74 | Genesis 31:51
51 La ban also said to Ja cob,“ Here is this heap, and here is this pil lar a I have set up between you and me. 52 This heap is a wit ness, and this pil lar is a wit ness, b that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pil lar to my side to harm me. c 53 May the God of Abra ham d and the God of Na hor, the God of their father, judge between us.” e
So Ja cob took an oath f in the name of the Fear of his fa ther Isaac. g 54 He of fered a sac rifice there in the hill coun try and in vited his rel a tives to a meal. Af ter they had eaten, they spent the night there.
55 Early the next morn ing La ban kissed his grand chil dren and his daugh ters h and blessed them. Then he left and re turned home. a i
Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau
32 b Ja cob also went on his way, and the an gels of God j met him. 2 When Ja cob saw them,
he said,“ This is the camp of God!” k So he named that place Ma ha naim. c l
3 Ja cob sent mes sen gers ahead of him to his brother Esau m in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. n 4 He in structed them:“ This is what you are to say to my lord Esau:‘ Your ser vant Ja cob says, I have been stay ing with La ban and have re mained there till now. 5 I have cat tle and don keys, sheep and goats, male and fe male ser vants. o Now I am send ing this mes sage to my lord, that I may find fa vor in your eyes. p’”
6 When the mes sen gers re turned to Ja cob, they said,“ We went to your brother Esau, and now he is com ing to meet you, and four hun dred men are with him.” q
7 In great fear r and dis tress Ja cob di vided the peo ple who were with him into two groups, d and the flocks and herds and cam els as well. 8 He thought,“ If Esau comes and attacks one group, e the group e that is left may es cape.”
9 Then Ja cob prayed,“ O God of my fa ther Abra ham, God of my fa ther Isaac, s Lord, you who said to me,‘ Go back to your coun try and your rel a tives, and I will make you pros per,’ t 10 I am un wor thy of all the kind ness and faith ful ness u you have shown your ser vant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jor dan, but now I have be come two camps. 11 Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and at tack me, v and also the moth ers with their chil dren. w 12 But you have said,‘ I will surely make you pros per and will make your de scen dants like the sand x of the sea, which can not be counted. y’”
13 He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he se lected a gift z for his brother Esau: 14 two hun dred fe male goats and twenty male goats, two hun dred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty fe male cam els with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty fe male don keys and ten male don keys. 16 He put them in the care of his ser vants, each herd by it self, and said to his ser vants,“ Go ahead of me, and keep some space be tween the herds.”
17 He in structed the one in the lead:“ When my brother Esau meets you and asks,‘ Who do you be long to, and where are you go ing, and who owns all these an i mals in front of you?’
a 55 In Hebrew texts this verse( 31:55) is numbered 32:1. b In Hebrew texts 32:1-32 is numbered 32:2-33. c 2 Mahanaim means two camps. d 7 Or camps e 8 Or camp
31:51 a Ge 28:18
31:52 b Ge 21:30 c ver 7; Ge 26:29
31:53 d Ge 28:13 e Ge 16:5 f Ge 21:23, 27
g ver 42
31:55 h ver 28 i Ge 18:33; 30:25
32:1 j Ge 16:11; 2Ki 6:16-17; Ps 34:7; 91:11; Heb 1:14
32:2 k Ge 28:17 l 2Sa 2:8, 29
32:3 m Ge 27:41-42 n Ge 25:30; 36:8, 9
32:5 o Ge 12:16; 30:43 p Ge 33:8, 10, 15
32:6 q Ge 33:1 32:7 r ver 11
32:9 s Ge 28:13; 31:42 t Ge 31:13
32:10 u Ge 24:27
32:11 v Ps 59:2 w Ge 27:41
32:12 x Ge 22:17 y Ge 28:13-15;
Hos 1:10; Ro 9:27
32:13 z Ge 43:11, 15, 25, 26; Pr 18:16
32:1 – 21 Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau. Twenty years have passed since Jacob fled from Esau. Having made peace with Laban, he now prays that God will enable him to be reconciled with his estranged brother. 32:1 – 2 Jacob is reassured of God’ s presence when the angels of God meet him and he sees the camp of God. This encounter recalls his earlier dream at Bethel, when he also saw“ the angels of God”( 28:12), an expression the OT uses nowhere else. Whereas Bethel, which means the“ house of God,” suggests a static residence for God, God’ s“ camp” implies something mobile. God accompanies Jacob as he travels to Canaan. 32:2 Mahanaim. Means“ two camps”( see NIV text note). Jacob probably alludes to the presence of God’ s camp alongside his own. Possibly the image of two camps inspires Jacob to divide his own camp into two sections prior to meeting Esau( vv. 7 – 10). 32:3 messengers. Having witnessed God’ s angels, Jacob sends messengers to Esau. The two events are connected by a wordplay involving the Hebrew noun malʾākîm, which denotes both angels and messengers: God sends angels from his camp to meet Jacob, and Jacob sends messengers from his camp to meet Esau. Seir. This name resembles the Hebrew word for“ hairy,” which describes Esau in 25:25. Esau apparently settled in this region. the country of Edom. This expression not only recalls how Esau was known as Edom( 25:30) but also echoes 25:27: Esau was“ a man of the open country.” The Hebrew term translated“ open country” in 25:27 is rendered“ country” here. Seir and Esau were well matched. Designating Edom as Esau suggests that Jacob is free to take possession of the land of Canaan. 32:4 my lord... Your servant. Jacob’ s message to Esau expresses considerable humility. His language contrasts sharply with God’ s prediction that the older would serve the younger( 25:23) and with Isaac’ s blessing, which speaks of Jacob being lord over his brothers( 27:29). Having alienated himself from Esau, Jacob is keen to regain his brother’ s favor( 33:8). 32:6 four hundred men. Jacob becomes exceptionally fearful when he hears that Esau is coming to meet him with a large number of men. With a force of 318 men, Abraham defeated the combined forces of four kings( 14:14 – 16). 32:7 Jacob responds by dividing his camp into“ two groups.” His action recalls his earlier vision of God’ s camp( see v. 2 and note), but it implies that he has forgotten God’ s protective presence with him. 32:9 God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord. Jacob invokes God in prayer using three designations. The first two underline the importance of the family line, for both Abraham and Isaac have known God in a special way.“ Lord” translates God’ s personal name( see 2:4 and note), which Jacob uses here for the first time. 32:10 kindness and faithfulness. By associating these characteristics with the Lord, Jacob’ s prayer anticipates how God himself declares his nature in Exod 34:6( see note there). 32:13 – 21 To placate his brother, Jacob generously sends herds of animals to Esau as a gift. To afford such a gift, Jacob must have become exceptionally wealthy during his stay in Paddan Aram.