Genesis 32:17-19

32:17 He instructed the servant leading the first herd, ¹  “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘To whom do you belong? ²  Where are you going? Whose herds are you driving?’ ³  32:18 then you must say, ⁴  ‘They belong ⁵  to your servant Jacob. ⁶  They have been sent as a gift to my lord Esau. ⁷  In fact Jacob himself is behind us.’” ⁸ 

32:19 He also gave these instructions to the second and third servants, as well as all those who were following the herds, saying, “You must say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. ⁹ 

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¹ tn Heb “the first”; this has been specified as “the servant leading the first herd” in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “to whom are you?”

³ tn Heb “and to whom are these before you?”

⁴ tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive; it has the nuance of an imperfect of instruction.

⁵ tn The words “they belong” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁶ tn Heb “to your servant, to Jacob.”

⁷ tn Heb “to my lord, to Esau.”

⁸ tn Heb “and look, also he [is] behind us.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁹ tn Heb “And he commanded also the second, also the third, also all the ones going after the herds, saying: ‘According to this word you will speak when you find him.’”