Now then marks the transition from the background explanation to the request he will make. Isaac’s desire is to gain strength and enjoy his favorite food in preparation for blessing Esau. This transition may also be handled as a consequence of verse 2; for example, “So now.” Good News Translation and others leave the consequence to be understood from the sequence of statements.

Your weapons, your quiver and your bow: weapons translates a general word used for utensils and implements, which in this context refers to hunting equipment. Note that Good News Translation omits the general term and translates only the two items that are named. Quiver refers to the container or holder for the arrows. It is hung by a strap over the shoulder or across the back. Although “arrows” are not mentioned, they are to be understood from the use of quiver. Bow, of course, refers to the instrument used for shooting arrows. Revised English Bible and others retain the general word weapons by translating it as “hunting gear,” that is, equipment used in hunting. We may also translate, for example, “Take your hunting things.” If quiver will be taken to mean “empty quiver” in the translator’s language, it will be necessary to make an adjustment; for example, “quiver of arrows” or “arrows.” In English the natural word order is “bow and arrows.”

If the objects named here are unfamiliar in the language, it may be necessary to use the local equivalents or shift to a more general expression; for example, “take your hunting things” or “take the things you use to hunt with.”

Go out to the field, and hunt game for me: field refers to the countryside, not to a cultivated field. See comments on 25.27. For game see 25.28.

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 .