Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 33:10

"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." — Genesis 33:10 (ASV)

For therefore I have seen thy face. —The latter half of the verse would more correctly be translated, inasmuch as I have seen your face as one sees the face of Elohim, and you have received me graciously. To the Hebrew, the thought of God was not terrifying, and so the vision of God’s face was the sight of something good and glorious.

There is much of Oriental hyperbole in comparing the sight of Esau to the beholding of the face of Deity, but it clearly conveyed the idea that Esau was using his power as generously and lovingly as is the custom of God. God was so much nearer to the Hebrew in those simple days than he is to people now that science has revealed to them the immensity of His attributes, that there was no irreverence in the comparison.

The behaviour of Esau is very generous. He wished to spare his brother so large a present and therefore leads the conversation to it, knowing, of course, what was the meaning of the five herds, as their drivers had delivered to him Jacob’s message. To have refused it, however, would have been a mark of hostility, especially as Jacob represented it as the gift of an inferior for the purpose of obtaining the favour of one from whom he had feared danger.

But Esau reasons earnestly with his brother. He too was rich, and Jacob should keep what was his own. But Jacob still urges its acceptance as the proof of goodwill, magnifies the value of Esau’s favour, and declares that by God’s goodness he still has abundance, even after giving his brother so princely a present. It is called “blessing” because it was considered lucky to receive a gift, and of all good-luck God was the giver. (Compare 1 Samuel 25:27; 1 Samuel 30:26.)