Genesis 32:12-22

12 But thou saidst, I will do thee good, and will make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which shall not be numbered for multitude.

13 And he slept there that night, and took of the gifts which he carried , and sent out to Esau his brother,

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.

19 And he charged the first and the second and the third, and all that went before him after these flocks, saying, Thus shall ye speak to Esau when ye find him;

20 and ye shall say, Behold thy servant Jacob comes after us. For he said, I will propitiate his countenance with the gifts going before his presence, and afterwards I will behold his face, for peradventure he will accept me.

21 So the presents went on before him, but he himself lodged that night in the camp.

22 And he rose up in that night, and took his two wives and his two servant-maids, and his eleven children, and crossed over the ford of Jaboch.

Genesis 32:12-22 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 32

This chapter informs us of Jacob's proceeding on in his journey, and of his being met and guarded by an host of angels, Ge 32:1,2; of his sending messengers to his brother Esau, acquainting him with his increase, and desiring his favour and good will, Ge 32:3-5, who return and report to him, that Esau was coming to him with four hundred men, which put him into a panic, and after devising ways and means for the security of himself; and those with him, at least a part, if not the whole, Ge 32:6-8; then follows a prayer of his to God, pressing his unworthiness of mercies, and his sense of them, imploring deliverance from his brother, and putting the Lord in mind of his promises, Ge 32:9-12; after which we have an account of the wise methods he took for the safety of himself and family, by sending a present to his brother, dividing those who had the charge of it into separate companies, and directing them to move at a proper distance from each other, he, his wives and children, following after, Ge 32:13-23; when they were over the brook Jabbok, he stopped, and being alone, the Son of God in an human form appeared to him, and wrestled with him, with whom Jacob prevailed, and got the blessing, and hence had the name of Israel, Ge 32:24-28; and though he could not get his name, he perceived it was a divine Person he had wrestled with, and therefore called the name of the place Penuel, Ge 32:29-31; the hollow of his thigh being touched by him with whom he wrestled, which put it out of joint, he halted as he went over Penuel, in commemoration of which the children of Israel eat not of that part of the thigh, Ge 32:31,32.