Genesis 27:22
in Genesis 27So Jacob came close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.
KJV
And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.
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This verse in Genesis 27
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis may be alluded to to illustrate the character of a hypocrite. His voice is Jacob's voice, but his hands are Esau's. He speaks the language of a saint, but does the works of a sinner; but the judgment will be, as here, by the hands.
This site's exposition
come closer so I can touch you
on Genesis 27:21-23
Isaac hears Jacob and feels Esau, and he decides by touch. The goatskins hold, and the hands are the hands of Esau. His hands were hairy like his brother's, so Isaac did not recognize him and blessed him. Matthew Henry read the line as the mark of a hypocrite, a man who talks one way and works another.
This site's exposition
The voice is the voice of Jacob
Isaac says the name Jacob aloud and still goes on. His ear gives the truth, and his hands overrule it. John Gill, at verse 24, notes that the doubt raised by the voice stayed with him.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
This signifies that the Word, who in Jacob prefigured the mysteries, has also become the voice of the prophets, since he is the one who predicts in them what will happen. On the contrary, his hands have become hands of Esau. In fact he [the Word] was executed because of the sins of the people.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
he came unto his father--The scheme planned by the mother was to be executed by the son in the father's bedchamber; and it is painful to think of the deliberate falsehoods, as well as daring profanity, he resorted to.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּגַּ֧שׁ | vaiyigash | and he drew near | H5066 → | 125 times |
| יַעֲקֹ֛ב | yaako | Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יִצְחָ֥ק | yitzchak | Isaac | H3327 → | 108 times |
| אָבִ֖יו | ʾaviv | father his | H1 → | 1212 times |
| וַיְמֻשֵּׁ֑הוּ | vaymushehu | and he felt him | H4959 → | 9 times |
| וַיֹּ֗אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הַקֹּל֙ | hakol | the voice | H6963 → | 506 times |
| ק֣וֹל | kol | [is] [the] voice of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| יַעֲקֹ֔ב | yaako | Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
| וְהַיָּדַ֖יִם | vehaiyadayim | and the hands | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| יְדֵ֥י | yedei | [are] [the] hands of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| עֵשָֽׂו׃ | ʾesav | Esau | H6215 → | 97 times |
וַיִּגַּ֧שׁand he drew near
vaiyigashH5066 →125 times
יַעֲקֹ֛בJacob
yaakoH3290 →350 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יִצְחָ֥קIsaac
yitzchakH3327 →108 times
אָבִ֖יוfather his
ʾavivH1 →1212 times
וַיְמֻשֵּׁ֑הוּand he felt him
vaymushehuH4959 →9 times
וַיֹּ֗אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
הַקֹּל֙the voice
hakolH6963 →506 times
ק֣וֹל[is] [the] voice of
kolH6963 →506 times
יַעֲקֹ֔בJacob
yaakoH3290 →350 times
וְהַיָּדַ֖יִםand the hands
vehaiyadayimH3027 →1618 times
יְדֵ֥י[are] [the] hands of
yedeiH3027 →1618 times
עֵשָֽׂו׃Esau
ʾesavH6215 →97 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
About Genesis
Who and where
3 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonPatriarchsEsauIsaac's elder son who despised his birthright (Heb 12:16); father of Edom, Israel's perennial neighbor and adversary.
- PersonPatriarchsIsaacThe son of promise and of laughter — bound on Moriah, the quiet inheritor of the covenant.
- PersonPatriarchsJacobThe heel-grasping supplanter reshaped at Peniel into 'Israel, he who strives with God' — father of the twelve tribes.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Hippolytus of Rome, ON THE BLESSINGS OF ISAAC AND JACOB 6; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.