to stop (usually over night) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
night
בַּלַּ֣יְלָהba.Lay.lah
H3915
properly · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
took
וַיִּקַּ֞חvai.yi.Kach
H3947
to take (in the widest variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
came
הַבָּ֧אha.Ba'
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
hand
בְיָד֛וֹve.ya.Do
H3027
a hand (the open one (indicating power · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
present
מִנְחָ֖הmin.Chah
H4503
a donation · noun, common feminine singular absolute
Esau
לְעֵשָׂ֥וle.'e.Sav
H6215
Esav · preposition + proper noun, a place name
brother
אָחִֽיו'a.Chiv
H251
a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relation… · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Proverbs 18:16 A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.
Genesis 43:11 And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down t…
Genesis 43:26 And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth.
Proverbs 17:8 A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it: whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth.
Proverbs 19:6 Many will intreat the favour of the prince: and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts.
Proverbs 21:14 A gift in secret pacifieth anger: and a reward in the bosom strong wrath.
Genesis 18:2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed…
Genesis 32:20-21 And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afte…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Genesis 32:13-23
Jacob, having piously made God his friend by a prayer, is here prudently endeavouring to make Esau his friend by a present. He had prayed to God to deliver him from the had of Esau, for he feared him; but neither did his fear sink into such a despair as dispirits for the use of means, nor did his prayer make him presume upon God's mercy, without the use of means. Note, When we have prayed to God for any mercy, we must second our prayers with our endeavours; else, instead of trusting god, we tempt him; we must so depend upon God's providence as to make use of our own prudence. "Help thyself, and God will help thee;" God answers our prayers by teaching us to order our affairs with discretion.…
took . . . a present for Esau--Jacob combined active exertions with earnest prayer; and this teaches us that we must not depend upon the aid and interposition of God in such a way as to supersede the exercise of prudence and foresight. Superiors are always approached with presents, and the respect expressed is estimated by the quality and amount of the gift. The present of Jacob consisted of five hundred fifty head of cattle, of different kinds, such as would be most prized by Esau. It was a most magnificent present, skilfully arranged and proportioned. The milch camels alone were of immense value; for the she camels form the principal part of Arab wealth; their milk is a chief article of di…
And took of that which came to his hand - הבא בידו habba beyado, which came under his hand, i.e., what, in the course of God's providence, came under his power.
John Gill on Genesis 32:13
And he lodged there that same night,.... At Mahanaim, or some place near it:
and took of that which came to his hand; not what came next to hand, for what he did was with great deliberation, judgment, and prudence; wherefore the phrase signifies what he was possessed of, or was in his power, as Jarchi rightly interprets it:
a present for Esau his brother: in order to pacify him, gain his good will, and avert his wrath and displeasure, see Proverbs 18:16; though Jacob had prayed to God, committed himself and family to him, and left all with him, yet he thought it proper to make use of all prudential means and methods for his safety: God frequently works in and by means made use of: the acco…
The Church Fathers
See the good man's godliness and proper sense of values in requesting nothing from the Lord other than fulfillment of his promises. After giving thanks for his former benefits by confessing that while naked and destitute he had been brought to such affluence, Jacob entreats God to snatch him from danger. Recall that Jacob says, "You told me, 'I will make your descendants to be like the sand of the sea, which in number will defy counting.' " Having made this appeal to the Lord, however, and having offered this supplication to the Lord, Jacob also made every effort on his own part. Selecting gifts from what he brought with him, the text says, Jacob sent them to his brother, spacing out what was sent and giving instructions with the aim of appeasing Esau by word and alerting him to his own arrival. Recall that the text says, " 'Behold, your servant is right behind us,' so as first to appease him, and then we can meet face to face." "After this," remember Jacob says, "I will meet him face to face; perhaps he will be pleased to see me." The gifts went ahead of him.
Then, intending to ask for peace from his brother, Jacob slept in the encampment. Perfect virtue possesses tranquility and a calm steadfastness; likewise the Lord has kept his gift for those who are more perfect and has said, "My peace I leave to you, my peace I give to you." It is the part of those who have been perfected not to be easily influenced by worldly things or to be troubled with fear or tormented with suspicion or stunned with dread or distressed with pain. Rather, as if on a shore of total safety, they ought to calm their spirit, immovable as it is in the anchorage of faith, against the rising waves and tempests of the world. Christ brought this support to the spirits of Christians when he brought an inner peace to the souls of those who had proved themselves, so that our hearts should not be troubled or our spirits be distressed. That this peace is beyond all understanding our apostolic teacher proclaimed when he said, "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and feelings in Christ Jesus." And so the fruit of peace is the absence of disturbance in the heart. In short, the life of the just person is calm, but the unjust person is filled with disquiet and disturbance. Therefore the ungodly person is struck down more by his own suspicions than people are by the blows of others, and the stripes of the wounds in his soul are greater than those in the bodies of people who are lashed by others.It is a sublime thing that someone is tranquil within himself and in agreement with himself. Externally, peace is sought through the anxious forethought of the emperor or the hands of the soldiers. Or it results from the favorable outcome of wars or some massacre among the barbarians, if they turn their own weapons on one another in a hostile move. Such a peace comes to pass through no power of ours, but it is a stroke of good fortune. Surely the glory of that peace is assigned to the emperor, but we have in us the benefit of inward peace, which is in the spirit and is held in the heart of every one of us. The benefit of this peace is greater in that temptations coming from a spirit of wickedness, rather than hostile arms, are repulsed. This peace that shuts out the enticements of the bodily passions and calms the disturbances arising from them is nobler than the peace that checks the attacks of barbarians; it is a…
Dictionary and topics
Gift — (1.) An gratuity (Prov. 19:6) to secure favour (18:16; 21:14), a thank-offering (Num. 18:11), or a dowry (Gen. 34:12). (2.) An oblation or proppitatory gift (2Sa 8:2, 6; 1Ch 18:2, 6; 2Ch 26:8; Ps.…
Presents · Antiquity of — Antiquity of
Prudence · .Jacob, in his conduct toward Esau — .Jacob, in his conduct toward Esau
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
And took of that which came to his hand. In endeavoring to appease his brother by presents, he does not act distrustfully, as if he doubted whether he should be safe under the protection of God. This, indeed, is a fault too common among men, that when they have prayed to God, they turn themselves hither and thither, and contrive vain subterfuges for themselves: whereas the principal advantage of prayer is, to wait for the Lord in silence and quietness. But the design of the holy man was not to busy and to vex himself, as one discontented with the sole help of God. For although he was certainly persuaded that to have God propitious to him would alone be sufficient, yet he did not omit the use…
"For I am in fear of him, that (פּן ne) he come and smite me, mother with children." בּנים על אם is a proverbial expression for unsparing cruelty, taken from the bird which covers its young to protect them (Deu 22:6, cf. Hos 10:14). על super, una cum, as in Exo 35:22.
Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 32:13-21
Taking a large portion of the wealth God had blessed him with (some 550 animals), Jacob prepared a gift to appease Esau’s anger and gain his favor.
