Genesis 33:5
in Genesis 33When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he asked, “Who are these with you?” Jacob answered, “These are the children God has graciously given your servant.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are these with thee? And he said, The children whom God hath graciously given thy servant.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Genesis 33
Commentary
5 notes on this verseEleven or twelve little ones followed Jacob, the eldest of them not fourteen years old: Who are these? saith Esau. Jacob had sent him an account of the increase of his estate, but made no mention of his children, perhaps because he would not expose them to his rage, if he should meet him as an enemy. Esau therefore had reason to ask who are those with thee?
This site's exposition
Who are these with you
on Genesis 33:5-7
Jacob answers that God has graciously given him the children, and he takes the lower place again. The families then come forward in the order he had set, and the ranking is acted out in front of Esau. Joseph is the only child named. He is named ahead of his own mother, the first sign in the text of his place in that house.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And he lift up his eyes, and saw the women and children,....
It had been a sufficient answer to the question, and fit enough to be given to profane Esau, if he had only said, "They are my children;" but then Jacob would not have spoken like himself, like a man whose eyes were ever towards the Lord.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Who are those with thee?--It might have been enough to say, They are my children; but Jacob was a pious man, and he could not give even a common answer but in the language of piety (Ps 127:3;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּשָּׂ֣א | vaiyisa' | and he lifted up | H5375 → | 656 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עֵינָ֗יו | ʾeinav | eyes his | H5869 → | 887 times |
| וַיַּ֤רְא | vaiyar' | and he saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַנָּשִׁים֙ | hanashim | the women | H802 → | 781 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַיְלָדִ֔ים | hayladim | the children | H3206 → | 89 times |
| וַיֹּ֖אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| מִי־ | mi- | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| אֵ֣לֶּה | ʾeleh | [are] these | H428 → | 746 times |
| לָּ֑ךְ | lakh | to <the> you | ||
| וַיֹּאמַ֕ר | vaiyomar | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הַיְלָדִ֕ים | hayladim | the children | H3206 → | 89 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| חָנַ֥ן | chanan | he has shown favor to | H2603 → | 78 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֖ים | ʾelohim | God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עַבְדֶּֽךָ׃ | ʾavdekha | servant your | H5650 → | 799 times |
וַיִּשָּׂ֣אand he lifted up
vaiyisa'H5375 →656 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עֵינָ֗יוeyes his
ʾeinavH5869 →887 times
וַיַּ֤רְאand he saw
vaiyar'H7200 →1300 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַנָּשִׁים֙the women
hanashimH802 →781 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הַיְלָדִ֔יםthe children
hayladimH3206 →89 times
וַיֹּ֖אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
מִי־who?
mi-H4310 →423 times
אֵ֣לֶּה[are] these
ʾelehH428 →746 times
לָּ֑ךְto <the> you
lakh
וַיֹּאמַ֕רand he said
vaiyomarH559 →5305 times
הַיְלָדִ֕יםthe children
hayladimH3206 →89 times
אֲשֶׁר־whom
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
חָנַ֥ןhe has shown favor to
chananH2603 →78 times
אֱלֹהִ֖יםGod
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עַבְדֶּֽךָ׃servant your
ʾavdekhaH5650 →799 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
Psalms 127:3Children are indeed a heritage from the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is His reward.
it leads to
- Psalms 128:3–4
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine flourishing within your house, your sons like olive shoots sitting around your table.
- Deuteronomy 28:4
The fruit of your womb will be blessed, as well as the produce of your land and the offspring of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
- 1 Samuel 1:27
I prayed for this boy, and since the LORD has granted me what I asked of Him,
- Genesis 48:4
and told me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you; I will make you a multitude of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’
- Isaiah 8:18
Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me as signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD of Hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
- Psalms 128:3–4
Through
Isaiah 8:18Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me as signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD of Hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
it leads to
- Hebrews 2:13–14
And again: “I will put My trust in Him.” And once again: “Here am I, and the children God has given Me.”
- Luke 2:34
Then Simeon blessed them and said to His mother Mary: “Behold, this Child is appointed to cause the rise and fall of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken…
- Zechariah 8:3
This is what the LORD says: “I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of Hosts will be…
- Hebrews 2:13–14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Genesis
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.