33Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men;^s so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants.^t ²He put the female servants and their children^u in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph^v in the rear. ³He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground^w seven times^x as he approached his brother.

⁴But Esau^y ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him.^z And they wept.^a ⁵Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. “Who are these with you?” he asked.

Jacob answered, “They are the children God has graciously given your servant.^b”

⁶Then the female servants and their children^c approached and bowed down.^d ⁷Next, Leah and her children^e came and bowed down.^f Last of all came Joseph and Rachel,^g and they too bowed down.

⁸Esau asked, “What’s the meaning of all these flocks and herds I met?”^h

“To find favor in your eyes, my lord,”ⁱ he said.

⁹But Esau said, “I already have plenty,^j my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.”

¹⁰“No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favor in your eyes,^k accept this gift^l from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God,^m now that you have received me favorably.ⁿ ¹¹Please accept the present^o that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me^p and I have all I need.”^q And because Jacob insisted,^r Esau accepted it.

¹²Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way; I’ll accompany you.”

¹³But Jacob said to him, “My lord^s knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young.^t If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. ¹⁴So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds^u before me and the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.^v”

¹⁵Esau said, “Then let me leave some of my men with you.”

“But why do that?” Jacob asked. “Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord.”^w

¹⁶So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir.^x ¹⁷Jacob, however, went to Sukkoth,^y where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Sukkoth.^a

¹⁸After Jacob came from Paddan Aram,^b^z he arrived safely at the city of Shechem^a in Canaan and camped within sight of the city. ¹⁹For a hundred pieces of silver,^c he bought from the sons of Hamor,^b the father of Shechem,^c the plot of ground^d where he pitched his tent.^e ²⁰There he set up an altar^f and called it El Elohe Israel.^d

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Footnotes

aSukkoth means shelters.
bThat is, Northwest Mesopotamia
cHebrew hundred kesitahs; a kesitah was a unit of money of unknown weight and value.
dEl Elohe Israel can mean El is the God of Israel or mighty is the God of Israel.

Cross references

sSee Ge 32:6
tSee Ge 32:7
uver 6
vSee Ge 30:24
wver 6, 7; See Ge 17:3; 37:7–10; 42:6; 43:26; 44:14; 48:12; 1 Sa 20:41
x 2 Ki 5:10, 14
ySee Ge 27:41–42
zSee Ge 29:11; Lk 15:20
aSee Ge 27:27
bSee Ge 18:3; Ge 48:9; Ps 127:3; Isa 8:18
cver 2
dSee ver 3
ever 2
fSee ver 3
gSee Ge 30:24
h Ge 32:14–16
iSee Ge 24:9; See 32:5
jver 11; See Ge 13:6
kSee Ge 30:27; See 32:5
lSee Ge 32:13
mSee Ge 16:13
nSee Ge 32:20
o 1 Sa 25:27; 30:26
p Ge 30:43
qSee ver 9
r Ge 19:3
sver 8
t Isa 40:11; Jer 31:8
u Ex 12:38
vSee Ge 14:6
wSee Ge 32:5
xSee Ge 14:6
y Jos 13:27; Jdg 8:5, 6, 8, 14–16; 1 Ki 7:46; 2 Ch 4:17; Ps 60:6; 108:7
zSee Ge 25:20
aSee Ge 12:6
b Ge 34:2; Jdg 9:28; Ac 7:16
c Ge 34:2; Jos 24:32
d Ge 34:10, 16, 21; 47:27; Jn 4:5
eSee Ge 12:8
fSee Ge 4:26; See 8:20