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1 And Jacob looked and saw Esau was coming, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children between Leah, Rachel, and the two handmaids.

2 And he put the handmaids and their children in front, then Leah and her children, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear.

3 And he himself went before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

4 And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him; and they wept.

5 And he looked and saw the women and the children; and said, “Who are these with you?” And he said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.”

6 Then the handmaids came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves.

7 And Leah also and her children came near, and bowed themselves; and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves.

8 And he said, “What is the meaning of this company which I met?” And he said, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.”

9 And Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; let that which you have be yours.”

10 And Jacob said, “No, I pray thee, if I have found favor in your sight, then receive this present from my hand; for I have seen your face, as one sees the face of God, and you were pleased with me.

11 Take, I pray thee, this gift[b] that I have brought to you; because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough[c].” And he urged him, and he took it.

12 And he said, “Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before you.”

13 And he said to him, “My lord knows that the children are still young, and that the flocks and herds with me have their young; and if they overdrive them one day, all the flocks will die.

14 Let my lord go ahead of his servant, and I will lead on gently, according to the pace of the cattle that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”

15 And Esau said, “Let me now leave with you some of the folk that are with me.” And he said, “What needeth it? let me find favor in the sight of my lord.”

16 So Esau returned that day, on his way, to Seir.

17 And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built a house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth[d].

18 And Jacob came in peace[e] to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram; and encamped before the city.

19 And he bought the parcel of ground, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred [f]pieces of money.

20 And there he built an altar, and called it [g]El-Elohe-Israel.

[3] Of course, this is not an act of worship, but of humility. Bowing down does not always indicate worship (and there is no indication of the manner of which he bowed). Ex. Joshua bows to an Angel, Abraham bows before three men, etc.

[8] ‘and he said,’ and ‘and he said,’ gives no indication of who is talking directly and must be understood in the direct context of the story as it is presented (ex. ‘The LORD said to my Lord,’ In Psalms). Also see 33:12-14 for similar language.

[10] Or, for therefore have I seen

[11] Hebrew blessing.

[11] Hebrew all.

[12-14] This illustrates the difference in perspective between Esau and Jacob; Esau wanted to rush ahead into the holy land, while Jacob realized it would take time and patience to teach the children at their own pace. They must be guided, not forced.

[17] That is, Booths.

[18] Or, to Shalem, a city

[19] Hebrew kesitah.

[20] That is, God, the God of Israel.

Selected commentary

h.ואת לאה וילדיה אחרנים AND LEAH AND HER CHILDREN AFTER — The more behind — the more beloved (Genesis Rabbah 78:8).

h.עבר לפניהם [AND HE HIMSELF] PASSED BEFORE THEM — He thought: if that wicked man comes to fight let him fight me first (Genesis Rabbah 78:8).

h.ויחבקהו AND EMBRACED HIM — His pity was aroused when he saw him prostrating himself so many times (Genesis Rabbah 78:8).

h.וישקהו AND HE KISSED HIM — Dots are placed above the letters of this word, and a difference of opinion is expressed in the Baraitha of Sifré (בהעלותך) as to what these dots are intended to suggest: some explain the dotting as meaning that he did not kiss him with his whole heart, whereas R Simeon the son of Johai said: Is it not well-known that Esau hated Jacob? But at that moment his pity was really aroused and he kissed him with his whole heart. (Sifrei Bamidbar 69.2)

h.מי אלה לך WHO ARE THESE WITH THEE? (literally, to thee)? — Who are these that they should be yours (are they your children or your servants)?

h.נגש יוסף ורחל JOSEPH AND RACHEL STEPPED NEAR — In the case of all the others the mothers approached before the children, but in the case of Rachel, Joseph came in front of her. He said: “My mother is a beautiful woman: for fear that this wicked man will set his fancy on her I will stand in front of her and prevent him from gazing at her ” As a reward for this Joseph merited the blessing associated with the words עלי עין “with the eye” (Genesis Rabbah 78:10).

h.מי לך כל המחנה WHAT MEANEST THOU BY ALL THIS CAMP? — What is all this camp that I have met which belongs to you — as much as to say: what do you intend by it? Scripture really uses the word המחנה in reference to those who were bringing the present. A Midrashic explanation is: He had met companies of angels who thrust him and his men aside, asking them, “Who are you?” These replied, “We belong to Esau”. Whereupon the angels exclaimed, “Smite, smite!” They (Esau’s men) then said, “Let him alone; he is a son of Isaac”. They took no notice of this. “He is a grandson of Abraham”. Again they took no notice of this. “He is Jacob’s brother”. Whereupon they said: if this be so, you are one with us” (Genesis Rabbah 78:11).

h.יהי לך אשר לך BE THINE THAT WHICH IS THINE — In these words he admitted his right to the blessings (Genesis Rabbah 78:11).

h.אל נא NAY, I PRAY THEE — Do not, I pray thee, speak to me thus.

h.אם נא מצאתי חן בעיניך ולקחת מנחתי מידי כי על כן ראיתי פניך וגו' IF NOW I HAVE FOUND FAVOUR IN THY EYES THEN TAKE MY PRESENT AT MY HAND: FOR THEREFORE I HAVE SEEN THY FACE etc. — Accept my present because (כי) it is fitting and proper for you to accept my present, for that (על כן) I have seen your face which is as dear to me as the sight of the angel — for I have seen your guardian angel. And a further reason why you should accept my present is ותרצני — because you have agreed to pardon my offence. Why, however, did he mention to him that he had seen the angel? In order that he (Esau) should be afraid of him saying, “He has seen angels and nevertheless escaped safely! Now, certainly, I shall be unable to overcome him” (Sotah 41b)

h.ותרצני AND THOU WAST PLEASED WITH ME — You are reconciled with me. Wherever the term רצה (the verb, or the noun רצון) occurs in Scripture it means “propitiating”; old French appaisement; English appeasing. An example is, (Leviticus 22:20) “It shall not be (לרצון) acceptable as a propitiatory sacrifice to you”, for the purpose of the sacrifices is to conciliate and to propitiate. Similarly (Proverbs 10:31) “The lips of the righteous know רצון — they understand to conciliate and propitiate.

h.ברכתי means MY PRESENT — a present such as this that is brought, when one has an audience with a person after an interval of time is intended only as a greeting. Now wherever the term “blessing” (ברכה) is used in connection with an audience — as for example, (47:7) “Jacob blessed (ויברך) Pharaoh”, and (2 Kings [18]:31) “make your peace (ברכה) with me” mentioned in connection with Sennacherib, and also (2 Samuel 8:10) to salute him and to bless him (לברכו)” mentioned in connection with Toi, King of Hamath — they all signify greeting, O.I. saluer. So that here, too: ברכתי really means “mon salut” — my greetings and the term is then transferred to the greeting-present.

h.אשר הבאת לך THAT IS BROUGHT TO THEE without any exertion on your part. I have myself taken the trouble to bring it all this way until it has reached your hand (Genesis Rabbah 78:12).

h.חַנַּנִי GOD HATH FAVOURED ME — The first נ has a Dagesh, because it serves the purpose of two נ’s since it should have said חַנְנַנִי as we always find the forms of חנן with two נ’s. The third נ here (Rashi means the third that is pronounced) serves as part of the accusative pronominal suffix (meaning “me”), as (Isaiah 29:16) עשני “He made me”, and as (30:20) זבדני “he endowed me”.

h.יש לי כל I HAVE EVERYTHING — all that will supply my needs. But Esau spoke proudly (v. 8): I have (רב) abundance — far more than my needs.

h.נסעה is an imperative like שִׁמְעָה and שִׁלָחָה which are equivalent to שְׁמַע “hearken!” and שְׁלֵח “send!” Similarly here, נִסְעָהis equivalent to נְסַע “travel on!”, where the נ is a root-letter of the word and not the prefix of the future in which case the word would mean “let us travel on”, similar to the following word ונלכה “and let us go”. The Targum also takes it in this sense, rendering it: “Travel on and let us go”. Thus Esau said to Jacob, “Travel thou on from here and let us go etc.

h.ואלכה לננדך means AND I WILL GO SIDE BY SIDE WITH THEE — I will do you this favour: that I will take a longer time on my journey by going slowly as is necessary for you. This is the meaning of לנגדך — alongside of you.

h.עלות עלי WITH YOUNG ARE WITH ME — The sheep and the oxen which are giving suck constitute a charge upon me (עלי) to drive them slowly.

h.עלות means bringing up their young. Words of the same root are found in (Lamentations 2:11) “young children (עולל) and the sucklings”: (IsaiahLXV.20) “an infant (עול) of days”: (1 Samuel 6:7) “and two milch kine (עלות)”. old French enfantées.

h.ודפקום יום אחד AND IF MEN SHOULD OVERDRIVE THEM, wearying them on the journey by making them run, מתו כל הצאן ALL THE FLOCKS WILL DIE.

h.ודפקום has the same meaning as in (Song. 5:2) “Hark, my beloved knocketh (דופק)” — knocks at the door — so that it means to beat the animals in order that they may travel quickly.

h.יעבר נא אדני LET MY LORD, I PRAY THEE, PASS — do not prolong the time of your journey: pass on at your usual speed even though you thereby get far away from me.

h.אתנהלה is the same as אתנהל I WILL LEAD ON. The ה at the end of the word is redundant as in (8:21) ארדה “I will go down”, and in (Psalms 85:9) אשמעה “I will hear”.

h.לאטי SLOWLY — the word means “my slowness”, לאט having the meaning of ease, gentleness. Examples are: (Isaiah 8:6) “that go (לאט) softly”; (2 Samuel [18]:6) “Deal (לאט) gently for my sake with the young man.” In לאטי the ל is a root-letter and not a prefix, so that the meaning is, “I will lead on at my slow rate”.

h.לרגל המלאכה ACCORDING TO THE PACE OF THE DROVE — according to the requirements made by the pace of the feet of the cattle which is incumbent on me to drive.

h.ולרגל הילדים AND ACCORDING TO THE PACE OF THE CHILDREN — according to the speed (רגל) which they are able to keep up.

h.עד אשר אבא אל אדני שעירה UNTIL I COME UNTO MY LORD UNTO SEIR — He mentioned a much longer journey, for he really intended to go only as far as Succoth (Avodah Zarah 25b). He said, “If he means to do me harm let him wait to do so until I reach his abode at Seir.” Therefore he did not go to Seir. But when will he go? In the days of the Messiah, as it is said (Obadiah 1:21) “And saviours shall go up on Mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau”. There are many Midrashic explanations of this section.

h.ויאמר למה זה means AND HE SAID, WHY IS IT— that thou shouldst do me a favour which I do not need?”

h.אמצא חן בעיני אדני LET ME FIND FAVOUR IN THE EYES OF MY LORD and do not give me any recompense at present for the gifts I have made you.

h.וישב ביום ההוא עשו לדרכו SO ESAU RETURNED THAT DAY ON HIS WAY — Esau alone returned, but the four hundred men who had accompanied him slipped away from him one by one. When did the Holy One, blessed be He, reward them for this? In the days of David, as it is said (1 Samuel 30:17) (in reference to an attack which he made upon the Amalekites, descendants of Esau) “[and there escaped not a man of them] save four hundred young men who rode upon camels” (Genesis Rabbah 78:15).

h.ויבן לו בית AND HE BUILT FOR HIMSELF A HOUSE — He stayed there eighteen months — summer, winter and summer again (Megillah [17]a); for the first mention of Succoth (booths which are erected for the cattle) points to the summer (when booths are necessary for the cattle), the mention of building a house to the winter, and the second mention of booths to the next summer.

h.שלם SAFELY (literally, whole, perfect, unimpaired) — unimpaired in body (health) because he was cured of his lameness; whole as regards his possessions for he was not short of anything even though he had given that gift (for his remaining cattle soon bore other young; cf. Rashi on Genesis 30:43); and perfect in his knowledge of the Torah for whilst he was in Laban’s house he had not forgotten what he had before learned (Shabbat 33b).

h.עיר שכם — the word עיר is equivalent to לעיר to the city of. Similarly we have (Ruth 1:19) “until they came בית לחם” — “to Bethlehem”.

h.בבאו מפדן ארם WHEN HE CAME FROM PADAN-ARAM — This is stated here in the same way as a person says to his neighbour, “that man there has come from between the teeth of the lion and has returned unhurt”. Similarly here: he came whole from Padan-aram — from Laban and from Esau who had come to attack him on his journey.

h.קשיטה is a Meah (a certain coin) — Rabbi Akiba said, “When I visited the coast-towns I found that they called a Meah a Kesittah (Rosh Hashanah 26a). In the Targum it is rendered by חורפן good ones, current everywhere: the same idea as (23:16) “current with the merchant.

h.ויקרא לו אל אלהי ישראל AND HE CALLED IT EL-ELOHE ISRAEL — It does not mean that the altar was named “The God of Israel” thus bearing a Divine Name, but because the Holy One blessed be He, had been with him and delivered him he called the name of the altar by a term that had an allusion to the miracle, so that the praise of God might be mentioned when people called it by its name. Thus it would mean: He who is El, God — viz, the Holy One, blessed be He — is the God of me whose name is Israel. We find something similar in the case of Moses (Exodus [18]:15): “And he called its (the altar’s) name Adonai-Nissi. Not that the altar was called by the Divine Name Adonai, but he named the altar thus, to mention the praise of the Holy One, blessed be He: “The Lord — He is my banner!” Our Rabbis, of blessed memory, expounded it thus: that the Holy One, blessed be He, called Jacob by the name El. The verse therefore should be translated “and the God of Israel called him (Jacob) El” (Megillah [18]a). And in reference to all these different explanations it may be said that the words of the Torah — just as a hammer splits the rock into many different pieces (Shabbat 88b) — may be given many different explanations. I however make it my aim to give the plain sense of Scripture.