But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother: But translates the Hebrew connective, which signals here an objection or raises a question regarding Rebekah’s plan. Many translations do not repeat Rebekah’s name, because it is clear who Jacob’s mother is. In some languages it is more natural to make mother the beginning of Jacob’s speech: “Look, mother, ….”

Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man: Behold serves to call Rebekah’s attention to a fact that both know and must now recognize. Good News Translation translates “You know that….” We may also translate, for example, “We know that…” or “Everybody knows that….” For my brother see comments on Gen 27.6. Hairy man refers to Esau’s skin being covered with hair. See 25.25. Some languages distinguish between hair that grows on the skin and hair that grows on the head. In some cases we may say, for example, “Esau’s skin is covered with hair” or “Esau has hair all over his body.”

Smooth man is ambiguous in English. Good News Translation and others say “smooth skin” or “My skin is smooth.” If there is not an idiomatic way of describing skin with little or no hair, a descriptive phrase may be needed; for example, “but I have a clean skin with no hair” or “but I don’t have hairy skin.” In a good many languages the most natural way of expressing this whole contrast is to use just a negative in the second part: “Esau has a lot of hair on his skin but I don’t.”

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 .