Cap. 26:34, 35 When Esau was forty years old, he took wives, Judith the daughter of Beri the Hittite and Basmath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, both of whom disobeyed Isaac and Rebekah.
Cap. 27:1-35 And it came to pass, when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, that he called Esau his elder son, and said unto him, My son. And he answered him, Here am I. And he said, Behold, I am grown old, and know not when I shall die. Now therefore take thy stuff, quiver and bow, and go into the field, and sow me a venison, and make me a meal such as I like, and bring it in to me to eat, that my soul may bless thee before I die. And Rebekah heard such words as Isaac spake unto his son. And Esau went out into the field to hunt game, and to bring it home. Then said Rebekah unto Jacob her son, Behold, I have heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying, Bring me a venison, and make me a meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the LORD, before I die. Now therefore, my son, hear my voice, which I command thee. Go to the herd and get me two good flocks, and I will make your father a meal of them, as he likes it. And thou shalt carry them in unto thy father, that he may eat, and bless thee before his death. And Jacob said unto Rebekah his mother, Behold, my brother Esau is rough, and I am smooth: so it may be that my father will touch me, and be thought of before him, as if I had deceived him, 1) and brought upon me a curse, and not a blessing. Then said his mother unto him, The curse be upon me, my son, only obey my voice, go and fetch me. So he went and fetched it, and brought it to his mother. Then his mother made a meal, as his father liked. And she took Esau her elder son's goodly garments, which she had with her in the house.
1) To this the Jenaer has the marginal gloss: "betrigen wolt", which also our Bible offers.
And she put them on Jacob her younger son. And she put the skins of the goats about his hands, and about his smooth neck, and gave the meat and the bread, as she had made it, into Jacob her son's hand. And he brought it in unto his father, and said, My father. And he answered, Here am I. Who art thou, my son? Jacob said: I am Esau, thy firstborn son; I have done as thou hast said unto me. Arise, sit down, and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. Isaac said to his son, "My son, how did you find so soon? He answered, "The LORD your God gave it to me. Then said Isaac unto Jacob, Come near, my son, that I may test thee, whether thou be my son Esau, or not. So Jacob came to Isaac his father, and when he had touched him, he said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are Esau's hands. And he knew him not, because his hands were rough, as Esau's, his brother's hands: and he blessed him. And said unto him, Art thou my son Esau? And he answered, Yea, I am. Then said he, Bring me hither, my son, to eat of thy venison, that my soul may bless thee. So he brought it to him, and he did eat; and he brought him wine also, and he drank. And Isaac his father said unto him, Come hither, and kiss me, my son. And he came near and kissed him. Then he smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him, saying, Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of the field which the LORD hath blessed. God give thee of the thane of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and corn and wine the abundance. Nations must serve thee, and people must fall at thy feet. Be a lord over your brothers, and your mother's children must fall at your feet. Cursed be he who curses you; blessed be he who blesses you. Now when Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely gone out from Isaac his father, Esau his brother came from his hunting, and made a meal also, and carried it in unto his father, and said unto him, Arise, my son.
Father, and eat of thy son's venison, that thy soul may bless me. Then Isaac his father answered him, Who art thou? He said: I am Esau, thy firstborn son. And Isaac was sore amazed at the measure, and said, Who? Where then is the hunter that brought me, and I did eat of all before thou camest, and blessed him? He will also remain blessed. When Esau heard this saying of his father, he cried aloud, and was exceeding sorrowful, and said unto his father, Bless me also, my father. And he said, Thy brother is come with guile, and hath taken away thy blessing. And he said, His name is called Jacob, because he hath twice trampled me under foot. 1) My first birth hath he taken away, and, behold, now he taketh away my blessing also: and he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me? And Isaac answered and said unto him, I have made him lord over thee, and all his brethren have I made servants unto him; with corn and wine have I provided him: what shall I do now unto thee, my son? And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me also, my father. And he lifted up his voice, and wept. And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thou shalt have a fat habitation upon the earth, and from the dew of heaven from above. Thou shalt feed upon thy sword, and shalt serve thy brother. And it shall come to pass, that thou shalt put off his yoke, and shalt tear it from off thy neck. And Esau was grieved with Jacob for the blessing that his father had blessed him with, and said in his heart, The time will soon come for my father to suffer, for I will slay my brother Jacob. Then Rebekah heard the word of her elder son, and sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau drieth against thee, to slay thee. Now therefore, my son, hear my voice, arise, and flee unto Laban my brother in Haran, and tarry with him a while, until the fury of thine anger be turned away.
1) Marginal gloss: Eke b, means a sole of the foot, from which comes Jacob or Jacob, a tramp, or one who treads under foot, and means all believers who, through the gospel, tread under the world and the flesh, and the devil with sin and death.
Until his anger against you turns away from you and forgets what you have done to him, I will send for you and take you away from there. Why should I be deprived of you both for one day? And Rebekah said unto Isaac, It grieveth me to live before the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, which are like the daughters of this land, what shall my life be?
The most important thing in this chapter is the blessing that Isaac gave to his son Jacob. With this comes the third patriarch, from whom Christ was to come, of whom we will hear much as to how God led him. Above [Cap. 25, 31. ff.] we heard how the two brothers fought with each other 2) for the first birth; and Esau took the red vegetable, and gave for it his right which he had, so that he also lost the right first birth before the people, as God had taken it from him before, when he said to Rebekah, "The greater shall serve the lesser. Therefore Moses describes how it came about that the blessing of Esau fell on Jacob.
(2) Now nothing is described in the chapter according to history, but how God is true and wonderful, that he keeps what he speaks [Ps. 33:4], and that this keeping is so strange and wonderful 3) that it far surpasses all reason. He said that the smallest should be lord and the greatest should serve. This had to come true, but it was delayed for a good while. For Esau was now already a married man of forty years, and soon begat children until Jacob was almost seventy years old, as we shall hear, before he took a wife, and had to let his brother be right and rule, and is a Cinderella; yet he always kept his word. Meanwhile Esau continues, is the dear son, has the right even in his possession, and although he had sold it above [Cap. 25, 33.], he thought thus: "Sell here, sell there, yet I remain lord of the house, and I keep the blessing. Therefore he takes two wives, and sits down, and keeps house.
3 Thus the Scriptures show us by God's miraculous work that the promise will last for so long.
2) kaufschlagen - - to make a deal.
3) Jenaer: wonderful.
Before he receives the blessing that is due to him, he lets Esau grow up next to him and take over the reign, who had lost the blessing. He shows by Esau's great defiance that he is so sure of the matter, and takes two wives, against their father's and mother's will, who have both disobeyed them, two proud men, as they are wont to do when they get the keys. [So they said, We are the daughters of the land, and Esau shall be glad that we are come into his house and family: for he is a stranger, and a sojourner in the land.
004 Now Isaac and Rebekah were grieved at this. But what shall they do? They suffer it. Isaac lets it go, and nevertheless remains on the delusion, Esau should be the right son, to whom the blessing is due. What do you think, that Jacob also had to suffer the time, because the parents had to suffer it, and kept it, that it had an appearance, as if it should go everything contrary to what God has spoken. Such an image must Jacob bear, that one may learn to recognize God in his works. So he had to hear and feel: You should be the greatest, but you must be the smallest; father and mother must not be right, and the wives must suffer defiance and will of courage; should Jacob then be right? How often did he think: Is this to be the blessing? My parents must let the women rule, what should I do about it? Is it true what God says?
5 But this is how it is in all things that God does. He also did it to his own son. When he wanted to make him the highest king of heaven and earth, he went to him and had him hanged on the cross and thus executed as never before. So he also played along with the holy martyrs. That is why he proclaims his title to be miraculous, as the 4th Psalm, v. 4, says: "Know that God leads his saints in miracles"; that is why he says, v. 5: "If you are angry, do not sin"; item, v. 6: "Offer right sacrifices. 6: "Offer up right sacrifices, and hope in the Lord," that is, hold your peace, and let it go; even if he acts so strangely, it must still be done; it is his way. This is how it will be with us when we die; then he will act as if he were our enemy,
and be nothing but devils around us. He who does not know and know his way is in a bad way. Reason cannot do it, but faith must think: God has spoken it, it is true, let him now act as he wills.
6th Now this is the beginning, that Jacob had to believe that he should become the greatest, and yet remain servant in the house, 1) and see that they drove their arrogance to defy father and mother. Then Esau thought: Now I have it in my hand; it is sure and certain. So God lets him sit up and be resplendent; but before he looks around, he overthrows him; when he is most secure, he lies down, and Jacob brings the blessing away. That is played according to God's wisdom. They are simple, foolish stories, but one could not paint God with any color as he is painted there. He lets Isaac be deceived and raises it through the woman; but so foolishly that Jacob himself despairs of it.
007 But who shall give her defiance, that she should so come, and say, The curse be upon me, my son? Then the thing must be arranged that Jacob becomes lord by the faith of the woman, not by the holy man Isaac, and gains such a great spirit that she may dare, even if Isaac curses. The devil should dare that such a holy man cursed me. I would rather that all the popes and the world condemned and cursed me. She knew that he was the man to whom God had promised so much, and had an eye on him, and talked to him; nor could she defy him like that. This would not be possible for a small spirit to do; there must have been a peculiar, great faith in the woman that defiantly relied on the word: "The small shall be master, the greater shall serve." Therefore she concludes: "If this is true, God will not let my son curse; and even if he cursed, the curse would not be right. Which is just as much as if I said, "I believe in Christ," and if he himself came and cursed me, I would not turn to it. For she doubted as little that the man was pious and had God's word as I had about Christ. That is why she has-
1) Erlanger: stay.
thought: If it is a curse, it must either be a sham, or God will turn it around. As I would have to do on my deathbed, if he spoke, he would not want mine, that he either did not mean it seriously, or God would not suffer it.
Therefore God is a wonderful Lord in His works. All reason must sink to the ground, and faith must ask for nothing but God's words. He turns and makes it as he wills, so it must remain true. These are excellent examples of how God deals with His dear saints. Now let this be said of the two pieces, how God is true; but so that he leads it out whimsically, that we may be confident whether he consumes, and fes] go not forth, as we think. So Jacob must come to the blessing, even if the whole world should be against it, but gets it so strangely that [it] no one could measure. Rebekah is also led in such a strange way; she cannot take the blessing away from her father, does him no harm, lets him have his way, nor does God give a spirit that she finds it and steals away the blessing without his knowledge and will, so that it nevertheless remains on Jacob, so that it can actually be seen that it is God's work.
Now we shall also treat this chapter spiritually. There are many good sayings and pieces in it. [We will take before us that which also belongs to history, how two nations were to come from the two children, namely Israel and Edomaei, of which much is written in the prophets. There in the chapter is described and indicated almost the course, which had there the two peoples; as now would be between Germans and whales. [They fought against each other in a strange way; Edom resisted hostilely for a long time, but finally let himself be trampled down. Esau became a great ruler in time, and took the land of Edom in time. And because he so ruled, and grew in his land, Jacob went into Egypt, and remained a poor stranger, that his people afterwards had to bear great sorrow, and go more than three hundred years, before they came to bring Esau under them, since Jacob, Moses, Aaron 2c. were all dead, until David and Solomon, who first brought it under them. There you see -abermal, how God carries out his promise.
that it seems as if he has rejected his own and soon lifts up those he rejects.
(10) This must mean that the text first writes how Isaac sees darkly, that is, God closes his eyes and rules as if he did not know Jacob, that he lets the same people go so long, and while he lifts up Esau. For this is his mind: Esau is my son, to him I will give the blessing. That is why Isaac must be God's figure, who acts as if he did not see; that is, when God rules with his saints, he acts as if he did not want to know about the pious, but has the intention of blessing Esau and giving him everything; nor does Jacob finally get it. Therefore, even if God is not blind or does not see in the dark, his works are like this; but all this is for our comfort. Let him only see in the dark, and act as if he does not see us, and he will still be right.
011 So it came to pass at last, that by the people afterwards Edom was cast down, though they did it very unwillingly; they were at enmity one to another, especially when they saw that God blessed Israel. Then they began to cry out, as the text says here, as Esau howls and laments so miserably. But God says to this: I cannot do to him, "He has the blessing there, and will keep it." But he says, you shall also have a regiment, and feed on your sword, and a time will come when you will tear his yoke from your neck, that is, you will not be subject to him forever. Read the history of this in the second and fourth book of Kings [2 Sam. 8, 14. 2 Kings 8, 20.], how Edom fell away and no longer wanted to be subject to the Jewish people, and became its own kingdom.
(12) Thus we shall see in the Bible all the histories of how God is true, and yet presents Himself as untruthful, that one may be wise, and know Him rightly, how He performs His acts above all sense and reason. Oh how much it would be necessary to understand the words rightly! What great spirits will still preach about the Gospel, but know nothing about how God's truth works! He is so clever, that he makes you so astray in the fulfillment, that you cannot know where you stand. Therefore you may well ask with fear and trembling, and not defy him. Ge-
He is certain, but he also wants to be feared, so that you will not be proud, but will ask to be able to stand firm. There are those who think they have caught God, but he is too wise and does not want to suffer arrogance; one should take comfort in his promise alone and let him do as he pleases. Summa: No one will learn it unless there is an experience. When we are in mortal distress or when we are driving, then we learn it well, otherwise it remains only with the words. When it comes to a meeting, it is forgotten, because then it is seen much differently. That is still spoken after the history. Now we should also point to Christ; if we do not have him, then we have not hit it right.
13 The right blessing, of which we have heard above [Cap. 22, 18], meets the gospel, when we have so often said what the blessing is, promised to Abraham in his seed. For this blessing between the two brothers, that Jacob should become a great nation and rich, is also a blessing; but this is the true chief blessing, that we are blessed through Christ, against the curse that was upon Adam, to rid ourselves of it, so that thereby grace and life are proclaimed and brought.
(14) Now here the two brethren must tell us how it is that the blessing is so strange and strangely pleased, 1) that no man believeth it. But I leave Isaac the father, and the two brothers two peoples; these, who walk in a beautiful, seeming life; the others, the Cinderellas, who walk in faith. So Esau is the man who rules, like the Jews who preached the law, God's people, 2) who walked in a respectable life, and thought they were sitting in God's lap, and yet were nothing more than mere outward adornment and exquisite gift.
(15) Therefore the Scripture says that Rebekah had with her Esau's precious garments, which she put on Jacob. The Jews had the advantage of having the Scriptures of God, as Paul says in Romans 3:2. The noble ones,
1) fallen - where to come, fall.
2) So the Jenaer. Erlanger: "as the Jews preached the law, the people of God." Wittenberger: "these are the Jews, the people of the law."
They had them with them in the house, but they did not put them on, but Jacob put them on. This happened when Christ came. Before him went the synagogue, and the law in its course: but when he was come, there grew up another people, and they put on their garments. This was the Jacob, this is the real Christ, who is involved in the Scriptures.
16 So the right Rebekah, the Christianity, clothes her son with the garments, that is, with the sayings of the Scriptures, which speak of grace and Christ, not of works. From this the right blessing is given, and is taken away from him who deals with works; that is, just at the time when they were doing the law to the highest degree, Christ and the apostles go and win the Scriptures, take away the blessing from God, and yet he places himself in this way, as if he did not see it, so that it seems to us as if it were about to happen.
017 Whereby the scripture saith, as Isaac said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are Esau's hands." For because Esau was rough, the mother thought, "How do we make the son rough also, that [his] father may not know it? And "slaughtered two little goats, and put the skins about his hands," so that Isaac did not think otherwise that they were Esau's hands, and yet heard Jacob's voice. So God deprived him of his senses in that part, so that it had to happen.
(18) Now what is this? The voice means nothing else than the sermon; but the hands mean the life and work, so that one is deceived. One does not preach like another. Esau is the hunter, who drives the law, and wants to make people godly by force; Jacob, however, does not drive, but entices with grace. These are two different voices, so that one is heard before the 3) other, but they both do the same work. Jacob also keeps the law, and does that which Esau teaches, and yet teaches differently. According to the outward walk it is all the same; there it is said: If one is righteous, they all are. But the gospel does not ask how the works are.
111) Therefore it is not dangerous, 4) that the Christians keep everything that other people keep,
3) Erlanger: for the others.
4) Danger - fraud, deceit. (Dietz.)
Without only that the voice must be different; there one must separate the law and the gospel. No law is to be driven into the conscience, 1) no gospel is to be preached to the hands. To the conscience one must preach that one must become sane and saved through faith alone in Christ, and whatever works one does, that one does not do them to help the conscience, but outwardly to the old Adam one must put on everything that the law demands, so that the law remains outside, the gospel inside; so it is right, and the voice of Jacob remains the voice, but the hands of Esau remain the hands. The law does nothing, but always forces and drives, and keeps the people by force inside; but this is the error of it, if one wants to preach it to the conscience, that is Esau's voice, which God does not hear. Paul speaks of this in 1 Corinthians 9:27, saying, "I tame my body and stupefy it, lest I preach to others and become reprobate myself"; that is, to do all the laws and yet say it does nothing for the heart and conscience.
020 Again, it would not be good to reverse it, and drive the law into the consciences, and leave out liberty. It must be Jacob's voice and Esau's hands, not Jacob's hands and Esau's voice. If it were Jacob's voice and Jacob's hands, it would not do: as they that say, If good works do not help, let us be good fellows, and do nothing. Behold, thus in the two brethren is pictured the difference between the two kinds of people. The former rely on their rights, think they are the dear child, and lose the blessing, and go to the devil; the latter take comfort in God's word alone, seize the blessing, and go to heaven.
21Then the persecution arises, so that Esau becomes so hostile and angry with Jacob that he thinks of slaying him; this is also the way of the saints of works and Esauites, who cannot suffer that their deeds and works should count for nothing; they begin to rage, and become deadly enemies to the true Christians. Therefore it is
1) Thus the Jena. Wittenberg: "One should not preach the law to the conscience. Erlanger: "No law should be preached into the conscience, no gospel should be preached into the hands.
A great knowledge, if one is to know the gospel rightly, and to proceed rightly with it. Therefore St. Paul [2 Tim. 2, 15] wants the word of God to be cut rightly, namely, into the two pieces, as I said, that the conscience should be kept free and the body loaded with laws; and not again, both weighed down, or both left free. The soul shall live in the spirit, but the body shall die because of sin, says St. Paul Rom. 8, 13. This is the spiritual interpretation of this chapter.
(22) That any man should move how Jacob hath dealt so unfaithfully with his brother, when Isaac himself saith, Thy brother came with guile, and hath delivered the blessing unto thee; item, that Isaac also might well have revoked the blessing, and be foolish enough to be thus deceived, when he knew the voice of Jacob; it is almost incredible. First, I have said before that we are not of the mind to make the holy fathers pure, and can suffer that they also stumbled at times, and then most of all when they went in special works. As here: Jacob has the right blessing for himself, and God willed that he should have it; so Jacob and Rebekah were sure of the matter, that they did well. But whether they did wrong in dealing deceitfully with their father, and Jacob lied to him, saying, "I am your son Esau," I will let pass. If the main work is good, God can see through the fingers if one does a little too much.
23 Thus we read an example of the king David in the other book of Samuel [Cap. 16, 2. 3.], when he fled from 2) his son Absalom, and was in the wilderness, pious and humble, there comes to him a knave, whose name was Siba, 3) washed and betrayed his lord Mephibosheth, the son of king Saul, that David leads unheard, and promises to put him in all the goods of his lord. This was also too much for the holy man, that he let himself be persuaded by a poisonous tongue, and went with unrighteousness and violence.
2) Thus the Jena. Wittenberg and Erlangen: from.
3) In the Bible: Ziba.
(24) God allows this to happen, so that His excellent saints also remain with us here, and we see that they are also flesh and blood; otherwise it would follow that one would despair. Secondly, that the saints are not separated too far from us, as has been done. If they could have made that they had no sin, it should be a delicious thing. So that we have become desolate, and have had to despair.
(25) Therefore I would much rather, as much as I could, if it were not contrary to the Scriptures, defile the saints with sins. For it is a desecration of God's grace, and speaking too near to Christ, that they should be separated from us as far as heaven and earth. I should not esteem the nearest, least Christian less than St. Peter and all the saints in heaven. No one has more grace; they have more gifts and jewels; I am as dearly bought as they, so they are in the same flesh and blood in which I am. From this we can gain hope and comfort; otherwise we make idols of them and despise the grace of God.
(26) Yes, they say, one must honor the saints and hold us in low esteem, and stand against them with humility? Answer: In this, it is not humility that counts when it comes to God's grace, but arrogance. You should be humble about your own thing and nature, for you are nothing but a maggot's sack; but you cannot be proud enough of Christ's goodness, and must say: Even if I were ten times more wicked, I still have the blood that makes me pure and holy, and cost Christ as much to redeem me as St. Peter. They have been as low as we; so we are as high as they, so that no one has more than I, though they may have been stronger in faith; yet the food and main good is not greater. So learn to recognize what we have in God, for he alone lets us write such things for comfort, and we fools only make them a terror to ourselves. They, the holy fathers, may not, for they are long dead; but we may, that we may learn from it to know God; and for this very reason we must be sinners, that their life may be our consolation. If I am foolish, then God will prevail, but [I] stand like-
1) "not" is missing in the Wittenberg and in the Erlanger.
the one on. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Peter and many more have also been fooled. With this, we can resist sin and the devil.
(27) Here we also learn what is meant by blessing and cursing. For we have heard how the blessing is upon Jacob, that he shall have corn and wine in abundance, and be lord over his brethren, and have dominion over much land and people. You do not yet see spiritual goods, everything is still physical. Therefore to bless is actually to wish for something good, and to curse is to wish for something evil; as he then says: "God grant you" 2c. Now this is a wish that concerns only temporal good, wealth and glorious rule and great dominion, not only over the brethren but also over other people. But how long after that it has been lost! Yet he is sure that the blessing is true. Isaac felt it well that the Spirit spoke, that it must be true; therefore he also confirmed it, and did not revoke it. In such matters they did not act according to the will of man, as Peter says: "No prophecy has ever been produced by the will of man, but the holy men of God have spoken, impelled by the Holy Spirit"; otherwise they would not have spoken it, nor would God have had it described.
28 This has now been fulfilled for a long time, as the histories show; but nevertheless it is not forgotten that it would also encounter much resistance. For what comes from God cannot remain unchallenged; it must pass through the fire, as it is. If God called you to catch a mouse or to pick up a straw, which would be a foolish thing, and the world would know that he had called it, it would not let you do it in peace. As little as he calls a thing, so the devil attaches himself to it, does not want to suffer God's word and work, and causes all misfortune.
(29) So also here God promised to give the people the delicious land. Because God exists, the devil has rebelled against it, and has aroused so much persecution and cursing; as one reads in the books of the kings, that the Assyrians, Syrians, Edomites, Moabites, Egyptians, and other peoples more clung to it, so that there was no nation on earth to whom one could
As David himself writes in the 83rd Psalm, vv. 3-9: "Behold, your enemies rage, and those who hate you lift up their heads. They plot cunningly against thy people, and counsel against thy hidden ones. They say, Come, and let us destroy them, that they be not a nation, that the name of Israel be no more remembered: for they have taken counsel in their heart, and have made a league with one another against thee, the tents of the Edomites, the Ishmaelites, the Moabites, and the Hagarites, the Gebalites, and the Ammonites, 1) and the Amalekites, and the Philistines, with them of Tyro. Assyria also joined them, and became an arm of the children of Lot."
(30) Then the prophet counted all the great multitude that rose up against them, but they had a protector who could handle them well; therefore they also smote them confidently, that he often with one man or angel smote away a whole host. That one sees in history through and through how the blessing is wonderfully fulfilled, that all the world had to deal with the people, and God often let them succumb, that the enemies thought to even destroy them; as in the mentioned 83rd Psalm, v. 5, it says: "They say: Come, let us destroy them, that they be no nation, that the name of Israel be no more remembered." Yes, says God to this, I have spoken a blessing over them, so that they will remain; as one reads in the fourth book of Moses [Cap. 23, 20.], how Balaam was supposed to curse the people of Israel; but since he opened his mouth, he could do nothing but bless.
(31) So everything that is God's people must be persecuted, defiled and blasphemed. Therefore Isaac also says: "Cursed be he who curses you", as if he wanted to say: Just prepare yourself, you will have to suffer that you will be persecuted as no people on earth. But thou shalt have the consolation, that he that curseth thee shall be cursed again, and it shall never be well 2) with him.
1) The bracketed words are missing in the editions, as we assume, by mistake.
2) "shall him" is missing in the Erlanger.
32. now this is the bodily blessing, but signifies the right spiritual blessing; therefore it is much another blessing than that spoken over Abraham [Cap. 12, 3.]: "In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." For this blessing God speaks through a man, and on perishable things; but that He speaks Himself, not of wine or grain, but badly of the person on whom the blessing is to pass; therefore it must be spiritual. From which it further follows: If it is to go over all the nations and be equal, Abraham must be equal to all the nations; not as it is said to Jacob, that he should be lord over his brethren and many other people. Now because all these things are equal in this blessing, it must be such a thing as they can all understand; which indeed may not be bodily. For the world cannot exist in such a way that all become equal; one must rule, the other be subject; and yet the blessing wants everyone to be equal, and to go over all.
(33) This is the gospel, a good desire that much good may come to us. For thus saith the gospel concerning every man, Thy sins be forgiven thee, Christ with all his goods and everlasting life be thine. In the high blessing one has no more nor less than the other, [they] are all brothers and equal heirs.
(34) I do not know much more to say about this chapter, except that Esau complains about his brother and says: "He is called Jacob, because he has trampled me twice. The little word Ekeb, I have said, means in German the sole of a foot; from this he is called, because he held the sole of his brother's foot in his hand when they were born [Gen. 25, 26]. But here Esau interprets it a little differently, so he wants to say: Yes, he is called sole of foot, because he has trampled me twice under his feet. We have already heard what trampling under foot means, namely, that Christians trample under foot sin, death, the devil and everything that is born of the flesh.