Genesis 32:6
in Genesis 32When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you—he and four hundred men with him.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and moreover he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.
KJV
And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.
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This verse in Genesis 32
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Esau's studied reserve gave him reason to dread the worst. Jacob was naturally timid; but his conscience told him that there was much ground for apprehension, and his distress was all the more aggravated that he had to provide for the safety of a large and helpless family.
This site's exposition
the messengers returned to Jacob
on Genesis 32:6-8
The messengers bring back a number and no answer. Esau is coming with four hundred men, and nothing is reported of what Esau said. Jacob is in great fear and distress, and he divides the people, the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps. He had named the camp of God Mahanaim the day before, and this second pair of camps is his own.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
See how this was sufficient to aggravate the good man's fear. Far from realizing precisely his brother's intent, Jacob was terrified to learn the number of those approaching and suspected that they were bent on hostilities and so wanted to catch up with him. Note the text says, "Jacob was in a state of fear and perplexity." Fear disturbed his thinking, and instead of knowing what to do, he was at a loss; hence Jacob was terrified of almost everything, and, with the prospect of death before him, "he divided all the people with him into two camps." You see, he said, "If he comes upon one camp and attacks it, the other will have the chance of being saved." While it was Jacob's fear and great terror that suggested this, … seeing himself caught in a trap he had recourse to the invincible Lord and invoked the promises made him by the God of all, as if to say to him, "Now the time has come for a good man to enjoy your complete assistance on account of the virtue of his forebears and the promises made by you."
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And the messengers returned to Jacob,....
Those that have the serpent's poison have commonly the serpent's policy, to take the first and fairest opportunity that offers itself for revenge. He resolves to do it suddenly, and before Jacob had come to his father, lest he should interpose and mediate between them. Esau was one of those that hated peace; when Jacob speaks, speaks peaceably, he is for war, Ps. cxx.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Esau - cometh - and four hundred men with him - Jacob, conscious that he had injured his brother, was now apprehensive that he was coming with hostile intentions, and that he had every evil to fear from his displeasure. Conscience is a terrible accuser. It was a fine saying of a heathen, Hic murus aheneus esto, Nil conscire sibi, nulla pallescere culpa. Hor. Ep., l. i., E. i., v. 60. Be this thy brazen bulwark of defense, Still to preserve thy conscious innocence, Nor e’er turn pale with guilt. Francis.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּשֻׁ֙בוּ֙ | vaiyashuvu | and they returned | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| הַמַּלְאָכִ֔ים | hamalakhim | the messengers | H4397 → | 213 times |
| אֶֽל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יַעֲקֹ֖ב | yaako | Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
| לֵאמֹ֑ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| בָּ֤אנוּ | banu | we went | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אָחִ֙יךָ֙ | ʾachikha | brother your | H251 → | 630 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| עֵשָׂ֔ו | ʾesav | Esau | H6215 → | 97 times |
| וְגַם֙ | vegam | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| הֹלֵ֣ךְ | holekh | [he is] coming | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| לִקְרָֽאתְךָ֔ | likratecha | to meet you | H7122 → | 139 times |
| וְאַרְבַּע־ | vearba'- | and four | H702 → | 318 times |
| מֵא֥וֹת | meot | hundred<s> | H3967 → | 581 times |
| אִ֖ישׁ | ʾish | man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| עִמּֽוֹ׃ | imo | [are] with him | H5973 → | 1050 times |
וַיָּשֻׁ֙בוּ֙and they returned
vaiyashuvuH7725 →1056 times
הַמַּלְאָכִ֔יםthe messengers
hamalakhimH4397 →213 times
אֶֽל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יַעֲקֹ֖בJacob
yaakoH3290 →350 times
לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
בָּ֤אנוּwe went
banuH935 →2568 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אָחִ֙יךָ֙brother your
ʾachikhaH251 →630 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
עֵשָׂ֔וEsau
ʾesavH6215 →97 times
וְגַם֙and also
vegamH1571 →769 times
הֹלֵ֣ךְ[he is] coming
holekhH1980 →1546 times
לִקְרָֽאתְךָ֔to meet you
likratechaH7122 →139 times
וְאַרְבַּע־and four
vearba'-H702 →318 times
מֵא֥וֹתhundred<s>
meotH3967 →581 times
אִ֖ישׁman
ʾishH376 →1663 times
עִמּֽוֹ׃[are] with him
imoH5973 →1050 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Amos 5:19It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a…
it leads to
- Isaiah 24:17–18
Terror and pit and snare await you, O dweller of the earth.
- Jeremiah 15:2–3
If they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘Those destined for death, to death; those destined for the sword, to the sword;…
- Acts 28:4
When the islanders saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “Surely this man is a murderer. Although he was saved from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to…
- Jeremiah 48:43–44
Terror and pit and snare await you, O dweller of Moab,” declares the LORD.
- Isaiah 24:17–18
Through
Genesis 33:1Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming toward him with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants.
it leads to
- Genesis 32:6–7
When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you—he and four hundred men with him.”
- Genesis 32:6–7
Through
Genesis 32:8He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one camp, then the other camp can escape.”
it leads to
- Genesis 33:1–3
Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming toward him with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants.
- Matthew 10:16
Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
- Genesis 33:1–3
Through
Genesis 32:11Please deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid that he may come and attack me and the mothers and children with me.
it leads to
- Psalms 59:1–2
Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise against me.
- Psalms 59:1–2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
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About Genesis
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 58.4; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.