Esau’s reply is rhetorical: Is he not rightly named Jacob? For Jacob’s name see 25.26. Esau’s question may require a reply such as “He certainly is.” This question may also be rephrased as a statement; for example, “He is rightly called Jacob,” “With good reason they named him Jacob,” “He is not called Jacob for nothing.” In translation it may be helpful to use a cross reference to 25.26. If the cross reference will not be adequate to make Esau’s statement clear, it may be preferable to translate, for example, “Is he not called Jacob because he deceives people?” At 25.26 the Handbook recommended a footnote that explained the play on Jacob’s name. There his name was associated with the word for “heel.” Here there is a second association, and this time it is with the word “cheat” or “deceive.” The Handbook recommends a footnote here that is equivalent to that found in Good News Translation. On the other hand, translators may feel that the following statement made by Esau is sufficient to make clear the meaning of Jacob’s name. Another model translators may wish to consider is Bible en français courant: “His name Jacob, ‘he who cheats,’ suits him well, because he has cheated me twice.”

For he has supplanted me these two times: supplanted in this context means to take the place of someone else through fraud and deceit. The Hebrew word uses the same consonants as the name Jacob. In some languages it will be more natural to follow Good News Translation, “This is the second time that he has…,” than to translate Revised Standard Version literally.

Esau goes on to state what the two occasions were. The first is He took away … birthright. For birthright see discussion at 25.31. The second is introduced by and behold, an expression that emphasizes the importance of what is to be said. We may translate, for example, “and now look,” “and what is more,” “and see here.” Taken away my blessing is as in verse 35.

Have you not reserved a blessing for me? that is, “… saved,” “… kept back,” “… laid aside.” Esau accepts that his father cannot give the same blessing twice, but he is hopeful that something may be left for him. This is brought out more fully by some translations; for example, “Isn’t there one more blessing that you can give to me?” and “Are there no other things that you didn’t say before that you can ask God to give me?”

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 .