Old Testament Commentary - Genesis 33

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 33 Jacob and Esau meet and are reconciled—Esau receives Jacob's presents—Jacob settles in Canaan, where he builds an altar.
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^a. 3 And he passed over before them, and ^abowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. The Order of Things In the proper order of things Jacob should have placed his most special wife and posterity in front next to himself and the far back divisions should have bee those of least importance in the house of Jacob. Knowing this to be the 'proper traditional order of things', to preserve his posterity of the covenant, Jacob, rather than placing 'the child of the covenant first', Jacob places the two handmaids and their children first, in the prefered highest ranking order according to the traditional order of presenting his house before Esau. If Esau came to smite Jacob and Jacob's house, Esau would first kill Jacob and then the presumed immediately important posterity of Jacob who would stand right next to him in order of proper traditional presentation. Thus if Esau came with the intent to kill Jacob and his house Jacob and the handmaids and their children would fall first.	2^a Rachel and Joseph hindermost And the first shall be last and the last shall be first. In a dualistic application of scripture, Jacob so ordered his house that day before Esau. He who was first in the house of Jacob, namely Joseph, was placed hindermost or dead last, behind even all of the flocks and other personnel of Jacob's party. Leah and her children where place in second place behind the mandmaids but before the herds and the rest of Jacob's house that day. They were not really separated much more than a short distance, being ahead of the flocks and herds and Jacob's other servants and personnel of his party and their families. Rachel and Joseph were 'hindermost', meaning they were behind and in back of all things, being placed below all things that day. And thus it is of Joseph's prophetic position, being below all things to later be raised up above all things just as his legal and rightful ancestory to be was, even Jesus Christ, Messiah ben Ephraim, the great Jehovah.	1^a TG Jesus Christ, Appearances, Antemortal 2^a Josh. 5:13; TG Angels ^b 3 Ne. 11:19; Ether 6:12; TG Courtesy 3^a JST Gen. 18:3 ...brethren... 4^a TG Washing ^b TG Hospitality 5^a OR sustain... ^b Gen. 19:8 The Child of the Covenant It is significant that Jacob places Rachel and Joseph in a separate group all of their own, far back behind all of his groups of presentation before Esau. Some assert that Jacob's order of preference was based solely upon Jacob's love, that Joseph and Rachel were the most loved by Jacob. And, yes this was the case, Jacob did love Rachel and her son Joseph best. But Jacob was concerned with God's covenant promise, the Covenant of God, that all the nations of the earth were to be blessed by 'the' seed of the covenant, as well as the fact that Jacob's seed was to become as numerous as the sands of the sea. Though Jacob would prefer not to have any killed by Esau, Jacob's intent was to insure that the one 'single' seed of the covenant remained. Thus rather than placing Leah and Rachel together in a second group to save as many of his sons as he could to be the posterity of the covenant, Jacob places his single son and his mother in the furtherest separate group that they may escape and preserve the work of the covenant of the Lord (see Genesis 32:12). The plan seems to be to give Esau, if he is so intent to kill Jacob and his house, the families of the maidservants first and then if Esau guessed that Jacob had a stategy of preserving his seed, Jacob positioned Leah's family next to be pursued and taken by Esau perchance Esau saw through Jacob's plan of presentation to preserve his seed. Jacob did not believe that Esau could ever conceive or be prepared to suspect a 'thrid' grouping far back and out of sight to just preserve one son and his pregnant mother. Thus Jacob's in depth plan seems to have covered all bases and every possible consideration of his brother Esau. 'And it was that Jacob knew that Joseph was the son of the covenant. And Jacob so provided that Joseph and his mother might be preserved against Esau's possible intents and considerations, that the Covenant of God might still go forth. Preserved again by only the one son as it had been through Isaac and Jacob, so it would be through Joseph preserved. Joseph was and is the Son of the Covenant, the chosen Firstborn of God and God's Covenant, as is also Joseph's son Ephriam.
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 those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.
6 Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves. 7 And Leah also with her children came near, and bowed themselves: and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves.
8 And he said, What meanest thou by all this drove which I met? And he said, These are to find grace in the sight of my lord. 9 And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep that thou hast unto thyself.
10 And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me. 11 Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee; because God 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 the flocks and herds with young are with me: and if men should overdrive them one day, all the flock will die. 14 Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure, 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 grace in the sight of my lord.
16 ¶ So Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir. 17 And Jacob journeyed to ^aSuccoth, and built him an house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called ^bSuccoth.
18 ¶ And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan-aram; and pitched his tent before the city. 19 And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent^a, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for an hundred pieces of money. 20 And he erected there an altar, and called it ^aEl-elohe-Israel.	19^a he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent This particular parcel of land is that which is latter a part of the inheritance of Ephraim and is particular to this altar named 'El-elohe-Israel'.