And he delivered [them] into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space between drove and drove.
That his gift might be represented to Esau with most advantage, and his mind might by little and little be sweetened towards him.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. every drove by themselvesTherewas great prudence in this arrangement; for the present would thushave a more imposing appearance; Esau’s passion would have time tocool as he passed each successive company; and if the first wasrefused, the others would hasten back to convey a timely warning.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he delivered [them] into the hand of his servants,…. To present them to Esau as from him:
every drove by themselves; there seems to have been three droves, see
Ge 32:19; very probably the two hundred and twenty goats, male and female, were in the first drove; and the two hundred and twenty sheep, ewes, and rams, were in the second drove; and the thirty camels, with their colts, and the fifty cows and bulls, with the twenty she asses and ten foals, which made in all one hundred and forty, were in the third drove: though Aben Ezra thinks there were five droves; nor is it improbable, the goats in one drove, the sheep in another, the camels and colts in a third, and the kine and bulls might make a fourth, and the asses with their foals a fifth:
and saith unto his servants, pass over before me: over the brook Jabbok, Ge 32:22, a day’s journey or less before him, as Jarchi observes, or rather a night’s journey, as seems by the context; for these were sent out at evening, and Jacob stayed behind all night, as appears by what follows:
and put a space betwixt drove and drove; his meaning is, that they should not follow each other closely; but that there should be a considerable distance between them, and which he would have them careful to keep: his view in this was, partly to prolong time, Esau stopping, as he supposed he would, at each drove, and asking questions of the men; and partly that he might the better and more distinctly observe the largeness of his present, and his munificence in it, and so, both by the present, and by the frequent repetition of his submission to him as his servant, his wrath, if he came out in it, would be gradually abated, and before he came to him he would be in a disposition to receive him with some marks of affection and kindness, as he did.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(16) A space.Heb., a breathing place. These paration of the droves would be a matter of course, as each kind would travel peaceably onward only by itself. But Jacob rightly concluded that the repeated acknowledgment of Esau as his lord, added to the great value of the gift, would fill his brothers heart with friendly feelings, and perhaps therefore he put a longer space than usual between the successive droves.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘And he delivered them into the hands of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me and put a space between drove and drove.” And he commanded the foremost, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong? And where are you going? And whose are these animals before you?’ Then you will say, ‘They are your servant Jacob’s. It is a present to my lord Esau, and behold he also is behind us.’ And he commanded also the second and third, and all that followed the droves saying, ‘in this way will you speak to Esau when you find him.’ And you will say, ‘Moreover, behold your servant Jacob is behind us.’
Jacob’s tactic was simple. A munificent present received in sections so as to build up goodwill and conciliation. First Esau would receive the goats, then the sheep, then the camels which would greatly impress him for they were comparatively rare, then the cattle and then finally the valuable donkeys. And each time when Esau questioned the servants they would inform him that the gifts were for him from Jacob and that Jacob followed after.
“The second and third and all that followed.” The threeness was an indication of the completeness of the gift, the remainder a sign of full measure and running over.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Gen 32:16 And he delivered [them] into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove.
Ver. 16. Every drove by themselves. ] That Esau, having occasion of viewing the present, questioning the servants, and hearing Jacob’s submission, might be somewhat mollified, and his anger abated. “Be wise as serpents”. Mat 10:16
“Ut fragilis glacies, occidit ira mora.”
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
space: Gen 32:20, Gen 33:8, Gen 33:9, Psa 112:5, Pro 2:11, Isa 28:26, Mat 10:16
Reciprocal: Gen 33:1 – And he 1Sa 25:19 – Go