Genesis 27:16
ESV
And the skins of the young goats she put on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.
NIV
She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins.
NASB
And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.
CSB
She put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck.
NLT
She covered his arms and the smooth part of his neck with the skin of the young goats.
KJV
And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck:
NKJV
And she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.
What does Genesis 27:16 mean?
Rebekah has prepared a version of the meal Esau is supposed to deliver to his father before receiving the blessing (Genesis 27:1–5). Her intent is for Jacob to sneak in, pretend to be Esau, and steal that blessing from his older brother (Genesis 27:6–10). After encouraging Jacob to participate in the lie, and preparing the food, she needs to disguise Jacob well enough to fool blind Isaac. This began, in the previous verse, with dressing Jacob in Esau's best clothes; this would make him smell like Esau to Isaac (Genesis 27:11–15). However, Esau is known for being hairy, and Jacob is not (Genesis 25:25), so more deception is in order.Now she takes some of the hairy skin from the goats she just used to make the meal, and she adheres them in some way to Jacob's smooth arms and neck. If Isaac would happen to touch Jacob in any of those places, he will feel short, rough hair, instead of smoothness.
