John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 32:15
Thirty milch camels with their colts ,.... Milch camels were in great esteem in the eastern countries; their milk being, as Aristotle F25 Hist. Animal. l. 6. c. 26. and Pliny F26 Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 41. & 28. 9. say, the sweetest of all milk: forty kine and ten bulls ; one bull to ten cows; the same proportion as in the goats and rams: twenty she asses and ten foals ; and supposing thirty colts belonging to the camels; the present consisted of five hundred and eighty... read more
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 32:13-23
Jacob, having piously made God his friend by a prayer, is here prudently endeavouring to make Esau his friend by a present. He had prayed to God to deliver him from the hand of Esau, for he feared him; but neither did his fear sink into such a despair as dispirits for the use of means, nor did his prayer make him presume upon God's mercy, without the use of means. Note, When we have prayed to God for any mercy, we must second our prayers with our endeavours; else, instead of trusting god, we... read more