Genesis 32:1-21

Preparing to Meet Esau

1 Jacob went on his way, and God's angels met him.^[a]

2 When he saw them, Jacob said, "This is God's camp." So he called that place Mahanaim.^[b]

3 Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.

4 He commanded them, "You are to say to my lord Esau, 'This is what your servant Jacob says. I have been staying with Laban and have been delayed until now.

5 I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male and female slaves. I have sent [this message] to inform my lord, in order to seek your favor.' "

6 When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, "We went to your brother Esau; he is coming to meet you-and he has 400 men with him."

7 Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; he divided the people with him into two camps, along with the flocks, cattle, and camels.

8 He thought, "If Esau comes to one camp and attacks it, the remaining one can escape."^[c]

9 Then Jacob said, "God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord who said to me, 'Go back to your land and to your family, and I will cause you to prosper,'

10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. Indeed, I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two camps.

11 Please rescue me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid of him; otherwise, he may come and attack me, the mothers, and their children.

12 You have said, 'I will cause you to prosper, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.' "

13 He spent the night there and took part of what he had brought with him as a gift for his brother Esau:

14 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams,

15 30 milk camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys.

16 He entrusted them to his slaves as separate herds and said to them, "Go on ahead of me, and leave some distance between the herds."

17 And he told the first one: "When my brother Esau meets you and asks, 'Who do you belong to? Where are you going? And whose [animals] are these ahead of you?'

18 then tell him, 'They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau. And look, he is behind us.' "

19 He also told the second one, the third, and everyone who was walking behind the animals, "Say the same thing to Esau when you find him.

20 You are to also say, 'Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.' " For he thought, "I want to appease Esau with the gift that is going ahead of me. After that, I can face him, and perhaps he will forgive me."

21 So the gift was sent on ahead of him while he remained in the camp that night.

Genesis 32:1-21 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 32

This chapter informs us of Jacob's proceeding on in his journey, and of his being met and guarded by an host of angels, Ge 32:1,2; of his sending messengers to his brother Esau, acquainting him with his increase, and desiring his favour and good will, Ge 32:3-5, who return and report to him, that Esau was coming to him with four hundred men, which put him into a panic, and after devising ways and means for the security of himself; and those with him, at least a part, if not the whole, Ge 32:6-8; then follows a prayer of his to God, pressing his unworthiness of mercies, and his sense of them, imploring deliverance from his brother, and putting the Lord in mind of his promises, Ge 32:9-12; after which we have an account of the wise methods he took for the safety of himself and family, by sending a present to his brother, dividing those who had the charge of it into separate companies, and directing them to move at a proper distance from each other, he, his wives and children, following after, Ge 32:13-23; when they were over the brook Jabbok, he stopped, and being alone, the Son of God in an human form appeared to him, and wrestled with him, with whom Jacob prevailed, and got the blessing, and hence had the name of Israel, Ge 32:24-28; and though he could not get his name, he perceived it was a divine Person he had wrestled with, and therefore called the name of the place Penuel, Ge 32:29-31; the hollow of his thigh being touched by him with whom he wrestled, which put it out of joint, he halted as he went over Penuel, in commemoration of which the children of Israel eat not of that part of the thigh, Ge 32:31,32.

Footnotes

• [a]. Ps 91:9-11
• [b]. Two Camps
• [c]. Gn 27:41