This chapter informs us of Jacob’s proceeding on in his journey, and of his being met and guarded by an host of angels, Gen. 32:1, Gen. 32:2; of his sending messengers to his brother Esau, acquainting him with his increase, and desiring his favour and good will, Gen.

And Jacob went on his way From Gilead towards the land of Canaan: and the angels of God met him; to comfort and help him, to protect and defend him, to keep him in all his ways, that nothing hurt him, (Ps. 91:11, Ps.

And when Jacob saw them These appeared in a visible form, most probably human, and in the habit, and with the accoutrements of soldiers, and therefore afterwards called an host or army.

And Jacob sent messengers before him unto Esau his brother, &c.] Or “angels”: not angels simply, as Jarchi, for these were not under the command, and in the power of Jacob to send, nor would they have needed any instruction from him afterwards given, but these were some of his own servants.

And he commanded them Being his servants: saying, thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; being not only a lord of a country, but his eldest brother, and whom he chose to bespeak in this manner, to soften his mind, and incline it to him; and that he might see he did not pique himself upon the…

And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants This he would have said, lest he should think he was come to ask anything of him, and put himself and his family upon him; and lest he should treat him with contempt, as a poor mean beggarly creature, and be ashamed of the…

And the messengers returned to Jacob After they had delivered their message, with the answer they brought back: saying, we came to thy brother Esau; which, though not expressed, is implied in these words, and is still more manifest by what follows: and also he cometh to meet thee; and pay a…

Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed Knowing what he had done to his brother in getting the birthright and blessing from him, and what an enmity he had conceived in his mind against him on that account, and remembering what he had said he would do to him; and therefore might fear that all…

And said, if Esau come to the one company, and smite it The first, which perhaps consisted only of some servants, with a part of his cattle; so that if Esau should come in an hostile manner, and fall upon that, and slay the servants, and take the cattle as a booty: then the other company which is…

And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac In this distress he does not consult the teraphim Rachel had taken from her father; nor does he call upon the hosts of angels that had just appeared to him, to help, protect, and guard him; but to God only, the God of his…

I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies Or of any of them, according to his humble sense of things his mind was now impressed with; he was not worthy of the least mercy and favour that had been bestowed upon him; not even of any temporal mercy, and much less of any spiritual one, and…

Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau For though his brother, it was his brother Esau, that had formerly vowed revenge upon him, and had determined to kill him, , and he knew not but that he was still of the same mind; and now having an opportunity, and in his…

And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good All kind of good, most certainly and constantly; so Jacob rightly interpreted the promise, “I will be with thee”, ; for the promise of God’s presence includes and secures all needful good to his people; and from this general promise Jacob draws an…

And he lodged there that same night At Mahanaim, or some place near it: and took of that which came to his hand; not what came next to hand, for what he did was with great deliberation, judgment, and prudence; wherefore the phrase signifies what he was possessed of, or was in his power, as Jarchi…

Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams. ] And it seems this proportion of one he goat to ten she goats, and of one ram to ten ewes, is a proper one, and what has been so judged in other times and countries [[22]]. 23: Varro de rustica, l. 2. c. 3.

Thirty milch camels with their colts Milch camels were in great esteem in the eastern countries; their milk being, as Aristotle [[23]] and Pliny [[24]] say, the sweetest of all milk: forty kine and ten bulls; one bull to ten cows; the same proportion as in the goats and rams: twenty she asses and…

And he delivered them into the hand of his servants To present them to Esau as from him: every drove by themselves; there seems to have been three droves, see ; very probably the two hundred and twenty goats, male and female, were in the first drove; and the two hundred and twenty sheep, ewes, and…

And he commanded the foremost He that had the care of the first drove, which consisted of goats, male and female: saying, when Esau my brother meeteth thee; as there was reason to believe he would, being on the road, and him first of all, being the foremost: and asketh thee, saying, what art thou?…

Then thou shall say, they be thy servant Jacob’s Both the goats before them, and they themselves that had the care of them, belonged to Jacob, who directed them to speak of him to Esau as his “servant”: it is a present sent unto my lord Esau; which is the answer to the second question: and behold…

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…

And say ye moreover, behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us This is repeated to impress it upon their minds, that they might be careful of all things, not to forget that, it being a point of great importance; for the present would have signified nothing, if Jacob had not appeared in person; Esau…

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” [[2]], either in the place called Mahanaim, from the hosts or crowds of angels seen there; or rather in his own camp, his family and…

And he rose up that night In the middle of it, for it was long before break of day, as appears from ; and took his two wives, Rachel and Leah, and his two womenservants, Bilhah and Zilpah, or, “his two concubines”, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; which distinguishes them from other…

And he took them, and sent them over the brook His wives and children, under the care of some of his servants: and sent over that he had: all that belonged to him, his servants and his cattle or goods.

And Jacob was left alone On the other side of Jabbok, his family and cattle having passed over it; and this solitude he chose, in order to spend some time in prayer to God for the safety of him and his: and there wrestled a man with him; not a phantasm or spectre, as Josephus [[4]] calls him; nor…

And when he saw that he prevailed not against him That he, the man, or the Son of God in the form of man, prevailed not against Jacob, by casting him to the ground, or causing him to desist and leave off wrestling with him; not because he could not, but because he would not, being willing to…

And he said, let me go, for the day breaketh This was said that he might seem to be a man that was desirous of going about his business, as men do early in the morning; though the true reason perhaps was, that his form might not be more distinctly seen by Jacob, and much less by any other person:…

And he said unto him, what is thy name? &c.] Which question is put, not as being ignorant of it, but in order to take occasion from it, and the change of it, to show that he had granted his request, and had blessed him, and would yet more and more: and he said, Jacob; the name given him at his…

And he said, thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel That is, not Jacob only, but Israel also, as Ben Melech interprets it, or the one as well as the other; or the one rather and more frequently than the other: for certain it is, that he is often after this called Jacob, and his…

And Jacob asked him, and said, tell me, I pray thee, thy name Being asked his own name, and told it, and having another given him more significative and expressive, he is emboldened to ask the person that wrestled with him what was his name; ; for Jacob knew that he was God, as appears by his…

And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel In ; Penuel, which signifies the face of God, or God hath looked upon me, or hath had respect to me: there was afterwards a city built here, called by the same name; see ; it is said [[9]] to be four miles from Mahanaim; the reason of it follows: for I…

And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him It was break of day when the angel desired to be let go, and by that time the parley held between them ceased, and they parted, the sun was rising; and as Jacob went on it shone upon him, as a token of the good will and favour of God to him, and as…

Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank Which was contracted by the touch of the angel, and by which it was weakened and benumbed; or the sinew of the part that was out of joint, the sinew or tendon that keeps the thigh bone in the socket, together with the flesh that…