Genesis 32:19

19 And he commandeth also the second, also the third, also all who are going after the droves, saying, `According to this manner do ye speak unto Esau in your finding him,

Genesis 32:19 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 32:19

And so commanded he the second and third
Those who had the care of the second and third droves, he ordered them to say the same things, and in the same words as he had the first: and all that followed the droves;
either all that were with the principal driver; that if any of them should happen to be interrogated first, they might know what to answer; or those that followed the other droves, besides the three mentioned, which countenances Aben Ezra's notion of five droves, before observed: saying, on this manner shall you speak to Esau, when you find him;
that is, when they met him and perceived it was he that put questions to them.

Genesis 32:19 In-Context

17 And he commandeth the first, saying, `When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and hath asked thee, saying, Whose [art] thou? and whither goest thou? and whose [are] these before thee?

18 then thou hast said, Thy servant Jacob's: it [is] a present sent to my lord, to Esau; and lo, he also [is] behind us.'

19 And he commandeth also the second, also the third, also all who are going after the droves, saying, `According to this manner do ye speak unto Esau in your finding him,

20 and ye have said also, Lo, thy servant Jacob [is] behind us;' for he said, `I pacify his face with the present which is going before me, and afterwards I see his face; it may be he lifteth up my face;'

21 and the present passeth over before his face, and he hath lodged during that night in the camp.