He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, “You shall say the same thing to Esau when you find him,
Jacob, having piously made God his friend by a prayer, is here prudently endeavouring to make Esau his friend by a present. He had prayed to God to deliver him from the had of Esau, for he feared him; but neither did his fear sink into such a despair as dispirits for the use of means, nor did his prayer make him presume upon God's...
Commenting on Genesis 32:13-23
And so commanded he the second and third,.... Those who had the care of the second and third droves, he ordered them to say the same things, and in the same words as he had the first: and all that followed the droves; either all that were with the principal driver; that if any of them should happen to be interrogated first, they might know...
Gen 32:14-22 Although hoping for aid and safety from the Lord alone, Jacob neglected no means of doing what might help to appease his brother. Having taken up his quarters for the night in the place where he received the tidings of Esau’s approach, he selected from his flocks (“of that which came to his hand,” i.e., which he had acquired) a very respectable present...
Commenting on Genesis 32:14-22