Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 32:3

"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.