And he said, your brother came with subtlety, and has taken away your blessing.
All Commentaries on Genesis 27:35 Go To Genesis 27
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
So what can it mean when it says, “Your brother came with guile and stole the blessing”? … So what can it mean when it says, “He came along with guile and stole the blessing”? First of all, let us note what guile means, and so see what Jacob ought to do. He is bearing the sins of others, and he is bearing them patiently although they are other people’s. That is what it means to have the skins of the kids on him; he is bearing the sins of others, not clinging to his own. In this way all those who put up with the sins of others for the sake of unity in the church are imitating Jacob. Because Jacob too is in Christ, inasmuch as Christ is in the seed of Abraham; as it was said, “In your seed shall all the nations be blessed.” So our Lord Jesus Christ, who committed no sin, bore the sins of others. And will those whose sins have been forgiven disdain to bear the sins of others? So if Jacob turns into Christ, he bears the sins of others—that, is the skins of the kids. And where is the guile in that? Sermon
