Genesis 33:3-10

33:3 But Jacob 1  himself went on ahead of them, and he bowed toward the ground seven times as he approached 2  his brother. 33:4 But Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, hugged his neck, and kissed him. Then they both wept. 33:5 When Esau 3  looked up 4  and saw the women and the children, he asked, “Who are these people with you?” Jacob 5  replied, “The children whom God has graciously given 6  your servant.” 33:6 The female servants came forward with their children and bowed down. 7  33:7 Then Leah came forward with her children and they bowed down. Finally Joseph and Rachel came forward and bowed down.

33:8 Esau 8  then asked, “What did you intend 9  by sending all these herds to meet me?” 10  Jacob 11  replied, “To find favor in your sight, my lord.” 33:9 But Esau said, “I have plenty, my brother. Keep what belongs to you.” 33:10 “No, please take them,” Jacob said. 12  “If I have found favor in your sight, accept 13  my gift from my hand. Now that I have seen your face and you have accepted me, 14  it is as if I have seen the face of God. 15 

1 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

2 tn Heb “until his drawing near unto his brother.” The construction uses the preposition with the infinitive construct to express a temporal clause.

3 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

4 tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”

5 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

6 tn The Hebrew verb means “to be gracious; to show favor”; here it carries the nuance “to give graciously.”

7 tn Heb “and the female servants drew near, they and their children and they bowed down.”

8 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

9 tn Heb “Who to you?”

10 tn Heb “all this camp which I met.”

11 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

12 tn Heb “and Jacob said, ‘No, please.’” The words “take them” have been supplied in the translation for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse rearranged for stylistic reasons.

13 tn The form is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, expressing a contingent future nuance in the “then” section of the conditional sentence.

14 tn The verbal form is the preterite with a vav (ו) consecutive, indicating result here.

15 tn Heb “for therefore I have seen your face like seeing the face of God and you have accepted me.”

sn This is an allusion to the preceding episode (32:22-31) in which Jacob saw the face of God and realized his prayer was answered.