Genesis 33: 1 – 20
Some hurts are better left alone
33 Now Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and there, Esau was coming, and with him were four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants. 2 And he put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children behind, and Rachel and Joseph last. 3 Then he crossed over before them and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. 4 But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. 5 And he lifted his eyes and saw the women and children, and said, “Who are these with you?” So he said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” 6 Then the maidservants came near, they and their children, and bowed down. 7 And Leah also came near with her children, and they bowed down. Afterward Joseph and Rachel came near, and they bowed down. 8 Then Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company which I met?” And he said, “These are to find favor in the sight of my lord.” 9 But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.” 10 And Jacob said, “No, please, if I have now found favor in your sight, then receive my present from my hand, inasmuch as I have seen your face as though I had seen the face of God, and you were pleased with me. 11 Please, take my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” So he urged him, and he took it. 12 Then Esau said, “Let us take our journey; let us go, and I will go before you.” 13 But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are weak, and the flocks and herds which are nursing are with me. And if the men should drive them hard one day, all the flock will die. 14 Please let my lord go on ahead before his servant. I will lead on slowly at a pace which the livestock that go before me, and the children, are able to endure, until I come to my lord in Seir.” 15 And Esau said, “Now let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.” 16 So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. 17 And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, built himself a house, and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth. 18 Then Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan Aram; and he pitched his tent before the city. 19 And he bought the parcel of land, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money. 20 Then he erected an altar there and called it El Elohe Israel.
The 12 steps of AA or Alcoholics Anonymous are filled with some amazing wisdom. Step 9 advises program adherents to grow in serenity to ‘Make direct amends to such people [we have hurt] wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.’ Please take note the words, ‘wherever possible.’ Can you explain what these two words refer to? Well, for one thing a person whom you harmed died, then it stands to reason that it is not possible to make amends. Also, I think you might come up with the answer that you do not know where this person you hurt is presently living at? Do they still live in the same area?
One that I have personally dealt with is a factor which you might not even think of. It is this! With some people you have hurt badly that it is better that you do not try to reach them at all. You might disagree with me on this point. However, let me throw this at you. I did a funeral of a man who accidentally ran over a little girl who ran out in the street in front of his truck. She died. Her family was and still is devastated by the death of their little girl. Of course the man who drove over her also is suffering from this and to my guess will be haunted by this for the rest of his life. Having been personally aware of all that this horrible incident entailed I can tell you without any second thoughts that trying to reach the family of this child would re-open old wounds and is better left alone. This is one of many sad incidents that I have had to deal with in my ministry.
We have learned so far about all the hardships Jacob has gone through. In prior chapters we learned how deceitful he was in arraigning things to go his way. One person who felt the sting of his schemes was his brother Esau. The last time he was with his sibling was over 20 years ago. Now we are learning that God Almighty has instructed Jacob to return to Canaan and he begins to remember the problems he had with Esau his brother.
33 Now Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and there, Esau was coming, and with him were four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants. 2 And he put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children behind, and Rachel and Joseph last.
Esau has come a long way to meet his brother, seemingly out of the great love he has for his brother after twenty years of separation. But this is something Jacob cannot conceive of. He only fears his brother Esau.
Jacob now prepares his family ready for the meeting with his brother. There can be no doubting the purpose of the arrangement. If there was trouble those at the back would have a better chance of escaping where he has made sure of placing his preference for Rachel.
3 Then he crossed over before them and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
Bowing seven times was reserved for extremely important people who demanded great subservience. Usually a single bow would be given. Jacob was giving Esau royal treatment.
4 But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.
Esau had dismounted which must have been a great relief to Jacob. Esau is clearly genuinely pleased to see his brother and feels very emotionally about it. But we cannot doubt that Jacob’s tears had within them something of relief.
Esau’s joy appears to be real. He has long forgotten any falling out and is happy to see his brother. He runs to embrace him. He is quite satisfied with his life as it is and holds no grudges. This is one of the many things in Esau we must admire. Yet the fact that he cares so little about what he has lost demonstrates how little the covenant promises meant to him. He would not really have been suitable to carry on the succession.
5 And he lifted his eyes and saw the women and children, and said, “Who are these with you?” So he said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.”
When Esau sees the women and children he is impressed. To have many children was a sign of someone’s importance. But even here Jacob is wary. The children are of course Esau’s nephews and nieces, blood relatives, while the wives are less meaningful for him. So it is to the children that he refers. We notice his continuing subservience. He is still being cautious.
6 Then the maidservants came near, they and their children, and bowed down. 7 And Leah also came near with her children, and they bowed down. Afterward Joseph and Rachel came near, and they bowed down.
The wives and children are now introduced, and they bow before this powerful warrior chief. The sevenfold bowing is no longer felt to be necessary.
8 Then Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company which I met?” And he said, “These are to find favor in the sight of my lord.”
Esau here refers to the droves of animals which had been sent in front, some of which at least he had come across. Jacob makes no pretence. They were as gifts to an important person in order to ensure favorable treatment. Note the use of ‘my lord.’ The watchful subservience is still there. Outwardly all is well but Jacob is well aware that what is on the surface is not necessarily the reality. He judges the straightforward Esau by his own standards.
9 But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.”
Esau does not want such favors from his brother. They are not necessary, for he is reasonably wealthy and has the means of obtaining more. This may have brought a chill to Jacob’s heart. The rejection of a gift was often followed by direct action. Notice Esau’s ‘my brother.’ He requires no formality between relatives.
10 And Jacob said, “No, please, if I have now found favor in your sight, then receive my present from my hand, inasmuch as I have seen your face as though I had seen the face of God, and you were pleased with me. 11 Please, take my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” So he urged him, and he took it.
Jacob continues to urge Esau to accept his gift. He knows that if the gift is accepted graciously he will feel that much safer. In the light of the customs of the time even Esau would not accept a gift and then indulge in hostility. But there is in it a sense of gratitude to God who has brought about this situation. He had seen God face to face and God had blessed him. Now he sees in this friendly meeting a part of that blessing, and he desires to pass some of the blessing on. Besides, he urges, he is very wealthy. The suggestion is that such a small gift means nothing to him. To his relief Esau accepts the gift.
12 Then Esau said, “Let us take our journey; let us go, and I will go before you.”
Esau is well meaning and offers his protection. He is unaware of his brother’s fears, although no doubt amused at his seeming subservience. But then, he thinks, definitely this is Jacob. But his intentions are all good. They will go on together. He may well, however, have been secretly hoping that Jacob would not accept his offer. The laws of kinship demanded the offer. It was not necessarily intended to be accepted.
13 But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are weak, and the flocks and herds which are nursing are with me. And if the men should drive them hard one day, all the flock will die. 14 Please let my lord go on ahead before his servant. I will lead on slowly at a pace which the livestock that go before me, and the children, are able to endure, until I come to my lord in Seir.”
We may gather from this that Esau has invited Jacob to join him in Seir where he is at present residing. This would simply entail continuing South along the east side of the Jordan. But Jacob has no intention of going to Seir immediately. He shudders at the thought of what might happen to him there. I believe he is remembering his past ways of deceiving his brother and is quite uneasy being with him. All this love and friendship doesn’t seem to mesh together. It appears that it will be a lot better for both of them that full reconciliation of forgive and forget cannot happen so it is better to go their own ways.
So he is quick to come up with an alternative suggestion. He points out how slow the journey is going to be. He will not delay Esau who must surely have something better to do than journey at the pace of shepherds. Let him go on and he will join him at some stage in Seir.
15 And Esau said, “Now let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.”
Opps, so much for my counter suggestion Jacob thinks. Now I have to counter a new proposal of Esau who suggests that he leave some of his men to accompany Jacob and his lot. That way they will all ultimately have to go to Seir. Perhaps that is where Esau will kill me, Jacob might be thinking. He is still all suspicious. He judges others by his own complicated make up. But the fact that he is able to make a case (‘what is the need’) demonstrates that he has a reasonably satisfactory band of men himself.
Seir was a mountainous area South of the Dead Sea. It was well suited to Esau’s men who no doubt saw it as a good land. It was away from strong cities and larger groupings of peoples, provided a safe refuge when he had been on his raids, and yet provided sufficient reasonably fertile land for feeding herds and planting crops for the maintenance of the group. But this was not Jacob’s idea of the ideal land at all. He believed firmly in the promises of YHWH and they did not relate to Seir. And he preferred to be peaceable rather than belligerent. And who could tell when Esau’s attitude might change? He could always provide some excuse in the distant future as to why he had not continued his journey southward.
16 So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. 17 And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, built himself a house, and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.
Succoth was later a city in the territory assigned to the Gaddites, east of the Jordan River. Here he sets up a permanent residence. He has been through much, as have his family and herds and flocks and this gives him the opportunity for recovery. He builds a house for himself and provides permanent accommodation for his flocks and herds. The ‘house’, permanent living quarters, may well have been fairly extensive needing to provide accommodation for his wives and family. His men could see to their own needs and would need to protect the herds. It is clear that he was in no hurry to join his father Isaac, and spent some years here while his family grew up. The name Succoth appears to have come from this period. Thus the event that follows at Shechem occurs some time after. The position had the added advantage that if Esau came back he could always say that his herds and flocks, which had previously been pushed hard, needed recovery time.
Like his grandfather Abraham Jacob did not fully obey God. In prior chapters our Holy Ruling Master God had instructed Jacob to return to the Promised Land. He didn’t. He had settled outside the Promised Land. Ultimately like Abraham he did follow the original order and went back into the land the Lord wanted him to go to.
18 Then Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan Aram; and he pitched his tent before the city. 19 And he bought the parcel of land, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money. 20 Then he erected an altar there and called it El Elohe Israel.
Jacob sets up camp by the city. He is so moved by the fact that he is now back in the land of God’s covenant that he determines to set up a permanent shrine there. Thus he buys a piece of land so that he can build a permanent memorial. The fact that Hamor is willing to sell him land is a sign of the good relations between the two.
From this time on Shechem is a sacred place to the family tribe and later to Israel. It was in the neighborhood of Mount Gerizim (Judges 9.7) in the hill country of Ephraim (Joshua 20.7). It was the place where God first revealed Himself to Abraham when he initially entered the land, and where he built his first altar to YHWH (Genesis 12.6). That indeed may be why Jacob came there and why he was determined to establish a permanent altar to God. It was where Joshua would later renew the covenant and where the bones of Joseph would be buried (Joshua 24). By establishing this altar in the name of God the God of Israel Jacob is confirming his new name and applying it to the family tribe. From now on they will proudly call themselves ‘Israel’ (34.7)
