And he did not recognize him: he is Isaac and him is Jacob, and so it may be necessary to say, for example, “Isaac did not recognize that it was really Jacob.”

Because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands: in some languages it is more natural for the reason clause to be placed ahead of the result clause; for example, “Because his hands were hairy, Isaac did not recognize that it was really Jacob.” For hands were hairy see suggestions in verse 11; however, in this context it may not be possible to use the same expressions as in verse 11, because Jacob’s hands were not naturally hairy like Esau’s—they only felt hairy because of the goat skins that covered them. It may be necessary to say something like “Isaac didn’t recognize Jacob, because Jacob had goat skins covering his arms, making them hairy like the arms of Esau” or “… because he didn’t discover what was making the arms seem hairy like Esau’s.”

So he blessed him: Revised Standard Version translates blessed as a completed action. This is followed by many other modern translations. Good News Translation, however, understands the imperfect form of the verb bless to mean “was about to give him his blessing,” which may also be expressed, for example, “started to bless him.” The actual blessing does not begin until verse 27, and so blessed in verse 23 is not to be rendered as if the ritual blessing is accomplished in verse 23. Speiser, who translates “Still, as he was about to bless him,” argues that this aspect of the verb is one of many senses of the Hebrew imperfect. In a similar manner Biblia Dios Habla Hoy says “But when he was going to give him his blessing,” and Bible en français courant has “But before giving him his blessing.” Good News Translation, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Bible en français courant, and Speiser are suitable translation models in this case. In some languages it is more natural to express this sense as “So he got ready to bless him….”

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 .