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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 32:9-12

Our rule is to call upon God in the time of trouble; we have here an example to this rule, and the success encourages us to follow this example. It was now a time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it; and here we have him praying for that salvation, Jer. 30:7. In his distress he sought the Lord, and he heard him. Note, Times of fear should be times of prayer; whatever frightens us should drive us to our knees, to our God. Jacob had lately seen his guard of angels, but, in this... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 32:9

And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac ,.... In this distress he does not consult the teraphim Rachel had taken from her father; nor does he call upon the hosts of angels that had just appeared to him, to help, protect, and guard him; but to God only, the God of his fathers, who had promised great things to them, and had done great things for them; who was their God in covenant, as he was his also, though he makes no mention of it, and who was heir of the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 32:10

I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies ,.... Or of any of them, according to his humble sense of things his mind was now impressed with; he was not worthy of the least mercy and favour that had been bestowed upon him; not even of any temporal mercy, and much less of any spiritual one, and therefore did not expect any from the hands of God, on account of any merit of his own: or "I am less than all thy mercies" F23 קטנתי מכל החסדים "minor sum cunctis misericordiis",... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 32:11

Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau ,.... For though his brother, it was his brother Esau, that had formerly vowed revenge upon him, and had determined to kill him, Genesis 27:41 , and he knew not but that he was still of the same mind; and now having an opportunity, and in his power to do it, being accompanied with four hundred men, he feared he would attempt it; and therefore entreats the Lord, who was greater than he, to deliver him from falling... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 32:9

O God of my father Abraham, etc. - This prayer is remarkable for its simplicity and energy; and it is a model too for prayer, of which it contains the essential constituents: - 1. Deep self-abasement. 2. Magnification of God's mercy. 3. Deprecation of the evil to which he was exposed. 4. Pleading the promises that God had made to him. And, 5. Taking encouragement from what God had already wrought. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 32:10

I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies - The marginal reading is more consistent with the original: האמת ומכל החסדים מכל קטנתי katonti miccol hachasadim umiccol haemeth , I am less than all the compassions, and than all the faithfulness, which thou hast showed unto thy servant. Probably St Paul had his eye on this passage when he wrote, Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints. A man who sees himself in the light of God will ever feel that he has no good but what he has... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 32:11

And the mother with the children - He must have had an awful opinion of his brother when he used this expression, which implies the utmost cruelty, proceeding in the work of slaughter to total extermination. See Hosea 10:14 . read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 32:9

Verse 9 9.O God of my father Abraham. Having arranged his affairs as the necessity of the occasion suggested, he now retakes himself to prayer. And this prayer is evidence that the holy man was not so oppressed with fear as to prevent faith from proving victorious. For he does not, in a hesitating manner, commend himself and his family to God; but trusting both to God’s promises and to the benefits already received, he casts his cares and his troubles into his heavenly Father’s bosom. We have... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 32:10

Verse 10 10.I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies (103) Although this expression sounds harsh to Latin ears, the sense is not obscure. Jacob confesses, that greater mercies of God had been heaped upon him than he had dared to hope for: and therefore, far be it from him that he should plead anything of dignity or merit, for the purpose of obtaining what he asks. He therefore says, that he is less than God’s favors; because he felt himself to be unworthy of those excellent gifts which... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 32:11

Verse 11 11.Deliver me. After he has declared himself to be bound by so many of God’s benefits that he cannot boast of his own merits, and thus raised his mind to higher expectation, he now mentions his own necessity, as if he would say, “O Lord, unless thou choosest to reduce so many excellent gifts to nothing, now is the time for thee to succor one, and to avert the destruction which, through my brother, is suspended over me.” But having thus expressed his fear, he adds a clause concerning... read more

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