Genesis 27:21
in Genesis 27Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau, or not?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not.
KJV
And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not.
⋯
This verse in Genesis 27
Commentary
3 notes on this verseThis 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. 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.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And Isaac said unto Jacob, come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son,.... Still suspecting some fraud in the case; and whereas he knew that Esau was a hairy man, and Jacob smooth, he thought by feeling he could discover the imposture, if there was any: whether thou be my very son Esau, or not; which he still pretty much questioned.
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
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יִצְחָק֙ | yitzchak | Isaac | H3327 → | 108 times |
| אֶֽל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יַעֲקֹ֔ב | yaako | Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
| גְּשָׁה־ | geshah- | draw near ! | H5066 → | 125 times |
| נָּ֥א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| וַאֲמֻֽשְׁךָ֖ | vaamushkha | so I may feel you | H4184 → | |
| בְּנִ֑י | beni | O son my | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| הַֽאַתָּ֥ה | haatah | ¿ [are] you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| זֶ֛ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| בְּנִ֥י | beni | son my | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| עֵשָׂ֖ו | ʾesav | Esau | H6215 → | 97 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | or? | H518 → | 1069 times |
| לֹֽא׃ | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יִצְחָק֙Isaac
yitzchakH3327 →108 times
אֶֽל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יַעֲקֹ֔בJacob
yaakoH3290 →350 times
גְּשָׁה־draw near !
geshah-H5066 →125 times
נָּ֥אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
וַאֲמֻֽשְׁךָ֖so I may feel you
vaamushkhaH4184 →
בְּנִ֑יO son my
beniH1121 →4930 times
הַֽאַתָּ֥ה¿ [are] you
haatahH859 →1094 times
זֶ֛הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
בְּנִ֥יson my
beniH1121 →4930 times
עֵשָׂ֖וEsau
ʾesavH6215 →97 times
אִם־or?
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
לֹֽא׃not
lo'H3808 →5168 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
James 4:8Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
it leads to
- Psalms 145:18
The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call out to Him in truth.
- Hebrews 10:22
let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
- Malachi 3:7
Yet from the days of your fathers, you have turned away from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of Hosts. “But…
- Zechariah 1:3
So tell the people that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Return to Me, declares the LORD of Hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of Hosts.’
- Isaiah 55:6–7
Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
- Psalms 145:18
Through
Psalms 73:28But as for me, it is good to draw near to God. I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may proclaim all Your works.
it leads to
- James 4:8
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
- Psalms 40:5
Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done, and the plans You have for us— none can compare to You— if I proclaim and declare them, they are more than I…
- James 4:8
Through
Isaiah 57:19bringing praise to their lips. Peace, peace to those far and near,” says the LORD, “and I will heal them.”
it leads to
- Acts 2:39
This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
- Acts 2:39
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; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.