(ו) וְרִבְקָה֙ אָֽמְרָ֔ה אֶל־יַעֲקֹ֥ב בְּנָ֖הּ לֵאמֹ֑ר הִנֵּ֤ה שָׁמַ֙עְתִּי֙ אֶת־אָבִ֔יךָ מְדַבֵּ֛ר אֶל־עֵשָׂ֥ו אָחִ֖יךָ לֵאמֹֽר׃(ז) הָבִ֨יאָה לִּ֥י צַ֛יִד וַעֲשֵׂה־לִ֥י מַטְעַמִּ֖ים וְאֹכֵ֑לָה וַאֲבָרֶכְכָ֛ה לִפְנֵ֥י יי לִפְנֵ֥י מוֹתִֽי׃(ח) וְעַתָּ֥ה בְנִ֖י שְׁמַ֣ע בְּקֹלִ֑י לַאֲשֶׁ֥ר אֲנִ֖י מְצַוָּ֥ה אֹתָֽךְ׃(ט) לֶךְ־נָא֙ אֶל־הַצֹּ֔אן וְקַֽח־לִ֣י מִשָּׁ֗ם שְׁנֵ֛י גְּדָיֵ֥י עִזִּ֖ים טֹבִ֑ים וְאֶֽעֱשֶׂ֨ה אֹתָ֧ם מַטְעַמִּ֛ים לְאָבִ֖יךָ כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר אָהֵֽב׃(י) וְהֵבֵאתָ֥ לְאָבִ֖יךָ וְאָכָ֑ל בַּעֲבֻ֛ר אֲשֶׁ֥ר יְבָרֶכְךָ֖ לִפְנֵ֥י מוֹתֽוֹ׃(יא) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יַעֲקֹ֔ב אֶל־רִבְקָ֖ה אִמּ֑וֹ הֵ֣ן עֵשָׂ֤ו אָחִי֙ אִ֣ישׁ שָׂעִ֔ר וְאָנֹכִ֖י אִ֥ישׁ חָלָֽק׃(יב) אוּלַ֤י יְמֻשֵּׁ֙נִי֙ אָבִ֔י וְהָיִ֥יתִי בְעֵינָ֖יו כִּמְתַעְתֵּ֑עַ וְהֵבֵאתִ֥י עָלַ֛י קְלָלָ֖ה וְלֹ֥א בְרָכָֽה׃(יג) וַתֹּ֤אמֶר לוֹ֙ אִמּ֔וֹ עָלַ֥י קִלְלָתְךָ֖ בְּנִ֑י אַ֛ךְ שְׁמַ֥ע בְּקֹלִ֖י וְלֵ֥ךְ קַֽח־לִֽי׃(יד) וַיֵּ֙לֶךְ֙ וַיִּקַּ֔ח וַיָּבֵ֖א לְאִמּ֑וֹ וַתַּ֤עַשׂ אִמּוֹ֙ מַטְעַמִּ֔ים כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר אָהֵ֥ב אָבִֽיו׃(טו) וַתִּקַּ֣ח רִ֠בְקָ֠ה אֶת־בִּגְדֵ֨י עֵשָׂ֜ו בְּנָ֤הּ הַגָּדֹל֙ הַחֲמֻדֹ֔ת אֲשֶׁ֥ר אִתָּ֖הּ בַּבָּ֑יִת וַתַּלְבֵּ֥שׁ אֶֽת־יַעֲקֹ֖ב בְּנָ֥הּ הַקָּטָֽן׃(טז) וְאֵ֗ת עֹרֹת֙ גְּדָיֵ֣י הָֽעִזִּ֔ים הִלְבִּ֖ישָׁה עַל־יָדָ֑יו וְעַ֖ל חֶלְקַ֥ת צַוָּארָֽיו׃(יז) וַתִּתֵּ֧ן אֶת־הַמַּטְעַמִּ֛ים וְאֶת־הַלֶּ֖חֶם אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֑תָה בְּיַ֖ד יַעֲקֹ֥ב בְּנָֽהּ׃
(6) Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I overheard your father speaking to your brother Esau, saying,(7) ‘Bring me some game and prepare a dish for me to eat, that I may bless you, with יי’s approval, before I die.’(8) Now, my son, listen carefully as I instruct you.(9) Go to the flock and fetch me two choice kids, and I will make of them a dish for your father, such as he likes.(10) Then take it to your father to eat, in order that he may bless you before he dies.”(11) Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man and I am smooth-skinned.(12) If my father touches me, I shall appear to him as a trickster and bring upon myself a curse, not a blessing.”(13) But his mother said to him, “Your curse, my son, be upon me! Just do as I say and go fetch them for me.”(14) He got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother prepared a dish such as his father liked.(15) Rebekah then took the best clothes of her older son Esau, which were there in the house, and had her younger son Jacob put them on;(16) and she covered his hands and the hairless part of his neck with the skins of the kids.(17) Then she put in the hands of her son Jacob the dish and the bread that she had prepared.
ר׳ דוד צבי הופמן
אינ פירושו רמאי...אבל פירושו לועג...הרי זה ייראה, כך סובר יעקב, כאילו אני לועג לאב הזקן העיור, כי הוא לא יעלה על דעתו שאני שומע בזה בקולך. ואכן, אינ יעקב יכול כאן להיראות כרמאי, שכן אם אמנם אינ כאן משום מעשה רמאות (משום שאין כל ערך לברכה זאת שמכוונת לאחר), כיצד ייראה כמו רמאי?
Rabbi David Tzvi Hoffman
The term מתעתע does not connote a cheat, but rather one who mocks. Yaakov imagined that Yitzhak would interpret his behavior as derision at his father's blindness. For there would be no way for Yitzhak to know that Yaakov was merely doing what Rivka had instructed him to do. Indeed, Yaakov could not here have worried that he would be seen as a cheater, since there was nothing that he could be taking dishonestly. This is because there is no value to a blessing that is meant for somebody else. As such, how could he appear to be cheating?
ר׳ שמשון רפאל הירש
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch
Yaakov was afraid that his father would view him as a charlatan. The letter kaf at the start of the word כמתעתע connotes like a cheater. For Yaakov was not a cheater, and he did not wish to appear as one. He also worried that he would have no opportunity to explain to Yitzhak that the entire ruse had been his mother's idea and that he was only following her instructions. Thus, Yaakov feared that his father would immediately curse him as a deceiver. By expressing these doubts, Yaakov implied to his mother, with the utmost respect, that he believed that such a deception deserved to be cursed.
והייתי בעיניו כמתעתע. תועה מדרכו שהרי יודע אותי איש תם יושב אהלים וזהו מדתי. וכאשר ימצא אותי בדרך ערמ׳ ותחבול׳ אהי׳ בעיניו כתועה בדרך אשר הוא גרוע מן ההולך בדרך ערמה וחריצות מתחלה:
The term כמתעתע connotes somebody who wanders [תועה] off his path. Yaakov argued that his father knew him as a wholesome man who stayed at home. And should Yitzhak now see him as one who plots and schemes, he will think that Yaakov has changed his entire personality. And somebody who leaves a life of innocence for a career of deception is worse than an individual who was always dishonest.
II.
(יח) וַיָּבֹ֥א אֶל־אָבִ֖יו וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אָבִ֑י וַיֹּ֣אמֶר הִנֶּ֔נִּי מִ֥י אַתָּ֖ה בְּנִֽי׃(יט) וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יַעֲקֹ֜ב אֶל־אָבִ֗יו אָנֹכִי֙ עֵשָׂ֣ו בְּכֹרֶ֔ךָ עָשִׂ֕יתִי כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר דִּבַּ֖רְתָּ אֵלָ֑י קֽוּם־נָ֣א שְׁבָ֗ה וְאׇכְלָה֙ מִצֵּידִ֔י בַּעֲב֖וּר תְּבָרְכַ֥נִּי נַפְשֶֽׁךָ׃(כ) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יִצְחָק֙ אֶל־בְּנ֔וֹ מַה־זֶּ֛ה מִהַ֥רְתָּ לִמְצֹ֖א בְּנִ֑י וַיֹּ֕אמֶר כִּ֥י הִקְרָ֛ה יי אֱלֹקֶ֖יךָ לְפָנָֽי׃(כא) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יִצְחָק֙ אֶֽל־יַעֲקֹ֔ב גְּשָׁה־נָּ֥א וַאֲמֻֽשְׁךָ֖ בְּנִ֑י הַֽאַתָּ֥ה זֶ֛ה בְּנִ֥י עֵשָׂ֖ו אִם־לֹֽא׃(כב) וַיִּגַּ֧שׁ יַעֲקֹ֛ב אֶל־יִצְחָ֥ק אָבִ֖יו וַיְמֻשֵּׁ֑הוּ וַיֹּ֗אמֶר הַקֹּל֙ ק֣וֹל יַעֲקֹ֔ב וְהַיָּדַ֖יִם יְדֵ֥י עֵשָֽׂו׃(כג) וְלֹ֣א הִכִּיר֔וֹ כִּֽי־הָי֣וּ יָדָ֗יו כִּידֵ֛י עֵשָׂ֥ו אָחִ֖יו שְׂעִרֹ֑ת וַֽיְבָרְכֵֽהוּ׃(כד) וַיֹּ֕אמֶר אַתָּ֥ה זֶ֖ה בְּנִ֣י עֵשָׂ֑ו וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אָֽנִי׃(כה) וַיֹּ֗אמֶר הַגִּ֤שָׁה לִּי֙ וְאֹֽכְלָה֙ מִצֵּ֣יד בְּנִ֔י לְמַ֥עַן תְּבָֽרֶכְךָ֖ נַפְשִׁ֑י וַיַּגֶּשׁ־לוֹ֙ וַיֹּאכַ֔ל וַיָּ֧בֵא ל֦וֹ יַ֖יִן וַיֵּֽשְׁתְּ׃(כו) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֵלָ֖יו יִצְחָ֣ק אָבִ֑יו גְּשָׁה־נָּ֥א וּשְׁקָה־לִּ֖י בְּנִֽי׃(כז) וַיִּגַּשׁ֙ וַיִּשַּׁק־ל֔וֹ וַיָּ֛רַח אֶת־רֵ֥יחַ בְּגָדָ֖יו וַֽיְבָרְכֵ֑הוּ וַיֹּ֗אמֶר רְאֵה֙ רֵ֣יחַ בְּנִ֔י כְּרֵ֣יחַ שָׂדֶ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר בֵּרְכ֖וֹ יי׃
(18) He went to his father and said, “Father.” And he said, “Yes, which of my sons are you?”(19) Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your first-born; I have done as you told me. Pray sit up and eat of my game, that you may give me your innermost blessing.”(20) Isaac said to his son, “How did you succeed so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because your God יי granted me good fortune.”(21) Isaac said to Jacob, “Come closer that I may feel you, my son—whether you are really my son Esau or not.”(22) So Jacob drew close to his father Isaac, who felt him and wondered. “The voice is the voice of Jacob, yet the hands are the hands of Esau.”(23) He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; and so he blessed him.(24) He asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” And when he said, “I am,”(25) he said, “Serve me and let me eat of my son’s game that I may give you my innermost blessing.” So he served him and he ate, and he brought him wine and he drank.(26) Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come close and kiss me, my son”;(27) and he went up and kissed him. And he smelled his clothes and he blessed him, saying, “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of the fields that יי has blessed.
אנכי עשו בכורך. אָנֹכִי הַמֵּבִיא לְךָ וְעֵשָׂו הוּא בְּכוֹרֶךָ: ויאמר אני – לא אמר ׳אני עשו׳ אלא ׳אני׳
אנכי עשו בכרך I AM ESAU THY FIRST-BORN — When Yaakov says this, what he meant was: I am he that brings food to you, and Esau is your first-born. [Subsequently, when Yitzhak asks Yaakov whether he is indeed Esav,] he answers: "I am," but does not say: "I am Esav."
ר׳ אהרן אבן אלרבי
אנוכי עשו בכורך – מה שפרשו בו רבותינו ז׳׳לֹ יתכן להיותו אמת כפי מחשבת המדבר ולא השומע.
ויאמר אני – הרבה מפרשים פירשו על זה להצלת יעקב וכולם ישא רוח. והאמת שכל המבחר או הנשבע על דעת השומע יקובל הדבר ולא על דעת המשיב דבר...העולה מזה (הושע י׳׳ב ד׳) ׳בבטן עקב את אחיו׳ ובאונו רמה את אביו.
Rabbi Aharon Ibn Alrabi
According to the way our Rabbis, of blessed memory, explain the text, Yaakov's statements should be understood based on the speaker's intentions, but not on the listener's understanding of those words. Now many commentators have used Yaakov's terse response "I am" to the man's credit, but such an approach is baseless. For the truth is that when a person makes a communication or takes an oath, his meaning must be taken as what his audience perceives. Thus the prophet declares, "In the womb he grasped his brother by the heel" (Hos. 12:4) "and with all his strength" did he cheat his father.