Genesis 32:4-14

4 and he commanded to them, and said, Thus speak ye to my lord Esau, (and say,) Thy brother Jacob saith these things, I have been a pilgrim at Laban (I have been living with Laban), and I was (there) till into this present day;

5 I have oxen, and asses, and sheep, and menservants, and handmaids, and I send now a message to my lord, that I find grace in thy sight. (I have oxen, and donkeys, and sheep, and male and female slaves, and I have sent this message to my lord, so that I may find grace in thy sight.)

6 And the messengers turned again to Jacob, and said, We came to Esau, thy brother, and lo! he hasteth him into thy coming, with four hundred men. (And the messengers returned to Jacob, and said, We came to thy brother Esau, and told him your message, and lo! now he hasteneth himself to come to meet thee, with four hundred men.)

7 Jacob dreaded greatly, and he was afeared, and he parted the people that was with him, and he parted the flocks, and sheep, and oxen, and camels, into two companies; (And Jacob greatly feared, and he was afraid, and so he divided all the people who were with him, as well as the flocks, and sheep, and oxen, and camels, into two groups;)

8 and he said, If Esau shall come to one company, and shall smite it, the other company which is left unsmitten, shall be saved. (and he said, If Esau shall come to one group, and shall strike them down, the other group which is left, shall be able to escape.)

9 And Jacob said, O! God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O! Lord, that saidest to me, Turn thou again into thy land, and to the place of thy birth, and I shall do well to thee (O! Lord, who saidest to me, Return thou to thy land, and to the place of thy birth, and I shall deal well with thee),

10 I am less than all thy merciful doings, and than (all) thy truth which thou hast [ful]filled to thy servant; with (only) my staff I passed (over) this Jordan, and now I go (back over) again with two companies; (I am not worthy of all thy merciful doings, and all thy faithfulness which thou hast shown to thy servant; for I crossed over this Jordan River with only my staff, and now I go back again with these two plentiful groups;)

11 deliver thou me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I dread him greatly (for I greatly fear him), lest he come and smite (me, and) the mothers with the sons.

12 Thou spakest that thou shouldest do well to me, and wouldest alarge my seed as [the] gravel of the sea, that may not be numbered for muchliness. (Thou saidest that thou wouldest deal well with me, and that thou wouldest enlarge my descendants like the gravel, or like the sand, of the sea, that cannot be counted for all of its muchliness.)

13 And when Jacob had slept there in that night, he separated of those things which he had, (as) gifts to Esau, his brother, (And after Jacob had slept there that night, he separated out from the things which he had, as gifts for his brother Esau,)

14 two hundred (she) goats, and twenty bucks of goats, (and) two hundred sheep, and twenty rams,

Genesis 32:4-14 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.