Jacob does not forfeit his
blessing when his deceit is discovered. The whole incident is
regarded rather as a master-stroke of cunning and inventiveness.
Esau is angry not because Jacob has employed such trickery, but
because he has succeeded in supplanting him.
I remember, as a boy at Eton, seeing a scene which left a deep
impression on me. There was a big unpleasant unscrupulous boy of
great physical strength, who was a noted football player. He was
extremely unpopular in the school, because he was rude, sulky, and
overbearing, and still more because he took unfair advantages in
games. There was a hotly contested house-match, in which he tried
again and again to evade rules, while he was for ever appealing to
the umpires against violations of rule by the opposite side. His
own house was ultimately victorious, but feeling ran very high
indeed, because it was thought that the victory was unfairly won.
The crowd of boys who had been watching the match drifted away in a
state of great exasperation, and finally collected in front of the
house of the unpopular player, hissed and hooted him.
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