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LXX Genesis

Septuagint

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Chapter 27

1 And it happened after Isaac was old, that his eyes were dimmed so that he could not see; and he called Esau, his elder son, and said to him, My son; and he said, Look, I am here. 2 And he said, Look, I have grown old, and do not know the day of my death. 3 Now then take the weapons, both your quiver and your bow, and go into the plain, and get me venison, 4 and make me food, as I like it, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you, before I die. 5 And Rebekah heard Isaac speaking to Esau his son; and Esau went to the plain to procure venison for his father. 6 And Rebekah said to Jacob her younger son, Look, I heard your father speaking to Esau your brother, saying, 7 Bring me venison, and prepare me food, that I may eat and bless you before the Lord before I die. 8 Now then, my son, listen to me, as I command you. 9 And go to the cattle and take for me from there two kids, tender and good, and I will make them into food for your father, as he likes. 10 And you shall bring them in to your father, and he shall eat, that your father may bless you before he dies. 11 And Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I a smooth man. 12 Perhaps my father may feel me, and I shall be before him as one ill-intentioned, and I shall bring upon me a curse, and not a blessing. 13 And his mother said to him, On me be your curse, son; only listen to my voice, and go and bring them to me. 14 So he went and took and brought them to his mother; and his mother made food, as his father liked it. 15 And Rebekah having taken the fine clothing of her elder son Esau which was with her in the house, put it on Jacob her younger son. 16 And she put on his arms the skins of the kids, and on the bare parts of his neck. 17 And she gave the food, and the loaves which she had prepared, into the hands of Jacob her son. 18 And he brought them to his father, and said, Father; and he said, Look, I am here; who are you, son? 19 And Jacob said to his father, I, Esau your firstborn, have done as you told me; rise, sit, and eat of my venison, that your soul may bless me. 20 And Isaac said to his son, What is this which you have quickly found, son? And he said, That which the Lord your God presented before me. 21 And Isaac said to Jacob, Draw near to me, and I will feel you, son, if you are my son Esau or not. 22 And Jacob drew near to his father Isaac, and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. 23 And he did not know him, for his hands were as the hands of his brother Esau, hairy; and he blessed him, 24 and he said, Are you my son Esau? and he said, I am. 25 And he said, Bring it here, and I will eat of your venison, son, that my soul may bless you; and he brought it near to him, and he ate, and he brought him wine, and he drank. 26 And Isaac his father said to him, Draw near to me, and kiss me, son. 27 And he drew near and kissed him, and smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him, and said, Look, the smell of my son is as the smell of an abundant field, which the Lord has blessed. 28 And may God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and abundance of grain and wine. 29 And let nations serve you, and princes bow down to you, and be lord of your brother, and the sons of your father shall do you reverence; the one who curses you is cursed, and the one who blesses you is blessed. 30 And it happened after Isaac had ceased blessing his son Jacob, it even happened, just when Jacob had gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. 31 And he also had made food and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, Let my father arise and eat of his son's venison, that your soul may bless me. 32 And Isaac his father said to him, Who are you? And he said, I am your firstborn son Esau. 33 And Isaac was amazed with very great amazement, and said, Who then is it that has procured venison for me and brought it to me? and I have eaten of all before you came, and I have blessed him, and he shall be blessed. 34 And it happened when Esau heard the words of his father Isaac, he cried out with a great and very bitter cry, and said, Bless, Please, me also, father. 35 And he said to him, Your brother has come with subtlety, and taken your blessing. 36 And he said, Rightly was his name called Jacob, for look! this second time he has supplanted me; he has both taken my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing; and Esau said to his father, Have you not left a blessing for me, father? 37 And Isaac answered and said to Esau, If I have made him your lord, and have made all his brothers his servants, and have strengthened him with grain and wine, what then shall I do for you, son? 38 And Esau said to his father, Have you only one blessing, father? Bless, Please, me also, father. And Isaac being troubled, Esau cried aloud and wept. 39 And Isaac his father answered and said to him, Look, your dwelling shall be away from the fatness of the earth, and away from the dew of heaven from above.⁠ 40 And you shall live by your sword, and shall serve your brother; and there shall be a time when you shall break and loosen his yoke from your neck. 41 And Esau was angry with Jacob because of the blessing, with which his father blessed him; and Esau said in his mind, Let the days of my father's mourning draw near, that I may kill my brother Jacob. 42 And the words of Esau her elder son were reported to Rebekah, and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, Look, Esau your brother threatens you to kill you. 43 Now then, my son, hear my voice, and rise and depart quickly into Mesopotamia to Laban my brother into Haran. 44 And dwell with him certain days, until your brother's anger 45 and rage depart from you, and he forget what you have done to him; and I will send and fetch you from there, for fear that at any time I should be bereaved of you both in one day. 46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life, because of the daughters of the sons of Heth; if Jacob shall take a wife of the daughters of this land, why should I live?

Texts in conversation

Compare Genesis 27:39 and LXX Genesis 27:39

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

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Summary

Genesis 27 has Isaac tell Esau his home will be “by the richness of the earth.” The Greek Septuagint reads the same Hebrew preposition as “away from,” turning Esau’s share in the earth’s richness into exile from it.

Passages

Genesis 27:39

Hebrew Bible
38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only that one blessing, my father? Bless me too!” Then Esau wept loudly. 39 So his father Isaac said to him, “See here, your home will be by the richness of the earth, and by the dew of the sky above. 40 You will live by your sword but you will serve your brother. When you grow restless, you will tear off his yoke from your neck.”
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

LXX Genesis 27:39

Septuagint
38 And Esau said to his father, Have you only one blessing, father? Bless, Please, me also, father. And Isaac being troubled, Esau cried aloud and wept. 39 And Isaac his father answered and said to him, Look, your dwelling shall be away from the fatness of the earth, and away from the dew of heaven from above. 40 And you shall live by your sword, and shall serve your brother; and there shall be a time when you shall break and loosen his yoke from your neck.
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Genesis

References

"... The blessing on Esau is limited because of the far-reaching blessing already given to Jacob, and is largely determined by it. In verse 28 Isaak had blessed Jacob by “May God give you from dew of heaven and from the fatness of the earth”; compare comments ad loc. The prepositional phrases recur here (though with ἄνωθεν after “heaven”), but in reverse order. In verse 28 the preposition ἀπό was partitive, but here it is privative; thus “behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be (that is, distant from Canaan), and away from the dew of heaven above (that is, in a desert area).” ..."
John William Wevers, Notes on the Greek Text of Genesis, SCS 35 (Atlanta: Scholars, 1993), 438.
"... Although not the blessing he wanted to give to Esau, Isaac does have an additional blessing. Unfortunately, it is the opposite of what he bestowed on Jacob. Esau will live away from the fatness of the land and from the dew of heaven. Rather than making his living by agriculture, Esau will live by the sword. His bellicose demeanor, however, will help him overcome his servitude to his brother. As is the Masoretic Text, the Greek translation is also confusing. To what Esau’s “overcoming” (ἐκλύσης) refers is unclear. ..."
Susan Brayford, Septuagint Commentary Series: Genesis (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 353.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Genesis 27:39 and LXX Genesis 27:39

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