Genesis 32:1-21

Genesis 32:1-21

[1] And Jacob  went  on his way,  and the angels  of God  met  him. [2] And when Jacob  saw them,  he said,  This is God's  host:  and he called  the name  of that place  Mahanaim.  [3] And Jacob  sent  messengers  before him  to Esau  his brother  unto the land  of Seir,  the country  of Edom.  [4] And he commanded  them, saying,  unto my lord  Esau;  Thy servant  Jacob  saith  thus, I have sojourned  with Laban,  and stayed there  [5] And I have oxen,  and asses,  flocks,  and menservants,  and womenservants:  and I have sent  to tell  my lord,  that I may find  grace  in thy sight.  [6] And the messengers  returned  to Jacob,  saying,  We came  to thy brother  Esau,  and also he cometh  to meet thee,  and four hundred  men  [7] Then Jacob  was greatly  afraid  and distressed:  and he divided  the people  that was with him, and the flocks,  and herds,  and the camels,  into two  bands;  [8] And said,  If Esau  come  to the one  company,  and smite it,  then the other company  which is left  shall escape.  [9] And Jacob  said,  O God  of my father  Abraham,  and God  of my father  Isaac,  the LORD  which saidst  unto me, Return  unto thy country,  and to thy kindred,  and I will deal well  [10] I am not worthy of the least  of all the mercies,  and of all the truth,  which thou hast shewed  unto thy servant;  for with my staff  I passed over  this Jordan;  and now I am become two  bands.  [11] Deliver me,  I pray thee, from the hand  of my brother,  from the hand  of Esau:  for I fear  him, lest he will come  and smite me,  and the mother  with  the children.  [12] And thou saidst,  I will surely  and make  thy seed  as the sand  of the sea,  which cannot be numbered  for multitude.  [13] And he lodged  there that same night;  and took  of that which came  to his hand  a present  for Esau  his brother;  [14] Two hundred  she goats,  and twenty  he goats,  two hundred  ewes,  and twenty  rams,  [15] Thirty  milch  camels  with their colts,  forty  kine,  and ten  bulls,  twenty  she asses,  and ten  foals.  [16] And he delivered  them into the hand  of his servants,  every drove  by themselves; and said  unto his servants,  Pass over  before me,  and put  a space  betwixt  drove  and  drove.  [17] And he commanded  the foremost,  saying,  When Esau  my brother  meeteth thee,  and asketh thee,  saying,  thou? and whose are these before  [18] Then thou shalt say,  They be thy servant  Jacob's;  it is a present  sent  unto my lord  Esau:  and, behold, also he is behind us.  [19] And so  commanded he  the second,  and the third,  and all that followed  the droves,  saying,  On this manner  shall ye speak  unto Esau,  when ye find  [20] And say ye  moreover,  Behold, thy servant  Jacob  is behind us.  For he said,  I will appease  him  with the present  that goeth  before me,  and afterward  I will see  his face;  peradventure he will accept  of me.  [21] the present  over  before him:  and himself lodged  that night  in the company. 

What does Genesis 32:1-21 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Chapters32,33can be viewed as one episode in the life of Jacob. They describe his return to the Promised Land including his meeting with Esau. There are thematic parallels between these chapters and chapter31.
In spite of the vision of God"s assisting messengers, Jacob divided his people into two groups as a precaution when he heard Esau was coming to meet him with400 men. Furthermore he sought to pacify Esau"s anger with an expensive gift in addition to praying for God"s deliverance.
Jacob had been able to handle his problems himself by hook or by crook until now. At this point in his experience God brought him to the end of his natural resources.
"As Jacob is at the precipice of receiving the promise of Canaan, he is not yet morally ready to carry out the blessing. Jacob must possess his own faith, obtaining the blessing through personal encounter, not by heredity alone." [1]
"The events of this chapter are couched between two accounts of Jacob"s encounter with angels ( Genesis 32:1; Genesis 32:25). The effect of these two brief pictures of Jacob"s meeting with angels on his return to the land is to align the present narrative with the similar picture of the Promised Land in the early chapters of Genesis. The land was guarded on its borders by angels. The same picture was suggested early in the Book of Genesis when Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden and "cherubim" were positioned on the east of the garden to guard the way to the tree of life. It can hardly be accidental that as Jacob returned from the east, he was met by angels at the border of the Promised Land. This brief notice may also be intended to alert the reader to the meaning of Jacob"s later wrestling with the "man" ... at Peniel ( Genesis 32:25-30). The fact that Jacob had met with angels here suggests that the man at the end of the chapter is also an angel." [2]