Genesis 32:18

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.'"

Genesis 32:18 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 32:18

Then thou shall say, [they be] thy servant Jacob's
Both the goats before them, and they themselves that had the care of them, belonged to Jacob, who directed them to speak of him to Esau as his "servant": it [is] a present sent unto my lord Esau;
which is the answer to the second question: and behold also he [is] behind us:
that is, Jacob: this they were bid to tell, lest he should think that Jacob was afraid of him, and was gone another way; but that he was coming to pay a visit to him, and might expect shortly to see him, which would prepare his mind how to behave towards him.

Genesis 32:18 In-Context

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,

20 and you are to add, 'And there, just behind us, is your servant Ya'akov.'" For he said, "I will appease him first with the present that goes ahead of me; then, after that, I will see him myself - and maybe he will be friendly toward me."