and so he blessed him must have been followed by the words of blessing.—24-27 bring the parallel narrative (J) up to the same point.—27a. The smelling of the garments seems to have a twofold significance: on the one hand it is a final test of Esau's identity (otherwise the disguise v.15 would have no meaning), on the other it supplies the sensuous impression which suggests the words of the blessing 27b (so Gu.).
The section, we have seen, is composite (perhaps 18. 19a. 21-23. 28 = E || 19b.
20. 24-27 = J); in the primary documents the interview was less complicated,
and the movement quicker, than it now appears: but since neither has
been preserved intact, we cannot tell how long Isaac's hesitation and
Jacob's suspense lasted in each case. In J as it stands, it would seem
that Isaac's suspicions are first aroused by the promptness of the supposed
hunter's return, and perhaps only finally allayed by the smell of
Esau's garments. In E it is the voice which almost betrays Jacob,
and the feel of his arms which saves him from detection. For details,
see the footnotes.
27b-29. The blessing is partly natural (27b. 28), partly political
(29), and deals, of course, not with the personal history of
Jacob, but with the future greatness of Israel. Its nearest
analogies are the blessings on Joseph, Gn. 4922ff., Dt. 3313ff.;
and it is not improbable that its Elohistic elements (v.i.)
originated in N. Israel.—27b (J). the smell of a rich field] cf.
struction, avoiding the division of documents, in Dri. T. § 75. The
narrator is supposed to "hasten at once to state briefly the issue of the
whole, and afterwards, as though forgetting that he had anticipated,
proceed to annex the particulars by the same means" ([H] cons.). Ew. and
Hitz. applied the same principle to several other passages (see ib.); but
the explanation seems to me not very natural.—24. (
Hebrew characters)] [E] (Hebrew characters).—25.
(Hebrew characters)] G (Hebrew characters); but see v.31.
27b-29. The critical analysis of the blessing, precarious at the best,
depends on such considerations as these: (Hebrew characters) 27b points decisively to J;
(Hebrew characters) 28, less certainly, to E, which is confirmed by (Hebrew characters) (cf. 37). 29a(Greek characters)
(to (Hebrew characters)) is J because of the last word (2523); and 29b because of the
resemblance to 123. 29a(Greek characters) (from (Hebrew characters)) is E (cf. 37): (so Gu.). KS. and Ho.
differ first in treating 29a(Greek characters)b as wholly || 29a(Greek characters), thus assigning 29a(Greek characters) to E and
a(Greek characters) to J (thus far Pro. agrees with them); then in the inference that 37 is J;
and, lastly, in the reflex inference that 28b is E.—The metrical structure
is irregular. Parallelism appears in 28a and in 29 throughout. 27b falls
into three trimeters; but 29 (also J) can only be scanned in tetrameters.
In E trimeters and tetrameters are combined. See Sievers, i. 405, 577,
ii. 79, 316.—27b. (Hebrew characters)] [E] (ungrammatically) (Hebrew characters). The (Hebrew characters), how-
