Genesis 33:8-11

"And He said, What meanest thou by all this company which I met? And he said, To find favor in the sight of my lord. And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; let that which thou hast be thine. And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found favor in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand; forasmuch as I have seen thy face, as one seeth the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me. Take, I pray thee, my gift that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it."

"What meanest thou by all this company which I met ..." This is such an obvious reference to the present which Jacob had dispatched in three droves to Esau the day before that one may only marvel that Peake would refer it to one of the "two companies" into which Jacob had split his group (Genesis 32:7), also inferring that Esau extorted another half of all Jacob had, taking it away from him. He wrote:

"Esau inquires as to the meaning of the camp (one of the two companies) he had already met; and on the spur of the moment Jacob offered it (the half of all possessions). The question was a broad hint; and then there were the four hundred men ... Of course he took it. Jacob paid a heavy price, but it was worth it. His brother was appeased; half his property was left, and he and his family were safe ... Jacob had probably already in his mind written off the loss of half his property anyway.[13]

"Take my gift ... that is brought to thee ..." (Genesis 33:11). This makes it absolutely clear and certain that the gift under consideration in this passage has nothing to do with the "companies" into which Jacob split his people, but it is a reference to the droves, with the men driving them, who had brought the present to Esau the day before. Keil understood this: "The camp which Esau mentioned was the present of cattle that were sent to meet him."[14] As to why Esau referred to them as "a camp" merely indicated that the drivers of some 580 livestock, at least a day's journey ahead of the meeting, had actually made camp, pending the arrival of Jacob and the meeting of the brothers. Of course, the drivers of the "present" had been commanded to tell Esau that they were a present for him; but Esau respected the fact that he needed to ask Jacob personally about such a gift.

"And he urged him, and he took it ..." The reason Jacob so urgently pressed his gift upon Esau was that, "If Esau had refused to accept it, Jacob would never have been in peace. The refusal to accept a gift means permanent enmity ... The gift was a token of reconciliation and everlasting peace. It healed the wound and repaired the breach."[15] In the Orient until this day, the receiving of a gift is understood as a pledge of friendship.

"I have enough ..." (Genesis 33:9,11). Our version thus translates the expression as having been made by both brothers. Actually, however, the words are different in the Hebrew. "Esau said, I have much ([~raab]); and Jacob said, I have everything ([~qowl])."[16] Thus, there may have been a difference in the attitude of the brothers toward their possessions.

"I have seen thy face as one seeth the face of God ..." "Jacob recognized through Esau's reconciled countenance that the God of Peniel was making his face shine upon him."[17]