Matthew Henry on Genesis 33:5-15
We have here the discourse between the two brothers at their meeting, which is very free and friendly, without the least intimation of the old quarrel. It was the best way to say nothing of it. They converse,
I. About Jacob's retinue, Gen 33:5-7. Eleven or twelve little ones, the eldest of them no fourteen years old, followed Jacob closely: Who are these? says Esau. Jacob had sent him an account of the increase of his estate (Gen 32:5), but made no mention of his children; perhaps because he would not expose them to his rage if he should meet him as an enemy, or would please him with the unexpected sight if he should meet him as a friend: Esau therefore had reason to ask, Who are those with…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 33:5
Who are those with thee?--It might have been enough to say, They are my children; but Jacob was a pious man, and he could not give even a common answer but in the language of piety (Psa 127:3; Psa 113:9; Psa 107:41).
Adam Clarke on Genesis 33:4
Esau ran to meet him - How sincere and genuine is this conduct of Esau, and at the same time how magnanimous! He had buried all his resentment, and forgotten all his injuries; and receives his brother with the strongest demonstrations, not only of forgiveness, but of fraternal affection.
And kissed him - וישקהו vaiyishshakehu. In the Masoretic Bibles each letter of this word is noted with a point over it to make it emphatic. And by this kind of notation the rabbins wished to draw the attention of the reader to the change that had taken place in Esau, and the sincerity with which he received his brother Jacob. A Hindoo when he meets a friend after absence throws his arms round him, and his he…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Gill on Genesis 33:6
Then the handmaids came near, they and their children,.... Being foremost, and next to, Jacob, as Bilhah and her two sons, Dan and Naphtali, and Zilpah and her two sons, Gad and Asher:
and they bowed themselves; in token of respect to Esau, as Jacob had done before them, and set them an example, and no doubt instructed them to do it.
