John Calvin Commentary Genesis 32:5

"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 32:5 (ASV)

I have oxen. Jacob does not proclaim his riches for the sake of boasting, but so that by this method Esau might be inclined to kindness. For it would have been exceedingly disgraceful to cruelly drive away someone who had been enriched by God's favor in a distant land.

Besides, he prevents future rivalry. If he had come empty and famishing, Esau might have conceived fresh indignation against him, fearing the expense that might be entailed on himself. Therefore, Jacob declares that he does not come for the purpose of consuming his father’s substance, nor of being made rich by his brother’s ruin.

It is as if he had said, “Let your earthly inheritance be secure; your claim shall not be injured by me; only allow me to live.”

By this example, we are taught how we are to cultivate peace with the wicked. The Lord does not indeed forbid us to defend our own right, as far as our adversaries allow; but we must rather yield that right than cause contention by our own fault.