Genesis 27:45

until your brother’s rage against you wanes and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — Rebekah speaks to Jacob, instructing him to remain with Laban until Esau’s fury subsides and he forgets the stolen blessing. She questions why she should lose both sons in a single day.

The words — שׁוּב (shuv) translates literally to “turns back,” describing the fading of anger. אַף ('af) means “anger” or “rage,” specifying the intensity of the brother’s hostility.

The thread — The dynamic of fraternal violence appears in Genesis 4:8, where one brother rises up against another. Genesis 9:5 establishes the principle that life shed by a brother demands accountability. Genesis 27:35 confirms the brother’s deceitful acquisition of the blessing.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that deception provokes lethal retaliation and that temporary withdrawal is a necessary safeguard for survival. It requires the reader to confront the tangible consequences of stolen blessings without romanticizing the outcome.

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

עַד־'ad-until שׁ֨וּבshuvturns back אַף־'af-[the] anger of אָחִ֜יךָ'a.Chi./khabrother/ your מִמְּךָ֗mi.me./Khafrom/ you וְשָׁכַח֙ve./sha.Khachand/ he will forget אֵ֣ת'et<obj.>אֲשֶׁר־'a.Sher-[that] which עָשִׂ֣יתָ'a.Si.tayou didלּ֔וֹl/oto <the>/ himוְשָׁלַחְתִּ֖יve./sha.lach.Tiand/ I will send וּלְקַחְתִּ֣יךָu./le.kach.Ti./khaand/ I will fetch/ you מִשָּׁ֑םmi./Shamfrom/ there לָמָ֥הla./Mah<to>/ why?אֶשְׁכַּ֛ל'esh.Kalwill I be bereaved גַּם־gam-also שְׁנֵיכֶ֖םshe.nei./Khemboth of/ you י֥וֹםYoma day אֶחָֽד׃'e.Chadone

King James Version

Until thy brother’s anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be deprived also of you both in one day?

Cross-references

Genesis 4:8 Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
Genesis 9:5 And surely I will require the life of any man or beast by whose hand your lifeblood is shed. I will demand an accounting from anyone who takes the life of his fellow man:
Genesis 27:35 But Isaac replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”
2 Samuel 14:6 And your maidservant had two sons who were fighting in the field with no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him.
Proverbs 19:21 Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail.
Lamentations 3:37 Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has ordained it?
Acts 28:4 When the islanders saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “Surely this man is a murderer. Although he was saved from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”
James 4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.”