Jacob Meets Esau

Genesis 33

1 And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, o Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two female servants. 2 And he put the servants with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. 3 He himself went on before them, p bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

4 q But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him r and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. 5 And when Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, "Who are these with you?" Jacob said, s "The children whom God has graciously given your servant." 6 Then the servants drew near, they and their children, and bowed down. 7 Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down. And last Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down. 8 Esau said, "What do you mean by t all this company 1 that I met?" Jacob answered, u "To find favor in the sight of my lord." 9 But Esau said, "I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself." 10 Jacob said, "No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. v For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me. 11 Please accept my w blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough." Thus he x urged him, and he took it.

12 Then Esau said, "Let us journey on our way, and I will go ahead of 2 you." 13 But Jacob said to him, "My lord knows that the children are frail, and that the nursing flocks and herds are a care to me. If they are driven hard for one day, all the flocks will die. 14 Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly, at the pace of the livestock that are ahead of me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord y in Seir."

15 So Esau said, "Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me." But he said, "What need is there? z Let me find favor in the sight of my lord." 16 So Esau returned that day on his way to a Seir. 17 But Jacob journeyed to b Succoth, and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth. 3

18 And Jacob came safely 4 to the city of c Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram, and he camped before the city. 19 And from the sons of d Hamor, Shechem's father, e he bought for a hundred pieces of money 5 the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent. 20 There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel. 6

  1. Cross References
    Genesis 32:6
    And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.
  2. Cross References
    Genesis 18:2
    He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth
    Genesis 42:6
    Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground.
    Genesis 43:26
    When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present that they had with them and bowed down to him to the ground.
  3. Cross References
    Genesis 32:28
    Then he said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.
  4. Cross References
    Genesis 45:14
    Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck.
  5. Cross References
    Genesis 48:9
    Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God has given me here." And he said, "Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.
    Psalms 127:3
    Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.
    Isaiah 8:18
    Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
  6. Cross References
    Genesis 32:16
    These he handed over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, "Pass on ahead of me and put a space between drove and drove.
  7. Cross References
    Genesis 33:15
    So Esau said, "Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me." But he said, "What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.
    Genesis 32:5
    I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.'
  8. Cross References
    Genesis 18:1
    And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day.
    Genesis 19:1
    The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth
  9. Cross References
    2 Kings 5:15
    Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, "Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so accept now a present from your servant.
  10. Cross References
    2 Samuel 13:25
    But the king said to Absalom, "No, my son, let us not all go, lest we be burdensome to you." He pressed him, but he would not go but gave him his blessing.
    2 Samuel 13:27
    But Absalom pressed him until he let Amnon and all the king's sons go with him.
    2 Kings 5:23
    And Naaman said, "Be pleased to accept two talents." And he urged him and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants. And they carried them before Gehazi.
  11. Cross References
    Genesis 32:3
    And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
  12. Cross References
    Genesis 33:8
    Esau said, "What do you mean by all this company that I met?" Jacob answered, "To find favor in the sight of my lord.
    Genesis 34:11
    Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, "Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give.
    Genesis 47:25
    And they said, "You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh.
    Ruth 2:13
    Then she said, "I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.
  13. Cross References
    Genesis 32:3
    And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
  14. Cross References
    Joshua 13:27
    And in the valley Beth-haram, Beth-nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, having the Jordan as a boundary, to the lower end of the Sea of Chinnereth, eastward beyond the Jordan.
    Judges 8:5
    So he said to the men of Succoth, "Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.
    Psalms 60:6
    God has spoken in his holiness: "With exultation I will divide up Shechem and portion out the Vale of Succoth.
  15. Cross References
    Joshua 24:1
    Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel. And they presented themselves before God.
    Judges 9:1
    Now Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother's relatives and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother's family.
    Psalms 60:6
    God has spoken in his holiness: "With exultation I will divide up Shechem and portion out the Vale of Succoth.
    Acts 7:16
    And they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
  16. Cross References
    Acts 7:16
    And they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
  17. Cross References
    Joshua 24:32
    As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money. It became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.
    John 4:5
    So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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