Chapter 33
Reconciliation of the Two Brothers.[a] 1 Jacob looked up and saw Esau arrive, accompanied by four hundred men. He therefore divided up his sons among Leah, Rachel, and the two slaves. 2 He had the slaves and their children lead the way, and in back of them Leah and her sons, and then Rachel and Joseph. 3 He walked ahead of them and bowed to the ground seven times as he was approaching his brother.
4 But Esau ran up to him, embraced him, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him and wept. 5 Raising his eyes, he saw the women and the children and said, “To whom do these belong?”
He answered, “They are my sons whom God has graciously given to his servant.”
6 The slaves and their children came forward and bowed down. 7 Then Leah and her children came forward and bowed down. Finally, Rachel and Joseph came forward and bowed down.
8 Esau asked again, “What is all this caravan that I have come across?”
He answered, “So that I might find favor in your sight, my lord.”
9 Esau said, “I have enough of my own possessions, brother; let these things be for you.”
10 But Jacob said, “No, if I have found favor in your sight, accept this gift from my hands. For it is for this that I have come into your presence as one would come into the presence of God, and you have received me favorably. 11 Accept this blessing that I give you, for God has been generous to me and I have enough.” This is the way he insisted, and Esau accepted.
12 Then Esau said, “Let us break camp and set out; I will travel in front of you.”
13 But Jacob answered, “My lord knows that the children are delicate and that my flocks and herds are burdened with young ones. If they were to be pushed even one day, the entire flock would surely die. 14 Let my lord pass on ahead of your servant, while I stay here going slowly, at the pace of the animals that will go ahead of me and at the pace of the children, until I eventually reach my lord in Seir.”
15 Esau said, “I could at least leave a part of my people with you!”
Jacob answered, “But why? Let me only find favor in your sight, my lord!”
16 Thus, that same day, Esau departed for Seir. 17 Jacob instead traveled to Succoth where he built a house for himself and made huts for his flock. This is why he called the place Succoth.
18 When Jacob returned from Paddan-aram, he arrived in peace at the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, and he camped in front of the city. 19 He bought the portion of land where he was camped for one hundred pieces of silver from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father. 20 There he built an altar and called it, El-Elohe-Israel, which means El, the God of Israel.
Footnotes
- Genesis 33:1 Later on Jacob goes to the town of Shechem, in the center of Palestine, where he buys a plot of land and there sets up an altar to God as Lord of his own clan. According to tradition, this is the second property of the Patriarchs in the Promised Land; it will become an important sanctuary in the life of Israel (see Jos 8:30-35; 22:1-27; 1 Ki 12:1, 25; etc.).