This verse represents a transition from the successful deception of Isaac to the return of the cheated Esau. Good News Translation inserts a heading before verse 30, and translators may wish to do the same. The Good News Translation heading may need to be modified to say, for example, “Esau begs Isaac to bless him.”

As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob: Revised Standard Version follows the Hebrew structure, which must often be rearranged to give a smooth reading of this verse. For example, in English it is more natural to say “Isaac finished giving his blessing, and as soon as Jacob left…” (as in Good News Translation), “When Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob had left, Esau came in from the hunt,” or “No sooner had Jacob received the blessing and had left his father than his brother Esau returned from hunting.” Since the blessing is a spoken ritual, it may be more natural to say, for example, “… had said the last words of the blessing” or “… had finished speaking the blessing.”

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 .