And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.
23. the stream ] The Jabbok is called a “stream” ( naal) in Deu 3:16; Jos 12:2. On the word rendered “stream,” see note on Gen 26:17.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
13-23. took . . . a present forEsauJacob combined active exertions with earnest prayer; andthis teaches us that we must not depend upon the aid andinterposition of God in such a way as to supersede the exercise ofprudence and foresight. Superiors are always approached withpresents, and the respect expressed is estimated by the quality andamount of the gift. The present of Jacob consisted of five hundredfifty head of cattle, of different kinds, such as would be mostprized by Esau. It was a most magnificent present, skilfully arrangedand proportioned. The milch camels alone were of immense value; forthe she camels form the principal part of Arab wealth; their milk isa chief article of diet; and in many other respects they are of thegreatest use.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he took them, and sent them over the brook,…. His wives and children, under the care of some of his servants:
and sent over that he had: all that belonged to him, his servants and his cattle or goods.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Wrestling with God. – The same night, he conveyed his family with all his possessions across the ford of the Jabbok. Jabbok is the present Wady es Zerka (i.e., the blue), which flows from the east towards the Jordan, and with its deep rocky valley formed at that time the boundary between the kingdoms of Sihon at Heshbon and Og of Bashan. It now separates the countries of Moerad or Ajlun and Belka. The ford by which Jacob crossed was hardly the one which he took on his outward journey, upon the Syrian caravan-road by Kalaat-Zerka, but one much farther to the west, between Jebel Ajlun and Jebel Jelaad, through which Buckingham, Burckhardt, and Seetzen passed; and where there are still traces of walls and buildings to be seen, and other marks of cultivation.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(23) The brook.Really, the ravine or valley; Arab., wady. Jacob, whose administrative powers were of a very high character, sees his wives, children, and cattle not only through the ford, but across the valley on to the high ground beyond. Staying himself to the very last, he is left alone on the south side of the torrent, but still in the ravine, across which the rest had taken their way. The definite proof that Jacob remained on the south side lies in the fact that Peniel belonged to the tribe of Gad; but, besides this, there could be no reason why he should recross the rapid river when once he had gone through it, and probably the idea has risen from taking the word brook in Gen. 32:23 in too narrow a sense. Really it is the word translated valley in Gen. 26:17, but is used only of such valleys or ravines as have been formed by the action of a mountain torrent. When Jacob had seen his wives and herds safe on the top of the southern ridge, the deep valley would be the very place for this solitary struggle. This ravine, we are told, has a width of from four to six miles.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Reader! do you know what it is to be left alone to enjoy communion with God in Christ? Have you sent away all earthly concerns, and all natural connections, how near and dear soever they may be, in order to feel the full influence of gracious impressions. Who this angel was, may easily be known from the Patriarch’s own account of him. Sweet to observe, in the numberless instances of it, how that Almighty angel of the covenant, the Lord Jesus, seemed to long for the period when he would fully reveal himself unto his people. See Gen 48:16 ; Hos 12:4 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 32:23 And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.
Ver. 23. Sent them over the brook. ] Which he would not have done had he not been, upon his prayer, well confirmed and settled in his mind concerning the Lord’s protection.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
sent them: Heb. caused to pass, Gen 32:23