Logo - Feel The Words
JPS

Genesis Chapter 33 (JPS)

minutes - words.
Genesis Chapter 33 (JPS)

1 And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids.

2 And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost.

3 And he himself passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

4 And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him; and they wept.

5 And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said: 'Who are these with thee?' And he said: 'The children whom G-d hath graciously given thy servant.'

6 Then the handmaids came near, they and their children, and they bowed down.

7 And Leah also and her children came near, and bowed down; and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed down.

8 And he said: 'What meanest thou by all this camp which I met?' And he said: 'To find favour in the sight of my lord.'

9 And Esau said: 'I have enough; my brother, let that which thou hast be thine.'

10 And Jacob said: 'Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found favour in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand; forasmuch as I have seen thy face, as one seeth the face of G-d, and thou wast pleased with me.

11 Take, I pray thee, my gift that is brought to thee; because G-d hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.' And he urged him, and he took it.

12 And he said: 'Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee.'

13 And he said unto him: 'My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and that the flocks and herds giving suck are a care to me; and if they overdrive them one day, all the flocks will die.

14 Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant; and I will journey on gently, according to the pace of the cattle that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come unto my lord unto Seir.'

15 And Esau said: 'Let me now leave with thee some of the folk that are with me.' And he said: 'What needeth it? let me find favour in the sight of my lord.'

16 So Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir.

17 And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him a house, and made booths for his cattle. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.

18 And Jacob came in peace to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram; and encamped before the city.

19 And he bought the parcel of ground, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for a hundred pieces of money.

20 And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do Jacob and Esau reunite in Genesis chapter 33?
Jacob and Esau finally meet again; instead of the violence Jacob feared, Esau runs to embrace and kiss him and they both weep, Esau accepts Jacob's gifts, and after Esau returns to Seir, Jacob settles near Shechem and builds an altar there.
How did Esau react when he saw Jacob?
Verse 4 says Esau ran to meet Jacob, embraced him, fell on his neck, kissed him, and they wept together — a far warmer reunion than Jacob's earlier fear of his brother's revenge.
Why did Jacob decline Esau's offer to travel together?
Jacob explained that his children were tender and his flocks with young couldn't be overdriven, so he asked Esau to go ahead while he traveled more slowly (verses 13-14) — a reunion of brothers echoed much later when Joseph embraces his own brothers in Genesis 45:14-15.

Today's Verse

but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and he hath made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these:

Daniel 2:28 | ASV

Verse Of The Day