Genesis 32:5

5 I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, in order that ¹I may find favor in your sight. ’”

Genesis 32:5 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 32:5

And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and
womenservants
This he would have said, lest he should think he was come to ask anything of him, and put himself and his family upon him; and lest he should treat him with contempt, as a poor mean beggarly creature, and be ashamed of the relation he stood in to him: and I have sent to tell my lord;
of his coming, and of his state and circumstances: that I may find grace in thy sight;
share in his good will, which was all he wanted, and that friendship, harmony, and brotherly love, might subsist between them, which he was very desirous of.

Genesis 32:5 In-Context

3 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom,

4 instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now.

5 I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight. ’”

6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him. ”

7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps,

Cross References

• 1. 32:5 ch. 33:8, 15