The Pulpit Commentary — Genesis — Section 447

nying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord people that was with him, and tho flooks, Esau; Thy servant Jaoob saith thus ;-the and he1·ds, and the camels, into two b11nds; c,q,ression "my lord" mny .have been de- -according to Gerlach, caravans o.re fro- signed to intimate to Esau that he (Jacob) quently divided thus in tho present d1ty, <lid not intend to assert that superiority or and for the same reason ns Jacob assigns- preccdency which had r-een assigned him by And said, If Esau como to tho one company, Isaac's blessing (eh. xxvii. 29), Rt least so far and smite it, then the, other oompany which as to claim a share in Isaac's wealth (Calvin, is left shall escape. It is easy to blame Bush, Gerlach), bnt was probably due chiefly Jacob for wnut of faith in not trusting to to the extreme courtesy of the East (Ger- God instend of resorting to his own devices lncl1), or to a desire to conciliate his brother (Candlish}, but his behaviour in the circum- (Keil), or to a feeling of personal contrition stances evinced great self-possession, non ita for his misbehaviour towards Esau (Kalisch), e:cpavefactum .fuisse Ja cob quin ?"11$ suas an<l perhaps also to a secret apprehension of tomponeret (Calvin), considerable prudence danger from Esau's approach (Alford, Inglis) (Lange), if not exalted chivalry (Candlish), - I have sojourned with Laban, and a peaceful disposition which dicl not wish stayed-"ltl~, the fut. Kal. of"l1Jt$, occurring 'llim vi armata repellere (Rosenmilller), and only here, is a contraction for "ltl~~. like a truly religious spirit (' Speaker's Com- i'Pr-1 for i'P.~h (Ps. civ. 29 ; vide Gcsenius, menfory '), since in his terror he betnkes himself to prayer. § 68, 2)-there until now: and I have (liter- Vers. 9-12.-A.nd Jacob said,-the com- ally, there are to me, so that I stand in need bined beauty and power, humility and bold- <!f no further wealth from either thee or ness, simplicity and sublimity, brevity an<l Isaac) oxen, and asses, fiocks, and men- comprehensiveness of this prayer, of which servants, and womenservants :--cf. xii. 16 Kalisch somewhat hypercritically complains, (Abraham) ; xui. 13, 14 (Isaac) - and I that it ought to have been olfered before have sent to tell my lord, that I may find resorting to the preceding precautions, hns gT&ee in thy sight (cf. xxxiii. 8, 15; xx:rix. baen universally recognisecl-O God of my 4 ; and vide vi 8 ; xviii. 3). father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, Ver. 6. And the messengers returned to the Lord-Jacob's invocation is addressed le.cob, saying, We came to thy brother not to Deity in general, but to the, living Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee_(vide personal Elohim who had taken hh fathers eh. xxxiii. 1), and four hundred men with Abraham and Isaac into covenant, i. e. to him. That Esau was attended by 400 armed Jehovah who had enriched them with pro- followers was a proof that he had grown to mises of which he was the heir, and wl10 be a powerful chieftain. If the hypothesis had specially appeared unto himself (cf. eh. be admissible that he had already begun to xxviii. 13 ; xxxi. 3, 13)-which se.idst unto live by the sword (eh. xxvii 40), and was me, Return unto thy country, and to thy now invading the territory of the Horites, kindred, and I will deal well with thee: which he afterwards occupied (Delitzsch, -here was a clear indication that Jacob had Keil, Kurtz), it will serve to explain his in faith both obeyed the command and appearance in the land of Seir, while as yet embraced the promise made known to him he had not finally retired from Canaan. That in Haran-I am not worthy of the least of he = with such a fonnidable force to meet his brother has been set down to personal (literally, I am l/1$8 than) all thol mercies, and (of) all the truth, which thou hast vanity, or a desire to show how po,)·erful a shewed unto thy servant ;-tho profouncl prince he had become (~yra, Menochm_s); to humility which these words b1·eatho is n sure fraternal kindness, which prompted hrm to indication that the character of Ja.cob had do honour to hiq brother (Poole, Colvin, either undergone a great inward transforma- Clarke), to a distinctly h_ostile inteutio!1 tion, if that was not experienced twenty (Willet, Ainsworth, Candlish), at least 1f years before at Bethel, or had shaken off the circumstances should seem to call for venge- moral and spiritual lethargy under which ance (Keil), though it is probable that Esau's he too manifestly laboured while in _the mind on first hearing of his brother's near- sr.rvice of Laban-for with my stafl:' (i. e. ness,' was simply excited, .and "~n . that possessing nothing but my stnlf) I passed waverinu state which the slightest mc1dent over this Jordan (the Jo.bbok was situated might s~othe into good will, or rouse in to near, indeed is a tributary of the Jordan); vengeance" (Murphy). and now I am become two bands (or Machn- Vers. 7, 8.-Then Jacob was greatly afraid noth). Deliver me, I pray thee, from the and distressed :-literally, it 1cas narrow to hand or my brother, from the hand of Esau /ii,n; i. e. he was pe~lexed. Clearly the (thus passing from thanksgiving to direct impression left on J ncob e mind by the report petition, brief, explicit, an<l fervent): for I c,f ],is ambassadors was that l,c had nothing fear him, lest he will come and smite me 1,., expci·t l.,11t 1,ostility-e.nd he divided the (i. e. my whole clan, r,B bhmnel, Israel, en. XXXII. 1-2:J.J TFIE BOOK OF GENESIS. 301