Charles Spurgeon Commentary Genesis 32:4-5

"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." — Genesis 32:4-5 (ASV)

And he commanded them, saying, Then you shall speak to my lord Esau; Your servant Jacob says this, I have adjourned with Laban, and stayed there until now: and I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in your sight.

This is very respectful language, and rather obsequious, too.

But when a man knows that he has done wrong to another, he ought to be prepared to humble himself to the injured individual. And, though it happened long ago, yet Jacob really had injured his brother Esau, and it was only right that, in meeting him again, he should put himself into a humble position before him.

There are some proud people who, when they know that they have done wrong, yet will not admit it. It is very hard to end a quarrel when one person will not yield, and the other is also unwilling. But there is good hope of things going right when Jacob, who is the better of the two brothers, is also the humbler of the two.

And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall you speak to my lord Esau; Your servant Jacob says thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now: And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and women servants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in your sight.

It is very proper, when we have offended other people, and especially if we feel that we have done them wrong, as Jacob had done to Esau, that we should use the humblest terms concerning ourselves, and the best terms we can about those whom we have offended. Yet I must say that I do not like these terms that Jacob uses; they do not seem to me to be the right sort of language for a man of faith: "My lord Esau, Your servant Jacob says thus." What business had God's favored one to speak "thus" to such a profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright?

Surely, there was more of the Jacob policy than there was of the Israel faith in this form of speech.