Bible Strands
Genesis 27:13
His mother replied, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey my voice and go get them for me.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Rebekah speaks to Jacob after he voices fear of being caught as a deceiver and incurring a curse. She instructs him to proceed with the deception to secure the blessing.
The words — The text foregrounds קִלְלָתְ/ךָ (ki.la.te./Cha), meaning “your curse,” and שְׁמַ֥ע בְּ/קֹלִ֖/י (she.Ma' be./ko.L/i), meaning “listen to my voice.” Rebekah explicitly absorbs the penalty of the deception while commanding Jacob’s immediate compliance.
The thread — This formula of voluntarily accepting blame or a curse appears in 1 Samuel 25:24, 2 Samuel 14:9, and Matthew 27:25, where speakers take responsibility for a negative outcome to enable a subsequent action or judgment.
Why it lands — The verse records Rebekah’s calculated substitution of risk and Jacob’s execution of the plan, establishing the blessing’s acquisition as a human-driven deception rather than an unmediated divine grant.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.
Cross-references
- Matthew 27:25 All the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”
- 1 Samuel 25:24 She fell at his feet and said, “My lord, may the blame be on me alone, but please let your servant speak to you; hear the words of your servant.
- 2 Samuel 14:9 But the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord the king, may any blame be on me and on my father’s house, and may the king and his throne be guiltless.”
- Genesis 25:23 and He declared to her: “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”
- Genesis 25:33 “Swear to me first,” Jacob said. So Esau swore to Jacob and sold him the birthright.
- Genesis 27:8 Now, my son, listen to my voice and do exactly as I tell you.
- Genesis 43:9 I will guarantee his safety. You may hold me personally responsible. If I do not bring him back and set him before you, then may I bear the guilt before you all my life.
- 1 Samuel 14:24 Now the men of Israel were in distress that day, for Saul had placed the troops under an oath, saying, “Cursed is the man who eats any food before evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies.” So none of the troops tasted any food.
- 1 Samuel 14:36 And Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until dawn, leaving no man alive!” “Do what seems good to you,” the troops replied. But the priest said, “We must consult God here.”