Genesis 33:6

6 Then the maids came near with their children, and they bowed down.

Genesis 33:6 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 33:6

Then the handmaids came near, they and their children
Being foremost, and next to, Jacob, as Bilhah and her two sons, Dan and Naphtali, and Zilpah and her two sons, Gad and Asher: and they bowed themselves;
in token of respect to Esau, as Jacob had done before them, and set them an example, and no doubt instructed them to do it.

Genesis 33:6 In-Context

4 Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.

5 He lifted his eyes and saw the women and the children, and said, "Who are these with you?" So he said, "The children whom God has graciously given your servant."

6 Then the maids came near with their children, and they bowed down.

7 Leah likewise came near with her children, and they bowed down; and afterward Joseph came near with Rachel, and they bowed down.

8 And he said, "What do you mean by all this company which I have met?" And he said, "To find favor in the sight of my lord ."

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "they and"