Genesis 27:26

ESV Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.”
NIV Then his father Isaac said to him, 'Come here, my son, and kiss me.'
NASB Then his father Isaac said to him, 'Please come close and kiss me, my son.'
CSB Then his father Isaac said to him, "Please come closer and kiss me, my son."
NLT Then Isaac said to Jacob, 'Please come a little closer and kiss me, my son.'
KJV And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son.

What does Genesis 27:26 mean?

Jacob is in the middle of a daring, dangerous act of fraud. He has conspired with his mother to impersonate his older twin brother, Esau, so he can obtain his father's blessing. Though Isaac is old and blind, he is suspicious when Jacob arrives to begin the scam (Genesis 27:18–23). However, Jacob is wearing Esau's clothes, has his skin disguised as Esau's skin, and carries the food Isaac had asked for (Genesis 27:11–17). So, despite lingering doubts, Isaac continues to bestow his blessing.

This kiss would be part of the formal ceremony of Isaac conferring the family blessing to Jacob—though his original intent was for this to pass to Esau. It's also possible that that kiss represented a kind of farewell between a son and his aging father. Coming close enough to kiss Isaac also posed another risk of discovery for Jacob. He would be close enough to touch and, more importantly, to smell. Again, Jacob's mother had thought of how to protect him from this (Genesis 27:15).
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