John Calvin Commentary Genesis 32:10

"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." — Genesis 32:10 (ASV)

I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies. Although this expression sounds harsh to Latin ears, the sense is not obscure. Jacob confesses that greater mercies of God had been heaped upon him than he had dared to hope for. Therefore, it is far from him to plead anything of dignity or merit to obtain what he asks.

He therefore says that he is less than God’s favors, because he felt himself to be unworthy of those excellent gifts which the Lord had so liberally bestowed on him.

Moreover, so that the holy patriarch's design may appear more clearly, Satan's craft is to be observed. For, to deter us from praying through a sense of our unworthiness, Satan would suggest this thought to us: “Who are you that you should dare to enter into God’s presence?” Jacob anticipates this objection early on, declaring beforehand that he is unworthy of God’s former gifts. He also acknowledges that God, unlike humans, never becomes weary of continuing and increasing His acts of kindness.

Meanwhile, Jacob gathers reasons for confidence from the fact that he has so often found God gracious towards him. Therefore, he had a twofold purpose: first, he wished to counteract the distrust that might creep in because of the magnitude of God’s gifts; and second, he turned those gifts to a different purpose—to assure himself that God would be the same to him as He had been until now.

He uses two words, mercies and truth, to show that God is inclined solely by His goodness to benefit us, and in this way proves His own faithfulness. This combination of mercy with truth frequently occurs in the Scriptures to teach us that all good things flow to us through the gratuitous favor of God, but we are enabled to receive them when we embrace His promises by faith.

For with my staff. Jacob does not list God's mercies separately, but under one kind, he includes all the others: namely, that while he had crossed the Jordan as a poor and solitary traveler, he now returns rich and with great abundance. The contrast between a staff and two troops should be noted, in which he compares his former solitude and poverty with his present wealth.