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33 And Ya’akov lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, hinei, Esav came, and with him arba me’ot ish (four hundred men). And he divided the yeladim unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two shefachot.

And he put the shefachot and their yeladim rishonah, and Leah and her yeladim acharonim, and Rachel and Yosef acharonim.

And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground sheva pe’amim, until he came near to achiv (his brother).

And Esav ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his tzavar (neck), and kissed him; and they wept.

And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the nashim and the yeladim; and said, Who are those with thee? And he said, The yeladim which Elohim hath graciously given thy eved.

Then the shefachot came near, they and their yeladim, and they bowed themselves.

And Leah also with her yeladim came near, and bowed themselves; and after came Yosef near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves.

And he said, What meanest thou by all this machaneh which I met? And he said, These are to find chen (grace) in the eyes of adoni.

And Esav said, I have enough, achi (my brother); keep that thou hast unto thyself.

10 And Ya’akov said, No, now, if I have found chen (grace) in thy sight, then receive my minchah at my yad inasmuch as I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the p’nei Elohim (the face of G-d) vatirtzeini (and thou wast pleased to accept me, thou wast appeased by me).

11 Accept, now, my brocha that is brought to thee; because Elohim hath dealt graciously with me, and because yesh li khol (there is to me all, my needs are met). And he urged him, and he accepted.

12 And he said, Nise’ah (let us take our journey), and let us go, I will go next to thee.

13 And he said unto him, Adoni knoweth that the yeladim are tender and the nursing tzon and bakar are upon me; and if men should overdrive them yom echad, all the tzon will die.

14 Let now adoni, pass over before his eved; and I will lead on slowly, according to the pace of the drove that goeth before me and the pace the yeladim are able to endure, until I come unto adoni at Seir.

15 And Esav said, Let me now leave with thee some of HaAm that are with me. And he said, What needeth it? Let me find chen in the sight of adoni.

16 So Esav returned that day on his derech unto Seir.

17 And Ya’akov journeyed to Sukkot, and built him a bais, and made sukkot for his mikneh; therefore the shem of the makom is called Sukkot.

18 And Ya’akov came shalem to Ir Shechem, which is in eretz Kena’an, when he came from Padan Aram; and encamped before the Ir.

19 And he bought a chelkat hasadeh (piece of land), where he had pitched there his ohel, from the yad Bnei Chamor Avi Shechem, for a hundred pieces of kesitah (money).

20 And he erected there a Mizbe’ach, and called it El Elohei Yisroel.

Jacob Meets Esau

33 Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men;(A) so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants.(B) He put the female servants and their children(C) in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph(D) in the rear. He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground(E) seven times(F) as he approached his brother.

But Esau(G) ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him.(H) And they wept.(I) Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. “Who are these with you?” he asked.

Jacob answered, “They are the children God has graciously given your servant.(J)

Then the female servants and their children(K) approached and bowed down.(L) Next, Leah and her children(M) came and bowed down.(N) Last of all came Joseph and Rachel,(O) and they too bowed down.

Esau asked, “What’s the meaning of all these flocks and herds I met?”(P)

“To find favor in your eyes, my lord,”(Q) he said.

But Esau said, “I already have plenty,(R) my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.”

10 “No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favor in your eyes,(S) accept this gift(T) from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God,(U) now that you have received me favorably.(V) 11 Please accept the present(W) that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me(X) and I have all I need.”(Y) And because Jacob insisted,(Z) Esau accepted it.

12 Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way; I’ll accompany you.”

13 But Jacob said to him, “My lord(AA) knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young.(AB) If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. 14 So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds(AC) before me and the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.(AD)

15 Esau said, “Then let me leave some of my men with you.”

“But why do that?” Jacob asked. “Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord.”(AE)

16 So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir.(AF) 17 Jacob, however, went to Sukkoth,(AG) where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Sukkoth.[a]

18 After Jacob came from Paddan Aram,[b](AH) he arrived safely at the city of Shechem(AI) in Canaan and camped within sight of the city. 19 For a hundred pieces of silver,[c] he bought from the sons of Hamor,(AJ) the father of Shechem,(AK) the plot of ground(AL) where he pitched his tent.(AM) 20 There he set up an altar(AN) and called it El Elohe Israel.[d]

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 33:17 Sukkoth means shelters.
  2. Genesis 33:18 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia
  3. Genesis 33:19 Hebrew hundred kesitahs; a kesitah was a unit of money of unknown weight and value.
  4. Genesis 33:20 El Elohe Israel can mean El is the God of Israel or mighty is the God of Israel.