Genesis 33

Ge 33:1-11.

KINDNESS OF

JACOB AND

ESAU.

1. behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men--Jacob

having crossed the ford and ranged his wives and children in order--the

dearest last, that they might be the least exposed to danger--awaited

the expected interview. His faith was strengthened and his fears gone

(Ps 27:3).

Having had power to prevail with God, he was confident of the same

power with man, according to the promise (compare

Ge 32:28).

3. he bowed himself . . . seven times--The manner of

doing this is by looking towards a superior and bowing with the upper

part of the body brought parallel to the ground, then advancing a few

steps and bowing again, and repeating his obeisance till, at the

seventh time, the suppliant stands in the immediate presence of his

superior. The members of his family did the same. This was a token of

profound respect, and, though very marked, it would appear natural; for

Esau being the elder brother, was, according to the custom of the East,

entitled to respectful treatment from his younger brother. His

attendants would be struck by it, and according to Eastern habits,

would magnify it in the hearing of their master.

4. Esau ran to meet him--What a sudden and surprising change!

Whether the sight of the princely present and the profound homage of

Jacob had produced this effect, or it proceeded from the impulsive

character of Esau, the cherished enmity of twenty years in a moment

disappeared; the weapons of war were laid aside, and the warmest tokens

of mutual affection reciprocated between the brothers. But doubtless,

the efficient cause was the secret, subduing influence of grace

(Pr 21:1),

which converted Esau from an enemy into a friend.

5. Who are those with thee?--It might have been enough to say,

They are my children; but Jacob was a pious man, and he could not give

even a common answer but in the language of piety

(Ps 127:3; 113:9; 107:41).

11. He urged him and he took it--In the East the acceptance by a

superior is a proof of friendship, and by an enemy, of reconciliation.

It was on both accounts Jacob was so anxious that his brother should

receive the cattle; and in Esau's acceptance he had the strongest

proofs of a good feeling being established that Eastern notions admit

of.

Ge 33:12-20.

THE

PARTING.

12. And he said, Let us take our journey--Esau proposed to

accompany Jacob and his family through the country, both as a mark of

friendship and as an escort to guard them. But the proposal was

prudently declined. Jacob did not need any worldly state or equipage.

Notwithstanding the present cordiality, the brothers were so different

in spirit, character, and habits--the one so much a man of the world,

and the other a man of God, that there was great risk of something

occurring to disturb the harmony. Jacob having alleged a very

reasonable excuse for the tardiness of his movements, the brothers

parted in peace.

14. until I come unto my lord--It seems to have been Jacob's

intention, passing round the Dead Sea, to visit his brother in Seir,

and thus, without crossing the Jordan, go to Beer-sheba to Isaac; but

he changed his plan, and whether the intention was carried out then or

at a future period has not been recorded.

17. Jacob journeyed to Succoth--that is, "booths," that being

the first station at which Jacob halted on his arrival in Canaan. His

posterity, when dwelling in houses of stone, built a city there and

called it Succoth, to commemorate the fact that their ancestor, "a

Syrian ready to perish"

[De 26:5],

was glad to dwell in booths.

18. Shalem--that is, "peace"; and the meaning may be that Jacob

came into Canaan, arriving safe and sound at the city Shechem--a

tribute to Him who had promised such a return (compare

Ge 28:15).

But most writers take Shalem as a proper name--a city of Shechem, and

the site is marked by one of the little villages about two miles to the

northeast. A little farther in the valley below Shechem "he bought a

parcel of a field," thus being the first of the patriarchs who became a

proprietor of land in Canaan.

19. an hundred pieces of money--literally, "lambs"; probably a

coin with the figure of a lamb on it.

20. and he erected . . . an altar--A beautiful proof

of his personal piety, a most suitable conclusion to his journey, and a

lasting memorial of a distinguished favor in the name "God, the God of

Israel." Wherever we pitch a tent, God shall have an altar.