Behold, I have made him your lord: this is doubtless news that Esau is unprepared to hear. Behold serves here to introduce this unexpected announcement. Translators may have an expression, word, particle, or syntactic device that serves this function. Many modern translations do not have a suitable term or expression. For the translation of lord see verse 29. We may also translate, for example, “Listen carefully, I have made him your ruler,” “Look, I have made him to be the one who rules over you,” or “I have made him the boss over you.”

All his brothers I have given to him for servants: brothers is used here as in verse 29. We may also translate “I have made all his relatives to be his servants” or “I have ordered that all his relatives should serve him.” See Good News Translation.

With grain and wine I have sustained him: see verse 28. Sustained translates a verb meaning to “support,” “uphold,” “maintain.” Isaac has granted him grain and wine to maintain his superiority over his brothers. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch says “I have richly supplied him with grain and wine,” which is a good translation model.

What then can I do for you, my son? Isaac’s question is not to ask if there is something he can still do for Esau, but rather a rhetorical way of saying that he has given everything to Jacob and nothing remains; or as Bible en français courant says, “I can do nothing for you, my son.” See Good News Translation. In some languages this rhetorical question will require a response; for example, “What can I do for you, my son? Nothing at all,” or “How can I do anything for you, my son? I can do nothing.”

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 .