Genesis 32:18

18 then tell him, 'They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau. And look, he is 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 entrusted them to his slaves as separate herds and said to them, "Go on ahead of me, and leave some distance between the herds."

17 And he told the first one: "When my brother Esau meets you and asks, 'Who do you belong to? Where are you going? And whose [animals] are these ahead of you?'

18 then tell him, 'They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau. And look, he is behind us.' "

19 He also told the second one, the third, and everyone who was walking behind the animals, "Say the same thing to Esau when you find him.

20 You are to also say, 'Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.' " For he thought, "I want to appease Esau with the gift that is going ahead of me. After that, I can face him, and perhaps he will forgive me."