Free Bible Commentary
“Genesis 33:1-7”
Categories: Genesis“Then Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two maids. He put the maids and their children in front, and Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last. But he himself passed on ahead of them and bowed down to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. 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.' Then the maids came near with their children, and they bowed down. Leah likewise came near with her children, and they bowed down; and afterward Joseph came near with Rachel, and they bowed down.”
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“Then Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him.” (verse 1) No sooner than the sun had arisen and the angel departed, Jacob looked up and, lo and behold, Esau and his army were within sight. There was not much time for Jacob to process everything that had just previously happened and to gather himself for the potential confrontation. All Jacob had time to do was trust in God's grace and goodness and protection and put his previously conceived plan into motion. “The earlier division of his personnel and effects, mentioned in 32:8, was a tactical precaution in case of flight. Nothing is said there of the members of Jacob's immediate family. The present act is solely a matter of arranging mothers with their respective children for formal presentation to Esau.” (Nahum Sarna)
“He put the maids and their children in front, and Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last.” (verse 2) Jacob “divided” his family into groups, and sent them in waves toward Esau and his men, much as he had done with the various gifts of livestock herds. Jacob actually made himself more vulnerable to his brother by revealing his heart to him with this arrangement. He either arranged his women and children in this fashion to provide the greatest safety measures for Rachel and Joseph, or merely to demonstrate his love by “saving the best for last.” Either way you look at it, if Esau had been of a mind to inflict the greatest amount of damage to the brother who had deceived him, Rachel and Joseph were made the most likely targets for his wrath by Jacob's tactics.
“But he himself passed on ahead of them and bowed down to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.” (verse 3) Jacob, as the leader of his family, faced the music alone and faced his potential opponent decisively and directly. Even though he “bowed down” to Esau and his vastly superior forces, there is no indication in the context that he did so with a heart filled with terror for the possible outcome. Jacob likely bowed then advanced and did so “seven times” in succession until he came near unto his brother. “The Hebrew verb denotes the full-length proneness of the body as a symbol of submission to a superior authority... There is a measure of irony in the situation, for it is the exact reversal of the blessing that Jacob extracted from his father and that led to his flight from Esau's wrath: 'Be master over your brothers,/And let your mother's sons bow to you' (27:29).” (Nahum Sarna)
“Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.” (verse 4) While it is likely that the multiple waves of gifts helped to soften Esau's heart to some degree, that does not solely explain the complete about face of Esau's attitude toward his brother and the subsequent emotional outpouring. In spite of the man that Esau was (or at least had previously been) and all the spitefulness that had transpired between these two extremely dissimilar twin brothers, Esau had love in his heart for his brother. The passing of time, no doubt, helped to assuage Esau's anger and resentment, and the twenty years of separation helped to make his heart grow fonder. All Jacob's worrying and fretting and wrestling were likely unnecessary wastes of emotional energy, because Esau had already forgiven him in his heart. It seems obvious the Lord had not only been working on Jacob for the previous two decades but had also been active in Esau's life as well.
“He lifted his eyes and saw the women and the children, and said, 'Who are these with you?'” (verse 5) Esau was eager to meet the family he had not been previously aware that he had—his sisters-in-law and nephews and niece. It seems that Esau had really gotten his priorities straightened out since the last time we read about him because he wanted to know about the people first before asking about all the “stuff” that Jacob had offered him later. “So he said, 'The children whom God has graciously given your servant.'” Jacob recognized that children are a wonderful gift from the Lord and that he was extremely blessed to have his quiver full. “Then the maids came near with their children, and they bowed down. Leah likewise came near with her children, and they bowed down; and afterward Joseph came near with Rachel, and they bowed down.” (verse 6-7) What a difference two decades can make in the lives and hearts of two flawed and foolish men. Everybody loves a happy ending, and the mental images of this tender scene cannot help but evoke feelings of warmth and delight.
Please read Genesis 33:8-14 for tomorrow.
Have a blessed day!
-Louie Taylor
