Genesis 27:39

His father answered. Moved by the pathetic lament of his beloved son Esau, Isaac complied with his impassioned appeal. Once more Isaac spoke, perhaps by inspiration, this time of the future lot of Esau. This pronouncement, however, is not called a “blessing.” Actually it was a modified curse.

Thy dwelling. Literally, “Thy dwelling shall be [from, min] the fatness of the earth, and of [from] the dew of heaven.” According to the KJV, Esau’s “blessing” appears to be, substantially, a repetition of the temporal blessing given to Jacob. There are, to be sure, certain important variations, such as the omission of “plenty of corn and wine,” and of the name of God.

The KJV translation is grammatically possible. However, the preposition “of,” min, also means “way from.” Isaac’s meaning would then be, “Thy dwelling shall be away from the fatness of the earth, and away from the dew of heaven,” meaning that in contrast to the land of Canaan, the home of the Edomites would be an infertile region. Such a rendering is not only in accord with the Hebrew construction but is decidedly more appropriate to the context and to the facts of history: (1) It is an apt description of the dreariness and desertlike character of Idumaea, the home of Esau’s descendants. (2) It agrees with Isaac’s statement that every blessing had already been bestowed upon Jacob and avoids having him reverse himself (vs. 33, 37). (3) It explains the play upon the words “fatness” and “dew,” here descriptive of a state of affairs precisely the opposite to that declared to be the lot of Jacob (v. 28). This interpretation, it is true, treats the preposition min of v. 39 differently from that of v. 28. The different phraseology of the two verses, however, suggests that in v. 39 Isaac is making a clever play on words. The fact that Isaac here does not mention the name of God may indicate that this pronouncement was made on his own authority and not by inspiration — as was that addressed to Jacob.