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Read the Bible
Easy-to-Read Version
Genesis 33:6
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
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- InternationalParallel Translations
Then the handmaids came near with their children, and they bowed themselves.
Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves.
Then the female servants drew near, they and their children, and they bowed down.
Then the two slave girls and their children came up to Esau and bowed down flat on the earth before him.
The female servants came forward with their children and bowed down.
Then the maids approached with their children, and they bowed down.
Then the slave women came forward with their children, and they bowed down.
Then came the maides neere, they, and their children, and bowed themselues.
Then the servant-women came near with their children, and they bowed down.
Then the two servant women and their children came and bowed down to Esau.
(iv) Then the slave-girls approached with their children, and they prostrated themselves;
And the maidservants drew near, they and their children, and they bowed.
Then the servants drew near, they and their children, and bowed down.
Then the maids drew near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves.
Then the concubines came up with their children and bowed down;
Then the slaves and their children approached him and bowed down.
And the slave-girls came near, they and their children; and they bowed.
And the maydens came forth with their children, and dyd their obeysaunce vnto him.
Then the handmaids came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves.
Then the servants and their children came near, and went down on their faces.
Then came the handmaydens foorth, and their chyldren, and dyd their obeysaunce.
Then the handmaids came near, they and their children, and they bowed down.
Then the handmaidens came neere; they and their children, and they bowed themselues.
And the maid-servants and their children drew near and did reverence.
Then the handmaids came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves.
Then the maidservants and their children approached and bowed down.
And the handmaydis and her sones neiyeden, and weren bowid.
And the maid-servants draw nigh, they and their children, and bow themselves;
Then the female slaves came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves.
Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves.
Then the handmaids came near with their children, and they bowed themselves.
Then the maidservants came near, they and their children, and bowed down.
Then the servant wives came forward with their children and bowed before him.
Then the women who served Jacob came near with their children, and they bowed to the ground.
Then the maids drew near, they and their children, and bowed down;
Then came near the handmaids, they - and their children, - and bowed themselves.
Then the handmaids and their children came near and bowed themselves.
Then the maids drew near, they and their children, and bowed down;
Then the maidservants came up with their children and bowed; then Leah and her children, also bowing; and finally, Joseph and Rachel came up and bowed to Esau.
Then the maids came near with their children, and they bowed down.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Then the handmaids came near, they and their children,.... Being foremost, and next to, Jacob, as Bilhah and her two sons, Dan and Naphtali, and Zilpah and her two sons, Gad and Asher:
and they bowed themselves; in token of respect to Esau, as Jacob had done before them, and set them an example, and no doubt instructed them to do it.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
- Jacob and Esau Meet
17. סכת sûkkôth, Sukkoth, “booths,” consisting of poles forming a roof covered with branches, leaves, or grass.
19. חמור chămôr Chamor, “ass, red, heap.” קשׂיטה qeśı̂yṭâh Qesitah, weighed or measured. Ἀμνὸς Amnos, Septuagint and Onkelos
Jacob has a friendly interview with Esau, and re-+enters Kenaan.
Genesis 33:1-3
Jacob, upon seeing Esau approach with his four hundred men, advances with circumspection and lowly obeisance. He divided his family, arranged them according to their preciousness in his eyes, and walks himself in front. In drawing near, he bows seven times, in token of complete submission to his older brother. Esau, the wild hunter, is completely softened, and manifests the warmest affection, which is reciprocated by Jacob. The puncta extraordinaria over וישׁקהוּ vayı̂shēqēhû, “and kissed him,” seemingly intimating a doubt of the reading or of the sincerity of Esau, are wholly unwarranted. Esau then observes the women and children, and inquires who they are. Jacob replies that God had granted, graciously bestowed on him, these children. They approach in succession, and do obeisance. Esau now inquires of the caravan or horde he had already met. He had heard the announcement of the servants; but he awaited the confirmation of the master. “To find grace in the eyes of my lord.” Jacob values highly the good-will of his brother. The acceptance of this present is the security for that good-will, and for all the safety and protection which it involved. Esau at first declines the gift, but on being urged by Jacob accepts it, and thereby relieves Jacob of all his anxiety. His brother is now his friend indeed. “Therefore, have I seen thy face,” that I might give thee this token of my affection. “As if I had seen the face of God.” The unexpected kindness with which his brother had received him was a type and proof of the kindness of the All-provident, by whom it had been added to all his other mercies. My blessing; my gift which embodies my good wishes. I have all; not only enough, but all that I can wish.
Genesis 33:12-16
They now part for the present. “I will qo with thee;” as an escort or vanguard. Jacob explains that this would be inconvenient for both parties, as his tender children and suckling cattle could not keep pace with Esau’s men, who were used to the road. “At the pace of the cattle;” as fast as the business (מלאכה melā'kâh) of traveling with cattle will permit. Unto Selr. Jacob is travelling to the land of Kenaan, and to the residence of his father. But, on arriving there, it will be his first duty to return the fraternal visit of Esau. The very circumstance that he sent messengers to apprise his brother of his arrival, implies that he was prepared to cultivate friendly relations with him. Jacob also declines the offer of some of the men that Esau had with him. He had, doubtless, enough of hands to manage his remaining flock, and he now relied more than ever on the protection of that God who had ever proved himself a faithful and effectual guardian.
Genesis 33:17
“Sukkoth” was south of the Jabbok, and east of the Jordan, as we learn from Judges 8:4-9. From the same passage it appears to have been nearer the Jordan than Penuel, which was at the ford of Jahbok. Sukkoth cannot therefore, be identified with Sakut, which Robinson finds on the other side of the Jordan, about ten miles north of the mouth of the Jabbok. “And built him a house.” This indicates a permanent residence. Booths, or folds, composed of upright stakes wattled together, and sheltered with leafy branches. The closed space in the text is properly introduced here, to indicate the pause in the narrative, while Jacob sojourned in this place. Dinah, who is not noticed on the journey, was now not more than six years of age. Six or seven years more, therefore, must have elapsed before the melancholy events of the next chapter took place. In the interval, Jacob may have visited his father, and even returned the visit of Esau.
Genesis 33:18-20
Jacob at length crosses the Jordan, and enters again the land of Kenaan. “In peace.” The original word (שׁלם shālēm “safe, in peace”) is rendered Shalem, the name of the town at which Jacob arrived, by the Septuagint. The rendering safe, or in peace, is here adopted, because (1) the word is to be taken as a common noun or adjective, unless there be a clear necessity for a proper name; (2) “the place” was called Shekem in the time of Abraham Genesis 12:6, and the “town” is so designated in the thirty-fifth chapter Genesis 35:4; and (3) the statement that Jacob arrived in safety accounts for the additional clauses, “which is in the land of Kenaan,” and “when he went from Padan-aram,” and is in accordance with the promise Genesis 28:21 that he would return in peace. If, however, the Salim found by Robinson to the west of Nablous be the present town, it must be called the city of Shekem, because it belonged to the Shekem mentioned in the following verse and chapter. “Pitched before the city.”
Jacob did not enter into the city, because his flocks and herds could not find accommodation there, and he did not want to come into close contact with the inhabitants. “He bought a parcel of the field.” He is anxious to have a place he may call his own, where he may have a permanent resting-place. “For a hundred kesitahs.” The kesitah may have been a piece of silver or gold, of a certain weight, equal in value to a lamb (see Gesenius). “El-Elohe-Israel.” Jacob consecrates his ground by the erection of an altar. He calls it the altar of the Mighty One, the God of Israel, in which he signalizes the omnipotence of him who had brought him in safety to the land of promise through many perils, the new name by which he himself had been lately designated, and the blessed communion which now existed between the Almighty and himself. This was the very spot where Abraham, about one hundred and eighty-five years ago, built the first altar he erected in the promised land Genesis 12:6-7. It is now consecrated anew to the God of promise.
