two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
Parallel Translations
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two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
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Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,
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(32-15) two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
Cross-references (7)
Passages linked to Genesis 32:14 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Deuteronomy 8:18 But you shall remember Yahweh your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers, as it is today.
- Job 1:3 His possessions also were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the children of the east.
- Job 42:12 So Yahweh blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand female donkeys.
- Genesis 30:43 The man increased exceedingly, and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.
- Genesis 31:9 Thus God has taken away your father’s livestock, and given them to me.
- Genesis 31:16 For all the riches which God has taken away from our father are ours and our children’s. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do.”
- 1 Samuel 25:2 There was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats; and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (7 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 14. Two hundred she-goats. Hence we perceive the value…
14. Two hundred she-goats. Hence we perceive the value which Jacob set upon the promise given to him, seeing he does not refuse to make so great a sacrifice of his property. We know that those things which are obtained with great toil and trouble are the more highly esteemed. So that generally they who are enriched by their own labor are proportionally sparing and tenacious. It was, however, no trivial diminution even of great wealth, to give forty cows, thirty camels with their young, twenty bulls, and as many asses with their foals, two hundred she-goats, and as many sheep, with twenty rams, and the same number of he-goats. But Jacob freely lays upon himself this tax, that he may obtains a safe return to his own country. Certainly it would not have been difficult to find some nook where he might live with his property entire: and an equally commodious habitations might have been found elsewhere. But, that he might not lose the benefit of the promise, he purchases, at so great a price, from his brother, a peaceable abode in the land of Canaan. Therefore should we be ashamed of our effeminacy and tardiness, who wickedly turn aside from the duty of our calling, as soon as any loss is to be sustained. With a clear and loud voice the Lord commands us to do what he pleases; but some, because they find it troublesome to take up their burdens, lie in idleness; pleasures also keep back some; riches or honors impede others; finally, few follow God, because scarcely one in a hundred will bear to be losers. In putting a space between the messengers, and in sending them at different times from each other, he does it to mitigate by degrees the ferocity of his brother: Whence we infer again, that he was not so seized with fear, as to be unable prudently to order his affairs.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 32:14 Two hundred she goats, and twenty he…
Gen 32:14 Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,
Ver. 14. Two hundred she-goats, &c.] A very great present for a private person to send. Five hundred and fifty beasts, of sundry sorts, for store. He spares no cost, that he may buy his peace, and enjoy his birthright. Heaven, he knew (whereof Canaan was a type and pledge), would pay for all. Get but a patriarch’s eye to see heaven afar off, and we shall be soon ready to buy it at any rate. The pearl of price cannot be a dear bargain, though we part with all to purchase it. Moses was forty years old, and therefore no baby, when "he preferred the reproach of Christ," the worst thing about him, "before the treasures of Egypt". {Heb 11:26} Egypt was a country rich, fruitful, and learned. Thence Solomon had his chief horses; {2Ch 9:28} thence the harlot had her fine linens. {Pro 7:16} Moses might, in likelihood, have been king of Egypt, yea, and of Ethiopia too, as some think: but he had a better prize in his hand, and therefore slights all the world’s flitting and flattering felicities. When Basil was tempted with money and preferment, he answered, pecuniam da quae permaneat, ac continuo daret, gloriam quae semper floreat. This the world cannot do; nay, it cannot keep off diseases, death, &c. Non domus et fundus, &c. When Michael Paleologus, Emperor of Constantinople, sent to Nugas the Scythian prince, for a present, certain royal robes and rich ornaments, he set light by them, asking, Whether they could drive away calamities, sickness, death? {a} No, no: this, nothing can do, but the favour of God and interest in Christ. Wherefore should I die, being so rich? was the foolish question of that rich and wretched cardinal, Henry Beaufort, bishop of Winchester, and Chancellor of England, in the reign of Henry VI. Fie, quoth he, will not death be hired? will money do nothing? {b} No, saith Solomon: "Treasures of wickedness profit nothing; but righteousness delivereth from death". {Pro 10:2} Many are loath to die, because they have treasures in the world; as those ten men had in the field. {Jer 41:8} The Irish ask, - What! such men mean to die? But such men must die; nor can their riches reprieve them. Oh! happy is he that, with Jacob, lays hold on the heavenly inheritance, though with the loss of earthly possessions; that cares not to part with his cattle, so he may have his crown; with his swine, so he may have his Saviour. {Mat 8:34} This is the wise merchant, this is the true tradesman, that traffics for heaven; looking upon the world as a great dunghill, with Paul, σκυβαλα, dog’s dung. {Php 3:8}
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{a} Numquid calamitates, morbos, aut mortem depellere possent? - Pachymer. Hist., lib. v.
{b} Act, and Mon., fol. 925.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two…
Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes,
and twenty rams. And it seems this proportion of one he goat to ten she goats, and of one ram to ten ewes, is a proper one, and what has been so judged in other times and countries (x).
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(x) Varro de rustica, l. 2. c. 3. apud Bochart. Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 2. c. 43. col. 439. &c. 53. col. 648.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 14. Two hundred she-goats, c.] This was a…
Verse 14. Two hundred she-goats, c.] This was a princely present, and such as was sufficient to have compensated Esau for any kind of temporal loss he might have sustained in being deprived of his birthright and blessing. The thirty milch camels were particularly valuable, for milch camels among the Arabs constitute a principal part of their riches, the creature being every way so serviceable that the providence of God appears peculiarly kind and wise in providing such a beast for those countries where no other animal could be of equal service. "The she-camel gives milk continually, not ceasing till great with young the milk of which," as Pliny has remarked, "when mixed with three parts of water, affords the most pleasant and wholesome beverage." Cameli lac habent, donec iterum gravescant, suavissimumque hoc existimatur, ad unam mensuram tribus aquae additis.-Hist. Nat., lib. xi., chap. 41.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 14. two hundred, &c.] The numbers here given enable…
14. two hundred, &c.] The numbers here given enable us to form some idea of the great size of Jacob’s caravan. The animals are apparently mentioned in the order of their value, beginning with the least valuable.
Jacob hopes by the arrival of a succession of gifts to break down Esau’s bitter grudge against him. For “a brother offended,” cf. Pro_18:19.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (14, 15) Goats—ewes—camels—kine—asses.—As the kinds of cattle are arranged…
(14, 15) Goats—ewes—camels—kine—asses.—As the kinds of cattle are arranged according to their value, it is remarkable that kine should be prized above camels; for the milk of cows was regarded as of little worth. This high estimation of them, therefore, must have arisen from an increased regard for agriculture, the ploughing being done in the East by oxen. Asses of course come last, as being the animal used by chieftains for riding, and therefore prized as matters of luxury. (See Gen_12:16; Jdg_5:10.) Jacob selected “milch camels” because their milk forms a valuable part of the daily food of the Arabs.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 14, 15Two hundred she goats, and twenty he…
Vers. 14, 15Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams, thirty milch camels (specially valuable in the East on account of their milk, which was peculiarly sweet and wholesome) with their colts, forty kine, and ten hulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals. The selection was in harmony witch the general possessions of nomads, (cf. Job_1:3 Job_42:12) and the proportion of male to female animals was arranged according to what the experience of the best ancient authorities has shown to be necessary for the purposes of breeding (Rosenm Keil, Kalisch).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.