Genesis 33:11

33:11 Please take my present that was brought to you, for God has been generous to me and I have all I need.” When Jacob urged him, he took it.

Genesis 33:1

Jacob Meets Esau

33:1 Jacob looked up and saw that Esau was coming along with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants.

Genesis 25:27

25:27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled hunter, a man of the open fields, but Jacob was an even-tempered man, living in tents.

Genesis 30:26

30:26 Let me take my wives and my children whom I have acquired by working for you. Then I’ll depart, 10  because you know how hard I’ve worked for you.” 11 

Genesis 30:2

30:2 Jacob became furious 12  with Rachel and exclaimed, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?” 13 

Genesis 5:15

5:15 When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he became the father of Jared.


tn Heb “blessing.” It is as if Jacob is trying to repay what he stole from his brother twenty years earlier.

tn Or “gracious,” but in the specific sense of prosperity.

tn Heb “all.”

tn Heb “and he urged him and he took.” The referent of the first pronoun in the sequence (“he”) has been specified as “Jacob” in the translation for clarity.

tn Heb “and Jacob lifted up his eyes.”

tn Or “and look, Esau was coming.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to view the scene through Jacob’s eyes.

tn Heb “knowing.”

tn The disjunctive clause juxtaposes Jacob with Esau and draws attention to the striking contrasts. In contrast to Esau, a man of the field, Jacob was civilized, as the phrase “living in tents” signifies. Whereas Esau was a skillful hunter, Jacob was calm and even-tempered (תָּם, tam), which normally has the idea of “blameless.”

tn Heb “give my wives and my children, for whom I have served you.” In one sense Laban had already “given” Jacob his two daughters as wives (Gen 29:21, 28). Here Jacob was asking for permission to take his own family along with him on the journey back to Canaan.

10 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

11 tn Heb “for you, you know my service [with] which I have served you.”

12 tn Heb “and the anger of Jacob was hot.”

13 tn Heb “who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb.”