Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 33
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Genesis 33
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Genesis 33
"And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau was coming, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids. And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost. And he himself passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are these with thee? And he said, The children whom God hath graciously given thy servant. Then the handmaids came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves. And Leah also and her children came near, and bowed themselves: and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves. And he said, What meanest thou by all this company which I met? And he said, To find favor in the sight of my lord. And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; let that which thou hast be thine. And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found favor in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand; forasmuch as I have seen thy face, as one seeth the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me. Take, I pray thee, my gift that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it. And he said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee. And he said unto him, My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and that the flocks and herds with me have their young: and if they overdrive them one day, all the flocks will die. Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on gently, according to the pace of the cattle that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come unto my lord unto Seir. And Esau said, Let me now leave with thee some of the folk that are with me. And he said, What needeth it? let me find favor in the sight of my lord. So Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir. And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him a house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth. And Jacob came in peace to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram; and encamped before the city. And he bought the parcel of ground, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem`s father, for a hundred pieces of money. And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-israel." — Genesis 33:1-20 (ASV)
THE TÔLDÔTH ISAAC (Genesis 25:19-35:29).
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 so 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 . The name of the district also correctly is “Paddan-Ararn,” and so far from being identical with Aram-Naharaim (Genesis 24:10), it is strictly the designation of the region immediately in the neighborhood 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 extended 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 intreated the Lord. —This barrenness lasted twenty years (Genesis 25:26) and must have greatly troubled Isaac. It would also compel him to dwell much in thought upon 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 intreat, from a noun signifying incense, is uncertain but made 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 take their origin, 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 thus conceived, 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 enquire 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 signified; and if Abraham were there, he would doubtless join his prayers to those of Rebekah.
"And he himself passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother." — Genesis 33:3 (ASV)
He passed over before them. — While providing some small chance of escape for his wives and children, arranged according to their rank, Jacob manfully went first and placed himself entirely in Esau’s power. He endeavored, nevertheless, by his sevenfold obeisance in acknowledgment of Esau’s superiority, to propitiate him; for the cause of the quarrel had been Jacob’s usurpation of Esau’s right of precedence as the firstborn. This bowing in the East is made by bending the body forward with the arms crossed, and the right hand held over the heart.
"And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept." — Genesis 33:4 (ASV)
Esau ran to meet him. —Whatever may have been Esau’s intention when he started, no sooner does he see his brother than the old times of their childhood return to his heart, and he is overcome with love; nor does he ever seem afterwards to have wavered in his fraternal affection. We have had a proof before (Genesis 27:38) of Esau being a man of warm feelings, and similarly now he is again overmastered by his loving impulses. It is curious that the Hebrew word for “he kissed him” has had what are called extraordinary vowels attached to it, and the Masorites are supposed to signify by this that Esau’s kiss was not a sign of genuine love. For such an ill-natured supposition there is no warrant whatsoever.
"And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are these with thee? And he said, The children whom God hath graciously given thy servant." — Genesis 33:5 (ASV)
Who are those with you? —Hebrew, to you, that is, Who are these belonging to you? Esau noticed that they were Jacob’s family, and asked for fuller information concerning them.
"And he said, What meanest thou by all this company which I met? And he said, To find favor in the sight of my lord." — Genesis 33:8 (ASV)
What do you mean by all this drove ...? Hebrew, What is all this camp of yours that I met? From the time of Jacob’s coming to Mahanaim, the word mahaneh, “camp,” is used in a very remarkable way. It is the word translated bands in Genesis 32:7, and company in Genesis 32:8; Genesis 32:21. It is the proper word for an encampment of pastoral people with their flocks, and might be used not unnaturally of the five droves, for they would remind Esau of the cattle driven in at evening to the place where they were to pass the night.
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