Prepare for me savory food: Esau is to kill the animal and butcher it and cook the meat to suit his father’s taste. Prepare is used in relation to the meal, and so “cook” (Good News Translation). Savory, which is used six times in this chapter, refers to food that is especially tasteful, appetizing, pleasant to eat. In some languages the verb meaning “cook” differs according to the type of food being cooked.
Such as I love: Hebrew does not distinguish between English “like” and “love.” In some languages it may be necessary to say “which I love to eat.” In other languages this thought is commonly expressed idiomatically; for example, “food that makes my stomach joyful,” “the kind that warms my innermost.”
That I may eat: that is, “so I can eat it.”
That I may bless you before I die is literally “that my soul may bless you before….” “My soul” is the use of the Hebrew nefesh in place of the first person singular pronoun. Isaac does not mean that his soul will bless Esau, but that he himself will bless him. See Good News Translation. Some interpreters take “soul” here to be more than a mere substitute for “I,” taking it as expressing a personal element in relation to the blessing. So Speiser says “That I may give you my very own blessing,” and New Jerusalem Bible “That I may give you my innermost blessing.”
Bless translates the common Hebrew word used of God blessing the sea creatures in 1.22, of God blessing Abraham in 12.2, and of Melchizedek blessing Abraham in 14.19. The blessing given by the dying father is a solemn declaration that transfers property rights and the authority of the father to the one receiving the blessing. Isaac’s final blessing is particularly important in that it confers upon the receiver the promise made by the LORD to give the land to Abraham and his descendants. The transfer of the blessing is a final and unchangeable act. It cannot be undone even by Isaac himself.
In other contexts the Handbook has suggested translating bless by means of such expressions as “God was good to,” “God looked with favor on,” “gave good gifts to.” As in such passages as 1.22, 28; 2.3; 12.2, 3; 14.19, here also God is the one who grants the blessing, and the one who receives it is benefitted. Here, however, Isaac is the agent, the one who transfers to his son the special status and promise of the land he has received from God through Abraham.
In many languages there are special terms or expressions for the formal declarations of old people who know they are near the end of their lives; and this applies in particular to declarations about inheritance that are made in this situation. Some examples of the way bless you before I die has been translated are “I will bless you with my last word,” “I will give you my last blessing and then I can die,” and making the element of inheritance quite clear, “I will give you my last word and hand over everything I own to you before I die.”
Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .