Genesis 27:20 kjv

And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the LORD thy God brought it to me.

Genesis 27:20 nkjv

But Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?" And he said, "Because the LORD your God brought it to me."

Genesis 27:20 niv

Isaac asked his son, "How did you find it so quickly, my son?" "The LORD your God gave me success," he replied.

Genesis 27:20 esv

But Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?" He answered, "Because the LORD your God granted me success."

Genesis 27:20 nlt

Isaac asked, "How did you find it so quickly, my son?" "The LORD your God put it in my path!" Jacob replied.

Genesis 27 verses

Genesis 27 20 Meaning

Genesis 27:20 records a pivotal moment in Jacob's deception of his blind father, Isaac. When Isaac expresses surprise at the swiftness with which Jacob seemingly found and prepared game, Jacob responds by attributing his quick success directly to "the Lord your God." This statement serves to reinforce the lie by invoking divine intervention, making the unbelievable timing appear to be a sign of divine favor rather than human manipulation. Jacob implies that God supernaturally expedited the process for him.

Genesis 27 20 Context

Genesis 27:20 is embedded in a narrative driven by family dysfunction, favoritism, and divine election. Isaac, now old and blind, intends to bestow the significant patriarchal blessing, a prophetic pronouncement that carries spiritual and material weight for future generations, upon his firstborn son, Esau. Rebekah, Isaac's wife, favors their younger son, Jacob, and recalls a prior divine oracle indicating that "the older shall serve the younger" (Gen 25:23). To secure this blessing for Jacob, she orchestrates an elaborate deception: Jacob is to impersonate Esau by covering himself with animal skins to simulate Esau's hairy arms and wearing Esau's clothes to mask his scent, while bringing Isaac savory food Rebekah has prepared.

The verse itself marks a critical point where Isaac's suspicion, triggered by the unusual speed, is addressed by Jacob with a religious justification. This deepens the deceit, not merely by lying about his identity or the meal, but by sacrilegiously involving God's name in the fabrication. This deception ultimately works, demonstrating the solemn and irrevocable nature of patriarchal blessings in the cultural context, and highlighting God's sovereign will even working through the imperfect and sinful actions of humans to bring about His purposes for Jacob, His chosen covenant heir.

Genesis 27 20 Word analysis

• And Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?”
  • "How is it that you have found it so quickly" (מַה־זֶּה מִהַרְתָּא, mah-zeh miharta)
    • "quickly" (מִהַרְתָּא, miharta from verb מהר, mahar): Implies haste, swiftness. Isaac's questioning reveals his suspicion. He expected a hunt to take time. This speed is the anomaly Jacob needs to explain.
    • Significance: This emphasizes Isaac's partial blindness to the deceit, relying on sound and touch. The swiftness is Jacob's main challenge.
• He answered, “Because the Lord your God granted me success.”
  • "Because" (כִּי, ki): A causal conjunction, presenting the reason for his supposed swiftness.
  • "The Lord your God" (יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, YHWH Eloheykha):
    • "The Lord" (יְהוָה, YHWH): The covenant name of God, indicating His personal, redemptive relationship with Israel. Its use here adds gravity and a veneer of truth to Jacob's lie. Jacob invokes the very name that embodies the faithfulness of God's promises, even as he acts faithlessly.
    • "your God" (אֱלֹהֶיךָ, Eloheykha from אֱלֹהִים, Elohim): The generic term for God, but with the suffix 'your', emphasizing Isaac's personal relationship with this God, the God of Abraham and Isaac. This phrase implies Jacob respects and believes Isaac's faith, furthering the emotional manipulation.
    • Significance: Jacob's invocation of God's name is a profanation. He takes God's name in vain (Ex 20:7) by employing it to cover his deceit. It highlights his manipulative cleverness but also his lack of genuine reverence in that moment. The irony is that God indeed did intend the blessing for Jacob (Rom 9:10-13), but not through such means.
  • "granted me success" (הִקְרָה, hiqra from קרה, qarah):
    • Means "to happen to, to meet, to grant an encounter," and in a Hiphil causative sense as here, "to cause to meet, to make happen, to provide." It often carries a connotation of providence or serendipitous divine leading.
    • Examples: Used in Ruth 2:3 where Ruth "happened to" come to Boaz's field (divine providence). Or Gen 24:12 (Abraham's servant asks God to "cause to happen" to him success).
    • Significance: Jacob exploits the ambiguity of qarah in the sense of 'chance' or 'providence.' He is asserting divine causation for his supposed quick find, elevating a calculated deceit to a miracle. He uses a religious term to mask a carnal action, asserting divine agency in what was pure human conniving.

Words-group by words-group analysis:

• "How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?": This immediate question from Isaac signifies a moment of intense suspicion. The abnormal speed of the hunt breaks the typical pattern, leading Isaac to question the veracity of what's happening. It’s Isaac's sensory input (hearing Esau's voice but questioning the timing) against Jacob's careful preparation and his upcoming lie.
• "Because the Lord your God granted me success.": This phrase is Jacob’s brilliant (or rather, heinous) move. It is a religiously phrased excuse designed to disarm Isaac's suspicion. By bringing God into the picture, Jacob implies a supernatural, undeniable reason for the quick success, suggesting it’s a sign of divine favor. It's a calculated rhetorical flourish that uses Isaac's piety against him. The phrase suggests an unmerited, effortless, and rapid acquisition of the desired game, attributed directly to God’s immediate provision.

Genesis 27 20 Bonus section

• The parallel to Abraham and Isaac's own deceptions concerning their wives (Gen 12, 20, 26) suggests a family pattern of manipulation and lack of trust in God's protection. Jacob's deceit is an amplified manifestation of this ancestral weakness.
• The phrase "the Lord your God" could also be subtly aimed at highlighting a special relationship Isaac had with God, thereby tapping into Isaac's faith and trust in his divine encounter and providential leading, which Isaac might associate with such 'quick success.'
• Theologically, this verse brings up the concept of God's passive versus active will. God passively allowed Jacob's sin to occur as part of a larger plan, but He did not actively cause or approve of the lie. This nuance is crucial for understanding divine sovereignty in the context of human free will and responsibility for sin.
• Some scholars argue that Jacob genuinely believed God was "on his side" in pursuing the blessing, even if through questionable means. This might suggest a distorted form of faith, a belief that God would "grant success" even to his trickery because the underlying outcome (Jacob receiving the blessing) was ordained by God. This speaks to the danger of justifying ends by any means.

Genesis 27 20 Commentary

Genesis 27:20 encapsulates the tragic blend of human failing and divine sovereignty at play in Jacob's story. Isaac, though spiritually aware, is physically vulnerable due to his blindness, allowing for Jacob's audacious deception. Jacob's answer is a deeply disturbing manipulation: he invokes the name of God, the ultimate truth-teller and just judge, as a cover for a deliberate falsehood. This is not a casual lie but a religious justification for unholy actions, essentially taking God's name "in vain" by attaching it to deceit.

The irony is profound. While Jacob's methods are entirely fleshly and sinful, God had indeed purposed that Jacob, not Esau, would receive the blessing (Gen 25:23, Rom 9:10-13). This verse, therefore, highlights that while God works out His plans, He does not condone or require human sin to do so. Jacob's act reveals his lack of trust in God’s chosen means or timing, believing he had to take matters into his own hands. The consequences for Jacob later in life (deception by Laban, family strife, and the weight of his own actions) vividly illustrate that while God’s purpose is always accomplished, the path of manipulation carries its own heavy burden of sowing and reaping. This act teaches that though God is sovereign even over human sin, righteousness and trust in His methods are always His preferred and blessed path.