But he said: he is Isaac, and what follows is a negative response to Esau’s plea. The unspoken meaning of what Isaac goes on to say is “No, I can’t” or “No, it is impossible.” In some languages the translation will be clearer if some exclamation or expression is used to convey this.

Your brother came with guile: brother refers to Jacob, who is the younger twin brother, and should be translated by the appropriate brother term. Guile translates the noun form of a verb meaning “deceive” and used in 29.25, “deceived.” Came with guile may be rendered as in Good News Translation, or we may say, for example, “came here and tricked me.” In some languages to deceive is to “cover the eyes.”

Has taken away your blessing: in this context, where the object of the verb is not anything material, taken away has the sense of depriving the person of something. Your blessing means “the blessing that should have been for you.” We may also say, for example, “… got the blessing that I was going to give to you.”

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 .