Genesis 32:21

21 So the present passed on ahead of him; and he himself spent that night in the camp.

Genesis 32:21 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 32:21

So went the present over before him
Over the brook Jabbok, after mentioned, the night before Jacob did: and himself lodged that night in the company;
or "in the camp" ^F3, either in the place called Mahanaim, from the hosts or crowds of angels seen there; or rather in his own camp, his family and servants; or, as Aben Ezra distinguishes, in the camp with his servants, and not in his tent, lest his brother should come and smite him; and so Nachmanides.

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 (hnxmb) "in castris", Vatablus, Drusius, Schmidt; "in acie sua", Junius & Tremellius; "in exercitu", Piscator.

Genesis 32:21 In-Context

19 He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, "You shall say the same thing to Esau when you meet him,

20 and you shall say, "Moreover your servant Jacob is behind us.' " For he thought, "I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterwards I shall see his face; perhaps he will accept me."

21 So the present passed on ahead of him; and he himself spent that night in the camp.

22 The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.

23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had.