eli who had not protested the wrongs committed by his sons. (Samuel I 3,13) In that instance the expression used is ועיניו קמה ולא יכול לראות, (Samuel I 4,15) Neither Avraham nor Yaakov experienced such problems in their old age at the age at which Yitzchok was struck by this affliction. They were both far older than Eli who died at the age of only 98. In fact, the Torah reports Avraham’s youthfulness in 25,1 when it reports him as taking another wife. Yaakov, with all the troubles he had experienced during his life was still able to see at 147 years of age, though with difficulty, (may be was very shortsighted then) as in Genesis 48,8 he is reported as clearly seeing Joseph’s sons, though they may have resembled each other so that he could not tell apart which one was Efrayim and which one was Menashe, This was in spite of the Torah (48,10) having told us ועיני ישראל כבדו מזוקן, “Yaakov’s eyes were heavy with old age,” (problems keeping the lids open?) At any rate, he could see, though not with clarity.

לא ידעתי יום מותי. Although the blessing will prove more effective the closer the one dispensing is to death, as was the case in the blessings dispensed by Yaakov and Moses, seeing that their souls were already closer to heaven at the time when they dispensed the blessing, Yitzchok was not aware of when he would die so that he could to time his blessing accordingly.

שא נא כליך, so that you will not return with your mission unaccomplished.

Made it into a tasty dish. Yitzchok knew that Eisov was not worthy of the blessing that he wished to confer upon him. For this reason he instructed him to perform an act of honor towards him to give him merit. By contrast when he blessed Yaakov (28:3) he knew that he needed no additional merit.

ולא ברכה, if perhaps he had intended to bestow a blessing upon me also, if I deceive him, then instead of such a blessing I will receive a curse.

עלי קללתך, I will take your curse in your place should you become the subject of a curse. We find in Sanhedrin 48, that Solomon is reported to have accepted for himself any curse which would devolve upon him for carrying out his father’s dying wish not to let Yoav die a peaceful death and David’s curses against Yoav. In the event, Solomon or his descendants were afflicted with these curses. [I presume the author just wished to authenticate that Rivkah’s statement was not spurious, and that one can substitute oneself for the target of curses pronounced on someone else. Ed.]

והידים ידי עשו. There can be no question that the skins had been prepared in such a fashion that the hair on them were just like the hair on human skin, for in its natural state the hair on goatskin is considerably different from that on a human skin. What the Torah testifies to then is that Yaakov’s hands now were just as hairy as the hands of Esau. It is quite possible that not only Yitzchok’s eyesight had deteriorated to the point where it did not serve him to identify objects with any degree of certainty, but that also his sense of touch had become weakened as a source of identifying objects he touched. Samuel II 19,36-37 would support this where Barzilai lists a number of his faculties which suffered weakness as a result of old age.

They were hairy and he blessed him. Until he felt him he suspected he was an imposter and intended to curse him and as the Sages have taught — one who wrongly suspects his colleague is required to bless him.

וירח את ריח בגדיו, in order to expand his good mood by enjoying the fragrance. Our sages have described such an experience in Berachot 42 where they said: “which is something which the soul enjoys while the body does not benefit from it? It is a pleasant fragrance.”

ויברכהו, What happened here is similar to what is described in Kings II 3,15, where the prophet Elisha, who had been unable to secure a prophetic vision he had craved, after listening and enjoying music played for him, was able to secure the prophetic insight for which he had been waiting. Yitzchok, who, though desirous of blessing his son Esau, had not felt in the right frame of mind to do so successfully, now was able to proceed with full confidence.

ראה ריח בני, “you my son, take note that this is the appropriate fragrance.”

כריח שדה, the field does not only provide physical nourishment, its herbs, etc., but in addition it provides enjoyment for the soul which appreciates and is nurtured by the body it inhabits inhaling the fragrance of these herbs. [Yitzchok establishes the connection between ריח and רוח, “fragrance” and “spirit,” something alluded to frequently when the Torah describes G’d’s reaction to man’s sacrifices, especially the incense. Ed.]

It is part of G’d’s goodness, 'אשר ברכו ה, to provide phenomena on earth which are apt to lift his spirits.

And abundance of grain. Sufficient that he would be able to support others.

וישתחוו לך לאומים, for even the kingdoms which will not serve you directly will be in a state of dependence on you seeing that you will be the superpower.

הוה גביר לאחיך, seeing that Yitzchok was under the impression that he was speaking to Esau, he thought that it would be in Yaakov’s interest to endure some degree dependence upon Esau while at the same time holding on to the Land of Israel as its Abrahamitic heritage. Such a political dependence would ensure that Yaakov’s descendants would turn their attention to matters other than geo-politics, conquest, etc. The fact is, that at some time in the future the Jewish state did display expansionary tendencies, only to suffer setbacks as a result. The prophet Amos 6,8 already warned his people against such tendencies when he quotes G’d’s loathing for power politics practiced by the Kingdom of the ten tribes under the kings of Samaria. Moreover, Yitzchok thought that if Yaakov had to be subjected to foreign domination, it would be better for it to be subjected to the rule by his brother than by other nations which would treat it more cruelly. Our sages (Gittin 17) phrased this as או בטולך או בטולך דבר עשו, “it is better to be under the protection of You (G’d), or the protection of the descendants of Esau than to have to live under the rule of the Persians.” The way Yitzchok phrased his blessing was based on his knowledge that the Land of Israel would be Yaakov’s descendants exclusively, that Esau’s descendants would not have a share in it. This is why he made no mention at all of the blessing G’d gave to Avraham, nor did he make any mention of the Land of Israel.

אוויך ארור, the word אורריך is in the plural mode seeing that there would be numerous nations or individuals who would curse the kings and ministers of Esau when they would not be granted their rightful aspirations. The Torah therefore warned the Jewish people not to curse the political leadership or the judiciary as such curses might backfire (Exodus 22,27)

?מי איפוא הוא, if it is indeed true that you are Esau, who was the one who served me venison? When the word איפוא appears with the letter א at the end, the word is an alternative for the two words אם כן, “if so.” When the same word (phonetically speaking) is spelled with the letter ה at the end, as for instance, in Genesis 37,16 איפה הם רועים?, the word means the same as איה, “where?”

גם ברוך יהיה, the appropriate translation of the whole verse would be: “if this is so that you are indeed Esau, who is the one who brought me the venison and still achieved that he will remain blessed?!” Yitzchok had felt instinctively at the time he had bestowed the blessing that it would become fulfilled for the person whom he was blessing at the time. This confirms something told us by Rabbi Chanina in Berachot 34 that whenever he prayed for the recovery of a sick person he could feel while praying for him if his prayer would be effective.

ויקח ברכתך, the blessing that would have been appropriate as suitable and effective for you. The blessing which Yaakov had been given (mistakenly), concerned matters of importance in our material life on this earthy both while in our own land or in the Diaspora. The reason Yitzchok had phrased it thus was because the blessing G’d had given Avraham and which was to be given to one of Yitzchok’s children was not appropriate for Esau. [the latter blessing was given to Yaakov in 28,4 so that Yaakov indeed had secured both blessings. Ed.]

הכי קרא שמו יעקב ויעקבני, did all this happen to me because at the time Yaakov was born he was named Yaakov so that he could now trick me? He was wondering if whoever had named Yaakov had predetermined some of his future character traits.

הלא אצלת לי ברכה, seeing that you thought at the time you dispensed the blessing that it was I who stood before you, and you surely did not have in mind to bestow upon me the spiritual blessing, the supreme blessing, you must have reserved this blessing for my brother. You surely had not intended that I, Esau, would be the sole beneficiary of all your blessings?

ואת כל אחיו נתתי לו לעבדים, a reference to the sons of Ishmael, and the sons of Keturah, as well as the kings of other nations. As he had said in verse 29. יעבדוך עמים, “nations will serve you.”

ולך איפוא מה אעשה?, in view of this what can I do now for you? What kind of blessing is left which will be of use to you?

הנה משמני הארץ יהיה מושבך, I am able to bless you, assuring you that you and your descendants will reside in fruitful areas of the earth, even if they will be marginally subservient to your brother.

ומטל השמים מעל, ועל חאבך תחיה, you will be able to live on the blessings provided by the dew without needing rainfall or having to toil the earth; you will live by your sword in times of war. even though at the same time you may be in a state of subservience to your brother and even engage in war as a mercenary on behalf of your brother or someone else. From this it follows that if you were to complain about unreasonable harshness of your brother’s yoke, כאשר תריד, and would want to ופרקת עלו מעל צוארך, “shake off his yoke from around your neck.,” i.e. revert to a different lifestyle, such as engaging in agriculture, know that then you will never become free from subservience to your brother or to someone else.