Isaac asks ‘Who are you, my son?’ because, though blind, he suspects the visitor is not Esau, the voice sounds like Jacob’s and the food has been prepared with unlikely speed. The question is a genuine attempt to verify identity before proceeding with the irrevocable blessing. By asking rather than assuming, Isaac gives the visitor an opportunity to identify himself truthfully, which Jacob does not take. The question’s function is thus Genuine Inquiry, though laden with dramatic irony for the reader who knows Jacob is standing before his blind father in disguise.

Isaac responded with ‘Here I am. Who are you, my son?’ (Genesis 27:18). His reply indicates he heard Jacob’s voice but could not identify which son had entered, prompting him to request clarification before proceeding with the blessing.

Isaac’s question ‘Who are you, my son?’ initiates the pivotal moment of the deception narrative. Unable to see, he has heard a voice that sounds like Jacob’s, yet the food has arrived with unexpected speed before Esau could have returned from the hunt. Barnes notes that Isaac’s suspicion was already aroused by the voice and the haste, and this question is his attempt to resolve the uncertainty. The question probes identity in both a literal and dramatic sense: the entire inheritance of the covenant blessing depends on the answer. Jacob’s response will be the boldest deception in the narrative, claiming ‘I am Esau thy firstborn.’ The question also carries theological weight: God’s covenant purposes will advance through Jacob despite this morally compromised scene, demonstrating that divine election operates according to grace rather than human worthiness, as Paul develops in Romans 9:10-16.