Genesis 33:3-7

"And he himself passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are these with thee? And he said, The children whom God hath graciously given thy servant. Then the handmaids came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves. And Leah also and her children came near, and bowed themselves; and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves."

"Bowed ... seven times ..." The manner of this was, "not in immediate succession, but bowing and advancing, until he came near his brother."[4] Willis summarizes the steps that each brother took in the reconciliation:

JACOB: (1) he bowed before him seven times (Genesis 33:3); (2) he called himself Esau's servant twice (Genesis 33:5,14); (3) referred to Esau as his "lord" four times (Genesis 33:8,13,14); (4) dispatched ahead of time a most impressive present; (5) insisted that Esau keep it (Genesis 33:8-11); and (6) declared that seeing Esau's face was like seeing the face of God (Genesis 33:10).

ESAU: (1) came with a company to welcome Jacob; (2) ran to meet him; (3) embraced him; (4) fell on his neck; (5) kissed him; (6) invited Jacob to keep the present; (7) offered to accompany him; (8) offered to leave a guard to protect him; (9) addressed him as "my brother" (Genesis 33:9); and (10) graciously accepted the present, which in the customs of the day amounted to a pact of friendship.[5]

In view of the above, we cannot accept Skinner's declaration that, "Esau's intention was hostile, and Jacob gained a diplomatic victory over him."[6] It need not be thought that Jacob's bowing to Esau, calling him "lord," and referring to himself as "thy servant," etc., was in any manner a renunciation on Jacob's part of the preeminence that God had given him in the matter of the covenant people. Such effusive actions on Jacob's part were merely in keeping with the customs of the day usually followed when one approached and addressed a powerful leader, or ruler. In thus recognizing Esau, we may be sure that Jacob pleased him. The Tel el-Amarna tablets, dated in the fourteenth century B.C., record that, "One approaching a king always bowed seven times in so doing."[7]

Aalders apparently gave the correct analysis of this meeting, writing that, "Esau's hostility had vanished; that `army' of four hundred men had no hostile intention; all that Esau had in mind was to provide a display of his own success."[8]

"And he kissed him ..." "In the Masoretic Bibles, each letter is noted with a point over it to make it emphatic."[9] So much for the fact. The conclusions that scholars draw from this fact, however, are amazingly opposed. Clarke thought that they thus emphasized this passage to "show the change that had taken place in Esau, and to stress the sincerity with which he greeted Jacob."[10] Keil interpreted the points as "marking the passage suspicious"![11] Our conclusion should be that it is precarious to formulate an interpretation based upon such a thing. That Esau really forgave Jacob seems too obvious to deny, and we agree with Francisco that, "Such forgiveness is hardly a possible virtue without the providence of God."[12] Thus, we must conclude that God had been working on Esau as well as upon Jacob during the intervening twenty years of their long separation.