Genesis 32:16

16 And he gave them to his servants drove apart; and he said to his servants, Go on before me, and put a space between drove and drove.

Genesis 32:16 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 32:16

And he delivered [them] into the hand of his servants
To present them to Esau as from him: every drove by themselves;
there seems to have been three droves, see ( Genesis 32:19 ) ; very probably the two hundred and twenty goats, male and female, were in the first drove; and the two hundred and twenty sheep, ewes, and rams, were in the second drove; and the thirty camels, with their colts, and the fifty cows and bulls, with the twenty she asses and ten foals, which made in all one hundred and forty, were in the third drove: though Aben Ezra thinks there were five droves; nor is it improbable, the goats in one drove, the sheep in another, the camels and colts in a third, and the kine and bulls might make a fourth, and the asses with their foals a fifth: and saith unto his servants, pass over before me:
over the brook Jabbok, ( Genesis 32:22 ) , a day's journey or less before him, as Jarchi observes, or rather a night's journey, as seems by the context; for these were sent out at evening, and Jacob stayed behind all night, as appears by what follows: and put a space betwixt drove and drove;
his meaning is, that they should not follow each other closely; but that there should be a considerable distance between them, and which he would have them careful to keep: his view in this was, partly to prolong time, Esau stopping, as he supposed he would, at each drove, and asking questions of the men; and partly that he might the better and more distinctly observe the largeness of his present, and his munificence in it, and so, both by the present, and by the frequent repetition of his submission to him as his servant, his wrath, if he came out in it, would be gradually abated, and before he came to him he would be in a disposition to receive him with some marks of affection and kindness, as he did.

Genesis 32:16 In-Context

14 two hundred she-goats, twenty he-goats, two hundred sheep, twenty rams,

15 milch camels, and their foals, thirty, forty kine, ten bulls, twenty asses, and ten colts.

16 And he gave them to his servants drove apart; and he said to his servants, Go on before me, and put a space between drove and drove.

17 And he charged the first, saying, If Esau my brother meet thee, and he ask thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither wouldest thou go, and whose are these possessions advancing before thee?

18 Thou shalt say, Thy servant Jacob's; he hath sent gifts to my lord Esau, and lo! he is behind us.