Genesis 32:17

17 He instructed the servant in front, "When 'Esav my brother meets you and asks you, 'Whose servant are you? Where are you going? And whose animals are these?'

Genesis 32:17 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 32:17

And he commanded the foremost
He that had the care of the first drove, which consisted of goats, male and female: saying, when Esau my brother meeteth thee;
as there was reason to believe he would, being on the road, and him first of all, being the foremost: and asketh thee, saying, what [art] thou?
that is, whose servant art thou? to whom dost thou belong? and whither goest thou?
what place art thou travelling to? and whose are these before thee?
whose are these goats? to whom do they belong thou art driving? for in driving and travelling on the road, sheep and goats went before those that had the care of them; whereas, in leading out to pastures, the shepherds went before, and the flocks followed, ( John 10:4 ) .

Genesis 32:17 In-Context

15 thirty milk-camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten colts.

16 He turned them over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, "Cross over in front of me, and keep a space between each drove and the next

17 He instructed the servant in front, "When 'Esav my brother meets you and asks you, 'Whose servant are you? Where are you going? And whose animals are these?'

18 then you are to say, 'They belong to your servant Ya'akov, and they are a present he has sent to my lord 'Esav; and Ya'akov himself is just behind us.'"

19 He also instructed the second servant, and the third, and all that followed the droves, "When you encounter 'Esav, you are to speak to him in the same way,