Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 32
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Genesis 32
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Genesis 32
"And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him." — Genesis 32:1 (ASV)
Jacob went on his way. — The meeting of Jacob and Laban had occurred on the dividing line between the Aramean and Canaanite lands. Consequently, it was at a spot where Laban would have found no allies among the natives, but rather the opposite. Thus delivered from danger from behind, Jacob now journeyed through the country that was to be the heritage of his seed. He was doubtless harassed by many anxious thoughts, for Esau might prove a fiercer foe than Laban. It was fitting, therefore, that he should receive encouragement. So, after some days—probably after about a week’s journey southward—he had a vision of angels of God.
Angels of God. — Countless conjectures have been ventured as to who these messengers of Elohim were, and how they were seen by Jacob. Some, taking the word in its lower sense, think they were prophets. Others believe it was a caravan that gave Jacob timely information about Esau’s presence in Seir. Still others suggest it was a body of men sent by Rebekah to aid Jacob in repelling Esau. More probably, just as Jacob on his road to Padan-aram had been assured of God’s watchful care for him by the vision of the angels ascending and descending the stairs, so now he also saw in a dream the angels encamped on each side of him. This vision served to assure him of protection against his brother.
"And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. And Jacob said when he saw them, This is God`s host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim. And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the field of Edom. And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye say unto my lord Esau: Thus saith thy servant Jacob, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now: and I have oxen, and asses, [and] flocks, and men-servants, and maid-servants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in thy sight. And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and moreover he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed: and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two companies; and he said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the company which is left shall escape. And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O Jehovah, who saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will do thee good: I am not worthy of the least of all the lovingkindnesses, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two companies. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he come and smite me, the mother with the children. And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude. And he lodged there that night, and took of that which he had with him a present for Esau his brother: two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty milch camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and ten foals. And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove. And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee? then thou shalt say [They are] thy servant Jacob`s; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, he also is behind us. And he commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him; and ye shall say, Moreover, behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept me. So the present passed over before him: and he himself lodged that night in the company. And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two handmaids, and his eleven children, and passed over the ford of the Jabbok. And he took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had. And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob`s thigh was strained, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for thou hast striven with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for, [said he], I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. And the sun rose upon him as he passed over Penuel, and he limped upon his thigh. Therefore the children of Israel eat not the sinew of the hip which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob`s thigh in the sinew of the hip." — Genesis 32:1-32 (ASV)
THE TÔLDÔTH ISAAC (Genesis 25:19 to Genesis 35:29).
THE BIRTH OF ISAAC’S SONS.
Abraham begot Isaac —The Tôldôth in its original form probably gave a complete genealogy of Isaac, tracing his descent up to Shem, and showing by this that the right of primogeniture belonged to him; but the inspired historian uses only as much of this as is necessary for tracing the development of the Divine plan of human redemption.
The Syrian. —Really, the Aramean, or descendant of Aram. (See Genesis 10:22-23.) The name of the district also correctly is “Paddan-Ararn,” and so far from being identical with Aram-Naharaim, in Genesis 24:10, it is strictly the designation of the region immediately in the neighbourhood of Charran.
The assertion of Gesenius that it meant “Mesopotamia, with the desert to the west of the Euphrates, in opposition to the mountainous district towards the Mediterranean,” is devoid of proof. (See Chwolsohn, Die Ssabier, 1, p. 304.)
In Syriac, the language of Charran, padana means a plough (1 Samuel 13:20), or a yoke of oxen (1 Samuel 11:7); and this also suggests that it was the cultivated district close to the town.
In Hosea 12:12 it is said that Jacob fled to the field of Aram; but this is a very general description of the country in which he found refuge, and affords no basis for the assertion that Padan-aram was the level region. Finally, the assertion that it is an ancient name used by the Jehovist is an assertion only. It is the name of a special district, and the knowledge of it was the result of Jacob’s long-continued stay there. Chwolsohn says that traces of the name still remain in Faddân and Tel Faddân, two places close to Charran, mentioned by Yacut, the Arabian geographer, who flourished in the thirteenth century.
Isaac entreated the Lord. —This barrenness lasted twenty years (Genesis 25:26) and must have greatly troubled Isaac. It would also compel him to reflect deeply on the purpose for which he had been given to Abraham and afterwards rescued from death upon Mount Jehovah-Jireh.
When offspring came, in answer to his earnest pleading of the promise, the delay would serve to impress upon both parents the religious significance of their existence as a separate race and family, and the necessity of training their children worthily.
The derivation of the verb to entreat, from a noun signifying incense, is uncertain but rendered probable by the natural connection of the idea of the ascending fragrance and that of the prayer mounting heavenward (Revelation 5:8; Revelation 8:4).
The children struggled together.— Two dissimilar nations sprang from Abraham, but from mothers totally unlike; so, too, from the peaceful Isaac two distinct races of men were to originate, but from the same mother, and the contest began while they were yet unborn. And Rebekah, apparently unaware that she was pregnant with twins, but harassed with the pain of strange jostlings and thrusts, grew despondent, and exclaimed—
If it be so, why am I thus? —Literally, If so, why am I this? Some explain this as meaning “Why do I still live?” but more probably she meant, If I have conceived in this way, in answer to my husband’s prayers, why do I suffer in this strange manner? It thus prepares for what follows, namely, that Rebekah wished to have her condition explained to her, and therefore went to inquire of Jehovah.
She went to inquire of the Lord. —Not to Shem, nor Melchizedek, as many think, nor even to Abraham, who was still alive, but, as Theodoret suggests, to the family altar. Isaac had several homes, but probably the altar at Bethel, erected when Abraham first took possession of the Promised Land (Genesis 12:7), and therefore especially holy, was the place indicated; and if Abraham were there, he would doubtless join his prayers to those of Rebekah.
"And Jacob said when he saw them, This is God`s host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim." — Genesis 32:2 (ASV)
Mahanaim.—That is, the two camps, his own and that of the angels; or, possibly, two camps of angels, one on either side of him. Mahanaim was in the tribe of Gad, and became an important town. (See 2 Samuel 2:8; 2 Samuel 17:24; 1 Kings 4:14.)
"And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the field of Edom." — Genesis 32:3 (ASV)
JACOB’S RECONCILIATION WITH ESAU.
(Genesis 32:3 to Genesis 33:16.)
Jacob sent messengers. As Jacob traveled homewards to Hebron, news somehow reached him that Esau, at the head of a large body of retainers, was engaged in an expedition against the Horites.
These Horites, as we have previously seen in Genesis 14:6, were a wretched race of cave-men, utterly unable to cope with Esau and his trained servants.
We learn from Genesis 36:6 that Esau’s home was still with Isaac at Hebron. This expedition was probably a mere marauding one, similar to the one against the people of Gath which, a century later, cost Ephraim the lives of so many of his sons (1 Chronicles 7:21).
However, this undertaking revealed to Esau the weakness of the inhabitants and also that the land was admirably suited for his favorite pursuit of hunting.
He also seems to have taken a Horite wife (Genesis 36:5). Being thus connected with the country, after Isaac’s death, he willingly moved into it, and it then became known as “the country,” or, in Hebrew, the field of Edom.
Its other name, Seir (meaning rough or hairy), indicates that it was then covered with forests; the term field signifies that it was an uncultivated region.
It was entirely characteristic of the adventurous Esau to undertake such an expedition. After his father’s death, he preferred this wild land to the peaceful pastures at Hebron, where he was surrounded by powerful tribes of Amorites and Hittites.
The land of Seir was a hundred miles from Mahanaim. However, Esau had apparently been moving north through the territories that later became the countries of Moab and Ammon and was probably not very far away when Jacob sent his messengers.
In any case, Jacob remained at Mahanaim until his brother drew near. He then crossed the brook Jabbok and went to meet him.
"Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed: and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two companies;" — Genesis 32:7 (ASV)
Jacob was greatly afraid. — Jacob’s message to his brother had been very humble, for he called Esau his lord, and himself his servant. He also hoped to find grace in his sight, and by enumerating his wealth, he showed that he required no aid and did not need to claim even a share of Isaac’s property. But Esau had given no answer, probably being undecided about how he would receive his brother.
The four hundred men with him probably formed only a part of the little army with which he had invaded the Horite territory. Some would have been left with the spoil he had gathered, but he took so many with him as to place Jacob completely in his power. And Jacob’s extreme distress, despite the Divine encouragement repeatedly given to him, shows that his faith was very feeble; but it was real, and therefore he sought refuge from his terror in prayer.
Jump to: