Genesis 27:14

Genesis 27:14, in plain English

Jacob goes and gets the two goats, brings them to his mother, and she prepares the savory dish the way Isaac loves it.

Why it's here

Jacob capitulates. He stops objecting and does what his mother tells him to do. Rebekah takes over from there, preparing the meal with skill—she knows Isaac's tastes intimately and makes something that will be convincing enough. At this point, they're fully committed to the deception.

Who's speaking

The narrator, describing Jacob's obedience and Rebekah's cooking.

Where it sits in the story

The plan is moving forward. Jacob has made his choice to participate in the deception, and his mother is executing her part with precision.

The scholarly reading

Jacob complies with his mother's command, obtaining two goats from the flock and bringing them to Rebekah, who prepares them as the savory dish that Isaac loves.

Language and setting

The procurement of the goats is deceptively simple in narration but pregnant with meaning. In the pastoral economy of Genesis, flocks represent wealth and covenantal blessing (Abraham's covenant includes promises of land and seed, often mediated through herds). That Jacob must obtain these animals from what appears to be his mother's accessible supply suggests a domestic hierarchy where Rebekah retains significant material authority. The preparation of 'tasty food his father loved' (מִטְעַמִּים—mitt'amim, literally 'delicacies' or 'foods of taste') indicates Rebekah's intimate knowledge of Isaac's preferences, deepening the domestic dimension of the deception.

Voice

The narrator

Significance

This verse marks the crossing of Jacob's Rubicon. His compliance signals that maternal authority and his own material interest override his theological scruples. The narrator presents this without editorial comment, characteristic of the Genesis storytelling style, leaving readers to wrestle with Jacob's moral culpability—a tension that medieval and Reformation commentators debated extensively, with figures like Calvin arguing that Jacob's faith was real even as his methods were sinful.

12What if my father touches me? Then I would be revealed to him as a deceiver, and I would bring upon myself a curse rather than a blessing.”

13His mother replied, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey my voice and go get them for me.”

14So Jacob went and got two goats and brought them to his mother, who made the tasty food his father loved.

15And Rebekah took the finest clothes in the house that belonged to her older son Esau, and she put them on her younger son Jacob.

16She also put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.

Read all of Genesis 27 — A blind father. A hairy disguise. A stolen birthright. The blessing can't be undone — and neither can the betrayal.