Jacob said, “Please, no, if I have now found favor in your sight, then receive my present at my hand, because I have seen your face, as one sees the face of God, and you were pleased with me.
Parallel Translations
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Jacob said, “Please, no, if I have now found favor in your sight, then receive my present at my hand, because I have seen your face, as one sees the face of God, and you were pleased with me.
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And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me.
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And Jacob said: 'Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found favour 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.
Cross-references (17)
Passages linked to Genesis 33:10 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Job 33:26 He prays to God, and he is favorable to him, so that he sees his face with joy. He restores to man his righteousness.
- Revelation 22:4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
- Genesis 32:30 Jacob called the name of the place Peniel; for he said, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”
- Jeremiah 31:2 Yahweh says, “The people who survive the sword found favor in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.”
- Genesis 19:19 See now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your loving kindness, which you have shown to me in saving my life. I can’t escape to the mountain, lest evil overtake me, and I die.
- Genesis 47:29 The time came near that Israel must die, and he called his son Joseph, and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please don’t bury me in Egypt,
- Genesis 50:4 When the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to Pharaoh’s staff, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,
- Exodus 33:12-13 Moses said to Yahweh, “Behold, you tell me, ‘Bring up this people;’ and you haven’t let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me your way, now, that I may know you, so that I may find favor in your sight; and consider that this nation is your people.”
- Ruth 2:10 Then she fell on her face and bowed herself to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight, that you should take knowledge of me, since I am a foreigner?”
- 1 Samuel 20:3 David swore moreover, and said, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes; and he says, ‘Don’t let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved;’ but truly as Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.”
- 2 Samuel 3:13 He said, “Good. I will make a treaty with you, but one thing I require of you. That is, you will not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see my face.”
- 2 Samuel 14:24 The king said, “Let him return to his own house, but let him not see my face.” So Absalom returned to his own house, and didn’t see the king’s face.
- 2 Samuel 14:28 Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem, and he didn’t see the king’s face.
- 2 Samuel 14:32 Absalom answered Joab, “Behold, I sent to you, saying, ‘Come here, that I may send you to the king, to say, “Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me to be there still. Now therefore let me see the king’s face, and if there is iniquity in me, let him kill me.” ’ ”
- Psalms 41:11 By this I know that you delight in me, because my enemy doesn’t triumph over me.
- Genesis 43:3 Judah spoke to him, saying, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’
- Matthew 18:10 See that you don’t despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 10. Receive my present at my hand. This noun…
10. Receive my present at my hand. This noun may be taken passively as well as actively. If understood actively, the sense will be, “Accept the present by which I desire to testify my goodwill towards thee.” If understood passively, it may be referred to God, as if Jacob had said, “Those things which the Lord has bestowed upon me by his grace, I liberally impart to thee, that thou mayest be, in some measure, a partaker with me of that divine blessing which I have received.” But not to insist upon a word, Jacob immediately afterwards clearly avows that whatever he possesses, is not the fruit of his labor or industry, but has been received by him through the grace of God, and by this reasoning he attempts to induce his brother to accept the gift; as if he had said, “The Lord has poured upon me an abundance, of which some part, without any loss to me, may overflow to thee.” And though Jacob thus speaks under the impulse of present circumstances, he yet makes an ingenuous confession by which he celebrates the grace of God. Nearly the same words are on the tongues of all; but there are few who truly ascribe to God what they possess: the greater part sacrifice to their own industry. Scarcely one in a hundred is convinced, that whatever is good flows from the gratuitous favor of God; and yet by nature this sense is engraven upon our minds, but we obliterate it by our ingratitude. It has appeared already, how labourious was the life of Jacob: nevertheless, though he had suffered the greatest annoyances, he celebrates only the mercy of God.
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.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain In that that his brother embraced him so lovingly,…
In that that his brother embraced him so lovingly, contrary to his expectation, he accepted it as a plain sign of God’s presence.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain For therefore I have seen thy face; or, for…
For therefore I have seen thy face; or, for I therefore tender it unto thee, and humbly beg thy acceptance of it, because; for thus the Hebrew al-cen is used, Num 14:43, and elsewhere.
As though I had seen the face of God. It is in a manner as pleasant a sight to me as the sight of God himself, because in thy reconciled face I see the face and favour of God thus manifested unto me.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And Jacob said, nay, I pray thee,.... Do not…
And Jacob said, nay, I pray thee,.... Do not say so, as the Targum of Jonathan supplies it, or do not refuse my present:
if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand; signifying, that the acceptance of his present would be a token to him, and give him full satisfaction that he bore a good will to him, and did not retain anger and resentment against him:
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for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God; or of princes, as Onkelos, as the face of some great personage, as he was; or as the face of an angel, very pleasant and lovely; or as the face of God himself, he observing the love and favour of God to him, in working upon the heart of Esau, and causing him to carry it so lovingly to him; wherefore for this reason receive it, because I have had such an agreeable sight of thee:
and thou wast pleased with me; accepted of me, and kindly received me:
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain I have seen thy face as though I had…
I have seen thy face as though I had seen the face of God - That is, I have seen thee reconciled to me, and at peace with me, as I desire to see God reconciled.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 10. Receive my present at my hand] Jacob…
Verse 10. Receive my present at my hand] Jacob could not be certain that he had found favour with Esau, unless the present had been received; for in accepting it Esau necessarily became his friend, according to the custom of those times, and in that country. In the eastern countries, if your present be received by your superior, you may rely on his friendship; if it be not received, you have every thing to fear. It is on this ground that Jacob was so urgent with Esau to receive his present, because he knew that after this he must treat him as a friend.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Gen 33:10. As though I had seen the face…
Gen 33:10. As though I had seen the face of God — That is, thy meeting me in this peaceable manner is very comfortable and refreshing to me, and an evident token of God’s favour to me, Psa 41:11. Or, I have seen thee reconciled to me, and at peace with me, as I desire to see God reconciled.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 10. As though I had seen the face of…
10. As though I had seen the face of God — Comp. 1Sa_29:9; 2Sa_14:17. Jacob might most truly say this, and believe in his heart that God himself, the God of Penuel, who had blessed him the last night, had changed and softened the disposition of Esau towards him.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 10. forasmuch as I have seen] R.V. marg. for…
10. forasmuch as I have seen] R.V. marg. for therefore have I seen. See Gen_18:5, Gen_19:8 (J).
as one seeth the face of God] Jacob desires to imply that to have seen the face of Esau, and to have found him friendly, was as if one had looked on the face of God, and found it favourable. The phrase is therefore an elaborate compliment, such as is found in 1Sa_29:9, 2Sa_14:17, where David is compared to an angel of God. We can hardly doubt that this turn of compliment contains a side allusion to the name of the locality, Peniel. Cf. Gen_32:30-31.
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The phrase “to see the face” is equivalent to being “admitted into the royal presence”; cf. Gen_43:3; Gen_43:5; 2Ki_25:19.
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 (10) For therefore I have seen thy face.—The latter…
(10) For therefore I have seen thy face.—The latter half of the verse would more correctly be translated, inasmuch as I have seen thy face as one seeth the face of Elohim, and thou hast received me graciously. To the Hebrew the thought of God was not terrifying, and so the vision of God’s face was the sight of something good and glorious. There is much of Oriental hyperbole in comparing the sight of Esau to the beholding of the face of Deity, but it clearly conveyed the idea that Esau was using his power as generously and lovingly as is the wont of God; and God was so much nearer to the Hebrew in those simple days than he is to men now that science has revealed to them the immensity of His attributes, that there was no irreverence in the comparison.
The behaviour of Esau is very generous. He wished to spare his brother so large a present, and therefore leads the conversation to it, knowing, of course, what was the meaning of the five herds, as their drivers had delivered to him Jacob’s message. To have refused it, however, would have been a mark of hostility, especially as Jacob represented it as the gift of an inferior for the purpose of obtaining the favour of one from whom he had feared danger. But Esau expostulates with his brother. He too was rich, and Jacob should keep what was his own. But Jacob still urges its acceptance as the proof of goodwill, magnifies the value of Esau’s favour, and declares that by God’s goodness he has still abundance, even after giving his brother so princely a present. It is called “blessing” because it was considered lucky to receive a gift, and of all good-luck God was the giver. (Comp. 1Sa_25:27; 1Sa_30:26.)
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. 10, 11. And Jacob said, Nay, I pray…
Vers. 10, 11. And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore KeALOipi, because (Gesenius, Rosenm Quarry), or, for this purpose (Keil, Kalisch, Hengetenberg, Lange, Ewald. Vide (Gen_18:5 Gen_19:8 Gen_38:26) I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, literally, as a vision of the/ace of Elohim, in which language Jacob neither uses adulation towards his brother (Tostatius), nor calla him a god in the sense in which heathen potentates are styled deities (Vatablus, Arabic, Chaldee), nor simply uses a superlative expression to indicate the majesty (Menochius) or benevolence (Ainsworth) of Esau"s countenance, contended with him at the Jabbok (Bush); but either that he had received from Esau the same friendly welcome that one coming into God"s presence would receive from him (Rosenm Keil, Murphy, "Speaker"s Commentary"), or that he had come into Esau"s presence with the same feelings of penitence as if he had been coming before God (Kalisch), or that, as he had already seen the face of God and his life was preserved, so now he had seen the face of Esau, and the anticipated destruction had not been inflicted on him (Quarry), either of which accords with the words that followand thou wast pleased with me literally, thou hast graciously received me, the unexpressed thought being, as already I have been favorably accepted by Elohim. Hence Jacob with greater urgency renews his entreaty that Esau would not decline his proffered gift, saying, Take, I pray thee, my blessing (i.e. my present, the word signifying, as in 1Sa_25:27 1Sa_30:26; 2Ki_5:15, a gift by which one seeks to express good will) that is brought to thee; or, which has been caused to come to thee, adding, as a special reason to induce him to acceptbecause God hath dealt graciously with me, Elohim, it has been thought, is used here and in ver. 5 by Jacob instead of Jehovah, either to avoid reminding Esau of the blessing of Jehovah which had occasioned his absence" (Delitzsch, Keil), or, " because Jehovah was exalted far above the level of Esau"s superficial religion" Hengstenberg); but it is just possible that by its employment Jacob only wished to acknowledge the Divine hand in the remark- able prosperity which had attended him in Haran and because I have enough literally, there is to me all, i.e. everything I can wish (Murphy), all things as the heir of the promise (Keil). The expression is stronger than that used by Esau (ver. 9), and is regarded by some (Ainsworth) as indicating a more contented spirit than that evinced by Esau. And he urged him. In Eastern countries the acceptance of a gift is equivalent to the striking of a covenant of friendship. If your present be received by your superior yon may rely on his friendship; if it be declined you have everything to fear. It was on this ground that Jacob was so urgent in pressing Esau to accept his present (cf. A. Clarke in loco). And he took it, and so gave Jacob an assurance of his complete reconciliation.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 33:10 Jacob knew that Esau’s friendly greeting was God’s…
33:10 Jacob knew that Esau’s friendly greeting was God’s work, secured at Peniel when he saw God face to face.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.