פירוש על בראשית 27:15

החמדות THE COSTLY GARMENTS — the clean ones, as the Targum has it, דכיתא (clean); (cf. Rashbam). Another explanation: They are called חמדות literally, coveted ones, because he had coveted them from Nimrod (who also was a hunter; cf. Genesis 10:9) (Genesis Rabbah 65:16)

ESAU HER ELDER SON, JACOB HER YOUNGER SON. The reason why Scripture mentions this is to accentuate the unusual action of the righteous one,²¹⁰Rebekah. for parents customarily give recognition to the firstborn in blessing, honor, and gift,²¹¹See Ramban above, 25:34. but she, knowing of the righteousness of the younger and the wickedness of the elder, went to all this trouble to transfer the blessing and the honor from the elder to the younger. Similarly, it says further on, And the words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah, and she sent and called Jacob her younger son.²¹²Further, Verse 42.

החמודות, the ones his father would use when he ate his meals.

ותלבש את יעקב בנה הקטן, she dressed Jacob her younger son. This means she adapted these clothes to fit her smaller son though they were tailored to fit the measurements of her bigger son Esau.

וילך..ותקח...החמודות, costly garments which he would wear on special occasions, especially when taking his places among the leading personalities of his time. He would keep these clothes wrapped in fragrant flowers from the field so that they would exude such a fragrance when worn. This is why Yitzchok reacted to Yaakov’s appearing before him dressed in these garments by saying: “the fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of the field.” Rivkah also covered Yaakov’s throat and arms with the skins from the goats so that Yitzchok would think that Esau was indeed standing before him.

את בגדי עשו בנו הגדול, ”the garments of her older son Esau.” The use by the Torah of the terms בנו הגדול and בנו הקטן, instead of the customary בנו הבכור and בנו הצעיר, for the older son (the firstborn) or the younger son, is intended to underline that although, usually, honour is accorded to the firstborn, etc., Rivkah being aware that her firstborn son had forfeited any claim to such honour, thought of her two children in terms of the physically older one and the physically younger one, i.e. הגדול והקטון, respectively. She was now concerned with arranging for the transfer of the undeserved privileges of birth from her undeserving older son to her deserving younger son.

The ones he coveted from Nimrod. Meaning: These garments bore pictures of all kinds of animals, and when Nimrod would wear them and go out to the field, the animals would think the pictures were animals, and would approach him. Eisov killed Nimrod and took the garments.

אשר אתה בבית, beiläufig ein charakterisierender Einblick in Esaus Ehe. Seine Kostbarkeiten vertraute er nicht seinen Frauen an!

החמודות, “the choice ones;” these garments had pictures of all the animals and birds in the world painted outside in a manner that the viewer considered these creatures as being alive. Whenever the wearer walked in the field, the animals in that region were attracted by these pictures so that they were easy prey for the hunter. Esau had taken them from Nimrod, when he slew him (B’reshit Rabbah 65,16). According to this Midrash it is difficult to understand why Yaakov would dress up in those clothes. We must assume that Rivkah was anxious for Yaakov to appear as much as possible like his brother Esau.

החמודות, “the valuable ones, the new ones with which Esau wants to impress the people with whom he deals. They are the ones which he wears when he performs tasks his father asks him to perform.” And that is why Yitzchok could smell them, for the smell of new clothes is noticeable. A different exegesis: החמודות, the one he wears always when he goes out hunting to kill venison. Your father is familiar with the smell of these garments and will not question the identity of the wearer of them. [This makes little sense to me, as Esau had already left on his errand to hunt game to feed his father. He would not likely have possessed two such sets of garments. Ed.]

אשר אתה בבית WHICH WERE WITH HER IN THE HOUSE — But he had several wives and yet he stored them with his mother! But the reason for this was that he was acquainted with their practices and was suspicious of them (Genesis 10:9) (he feared that they might steal his clothes) (Genesis Rabbah 65:16).