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Genesis 32:21

in Genesis 32

So Jacob’s gifts went on before him, while he spent the night in the camp.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

So the present passed over before him: and he himself lodged that night in the company.

KJV

So went the present over before him: and himself lodged that night in the company.

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This verse in Genesis 32

Commentary

4 notes on this verse
So went the present over before him,.... Over the brook Jabbok, after mentioned, the night before Jacob did: and himself lodged that night in the company; or "in the camp" (c), either in the place called Mahanaim, from the hosts or crowds of angels seen there; or rather in his own camp, his family and servants; or, as Aben Ezra distinguishes, in the camp with his servants, and not in his tent, lest his brother should come and smite him; and so Nachmanides. (c) במחנה "in castris", Vatablus, Drusius, Schmidt; "in acie sua", Junius & Tremellius; "in exercitu", Piscator.

This site's exposition

He also instructed the second, the third

on Genesis 32:19-21

Verse 20 gives Jacob's own reason, to appease Esau with the gift that goes before him. The verb is kaphar, to cover, the word that stands behind atonement. The Hebrew of that one verse says face four times, and before morning he names a place for seeing God's face.

This site's exposition

gifts went on before him

Went on before him is the Hebrew for passing over, the verb that carries this chapter. Jacob crossed the Jordan in verse 10, the herds go on ahead in verse 16, and the family crosses the Jabbok in verse 22. Penuel is passed in the same verb at verse 31.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

took . . . a present for Esau--Jacob combined active exertions with earnest prayer; and this teaches us that we must not depend upon the aid and interposition of God in such a way as to supersede the exercise of prudence and foresight. Superiors are always approached with presents, and the respect expressed is estimated by the quality and amount of the gift.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

The words behind it

9 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַתַּעֲבֹ֥רand it passed on

    vataavorH5674 →556 times

  • הַמִּנְחָ֖הthe gift

    haminchahH4503 →211 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • פָּנָ֑יוface his

    panavH6440 →2123 times

  • וְה֛וּאand he

    vehu'H1931 →1879 times

  • לָ֥ן[was] staying [the] night

    lanH3885 →84 times

  • בַּלַּֽיְלָה־in the night

    balaylah-H3915 →233 times

  • הַה֖וּא<the> that

    hahu'H1931 →1879 times

  • בַּֽמַּחֲנֶֽה׃in the camp

    bamachanehH4264 →215 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

1 in all, six open

Where this verse is studied

About Genesis

Jacob Wrestles with the Angel — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Jacob Wrestles with the Angel — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Genesis: the study guide →Read Genesis 32 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament.

Read on in Genesis 32 →