Esau said, “Let’s take our journey, and let’s go, and I will go before you.”
Parallel Translations
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Esau said, “Let’s take our journey, and let’s go, and I will go before you.”
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And he said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee.
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And he said: 'Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee.'
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Explain this verse (11 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 12. Let us take our journey. Although Esau was…
12. Let us take our journey. Although Esau was inclined to benevolence, Jacob still distrusts him: not that he fears to be ensnared, or that he suspects perfidy to lie hidden under the garb of friendship; but that he cautiously avoids new occasions of offense: for a proud and ferocious man might easily be exasperated again by light causes. Now, though just reason for fear was not wanting to the holy man, yet I dare not deny that his anxiety was excessive. He suspected the liberality of Esau; but did he not know that a God was standing between them, who, as he was convinced by clear and undoubted experience, watched for his salvation? For, whence such an incredible change of mind in Esau, unless he had been divinely transformed from a wolf into a lamb? Let us then learn, from this example, to restrain our anxieties, lest when God has provided for us, we tremble, as in an affair of doubt.
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 33:12 And he said, Let us take our…
Gen 33:12 And he said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee.
Ver. 12. Let us take our journey.] The Hebrews note, that Esau speaks in few, Jacob more fully: because it is the guise of proud stately persons to speak briefly, and hardly to bring forth half their words. "The poor speaketh supplications," saith Solomon; "but the rich answereth roughly". {Pro 18:23}
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Or rather, beside thee, so as to keep thee…
Or rather, beside thee, so as to keep thee company, or to keep pace with thee.
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 he said, let us take our journey, and…
And he said, let us take our journey, and let us go,.... To Seir, where Esau lived, and whither he invited Jacob to stop a while, and refresh himself and his family:
and I will go before thee; to show him the way to his palace, and to protect him on the road from all dangers; or "besides thee" (q), alongside of him, keeping equal pace with him, thereby showing great honour and respect, as well as in order to converse with him as they, travelled.
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(q) "e regione tui", Montanus, Fagius, Drusius; "a latere tuo", Vatablus; "juxta te", Cartwright.
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 Esau offers himself to be his guide and companion,…
Esau offers himself to be his guide and companion, in token of sincere reconciliation. We never find that Jacob and Esau were so loving with one another as they were now. God made Esau not only not an enemy, but a friend. Esau is become fond of Jacob's company, courts him to mount Seir: let us never despair of any, nor distrust God, in whose hands all hearts are. Yet Jacob saw cause modestly to refute this offer, wherein he shews a tender concern for his own family and flocks, like a good shepherd and a good father. He must consider the children, and the flocks with young, and not lead the one or drive the other too fast. Jacob intimates to him, that it was his design to come to him to mount Seir; and we may presume he did so, after he had settled his concerns elsewhere, though that visit be not recorded.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Gen 33:12. Let us go, I will go before…
Gen 33:12. Let us go, I will go before thee — He offers himself to be Jacob’s guide and companion, in token of a sincere reconciliation. We do not find that Jacob and Esau were ever before so loving with one another as they were now. God had made Esau, not only not an enemy, but a friend. He is become fond of Jacob’s company, and invites him to go along with him to mount Seir. Let us never despair of any, nor distrust God, in whose hands all hearts are.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain THE PARTING. (Gen 33:12-20)
THE PARTING. (Gen 33:12-20)
And he said, Let us take our journey--Esau proposed to accompany Jacob and his family through the country, both as a mark of friendship and as an escort to guard them. But the proposal was prudently declined. Jacob did not need any worldly state or equipage. Notwithstanding the present cordiality, the brothers were so different in spirit, character, and habits--the one so much a man of the world, and the other a man of God, that there was great risk of something occurring to disturb the harmony. Jacob having alleged a very reasonable excuse for the tardiness of his movements, the brothers parted in peace.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 12. And he said] Esau speaks. He assumes that…
12. And he said] Esau speaks. He assumes that Jacob will be glad to receive the protection of his armed men. Jacob declines, not wishing to incur the risk of friction arising from a collision between two large companies; and will not accept a kindness which might compromise his independence. It was wiser to separate, while they were still amicable. The natures remain the same; Esau’s thoughtless, Jacob’s calculating.
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.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And he (i.e. Esau) said (in further token of…
And he (i.e. Esau) said (in further token of his amity), Let us take our journey, and let us go, but whether he intended to accompany Jacob on his way (Keil, Kalisch, et alii) or invited Jacob to go with him to Mount Seir (Ainsworth, Clericus) is uncertain. On the first hypothesis it is difficult to explain how Esau came to be traveling in the same direction as his brother, while the adoption of the second will serve in some measure to elucidate Jacob"s language in ver. 2. But whichever way the words of Esau are understood, they amounted to an offer to be an escort to Jacob through the desert regions with which his excursions had made him familiar, since he added, and I will go before theei.e. to lead the way.
HOMILIES BY J.F. MONTGOMERY Ver. 12.
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Worldly companionship.
he said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee." The offer probably made with kindly intention. No sign of bitterness in Esau"s feelings; but ignorance of the necessities of Jacob"s march. Jacob knew it was not possible with safety (cf. Psa_137:4; 1Pe_4:4) Reminds us of the attitude of many worldly persons towards Christians. "The carnal mind is enmity against God." Yet worldly men may have sincere regard for Christian men; bear unconscious testimony to excellence of Christianity. And here a danger to Christians. Let us journey together. I like you; you are unselfish, trustworthy. And why not? Because in journeying with Esau he must be leader, or he would cease to be Esau. The world"s good-will does not mean a changed heart. Without any pronounced dislike to higher aims, it shares them not, and knows not anything more real than earth. There is a journey we all take in company: in the thousand ways in which men are dependent on each other; in the courtesies and good offices of life; in what belongs to our position as citizens or family men. But in what constitutes the road of life its stamp and direction, its motives and aims no union. We have another Leader. (Heb_12:2) The pillar of fire led Israelites not according to Roman judgment.
I THIS DOES NOT IMPLY KEEPING ALOOF FROM MEN, OR FROM HUMAN INTERESTS. We are called to be the salt of the earth. It is an error to shrink from contact with the world as dangerous to us. This of old led to monasticism. But there may be a spiritual solitude even when living in the throng of a city. In secular matters refusing to take an interest in what occupies others, (cf. Luk_6:31) as if God had nothing to do with these; or in spiritual things avoiding Christian intercourse with those who do not in all points agree with us; or being engrossed with our own spiritual welfare, and turning away from all concern for the welfare of others (cf. 1Co_9:20-22)
II IT DOES IMPLY A REAL CONSCIOUSNESS OF BEING REDEEMED, set free, bought with a price; OF HAYING A DEFINITE WORK TO DO FOR GOD, WITH WHICH NOTHING MUST INTERFERE; a real way to walk in, from which nothing must make us turn aside. And in order to this, watchfulness over self, that in seeking to help others we ourselves are not ensnared.
III SOME WAYS IN WHICH THE WORLD IN ITS FRIENDSHIP TEMPTS CHRISTIANS.
1. By the plea, there is no harm in this or that. We must not think that all actions can be brought to an absolute standard of fight and wrong. This is the spirit of legality, the spirit of bondage, and leads to partial service instead of entire dedication (cf. Luk_15:29) Loyalty to Christ must direct the Christian"s life; desire not merely to avoid direct disobedience, but to use our time and powers for him who loved us and gave himself for us.
2. By the display of good feelings as the equivalent of Christian graces. Esau"s kindliness and frankness are very attractive. Yet he was a "profane person;" not because of his anger or any sinful act, but because he thought little of God"s blessing.
3. By making Christians familiar with worldly aims and maxims, and thus insensibly blunting their spiritual aspirations. The way of safety is through prayer for the Holy Spirit"s help, to maintain the consciousness of Christ"s presence. M.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 My master knows
My master knows
This is a polite and formal way of referring to Esau. AT: "You, my master, know" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
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the children are young
The meaning can be stated more explicitly. AT: "the children are too young to travel fast" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
If they are driven hard even one day
This can be stated in active form. AT: "If we force them to go too fast even for one day" (See: Active or Passive)
Please let my master go on ahead of his servant
This is a polite and formal way of Jacob referring to himself. AT: "My lord, I am your servant. Please go ahead of me" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
at the pace of the livestock that are before me
"at the speed the animals I am looking after can go"
Seir
This is a mountainous area in the region of Edom. See how you translated this in Genesis 32:3. (See: How to Translate Names)
translationWords
lord
flocks
servant
livestock
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 33:12-15 Despite Esau’s apparent magnanimity, Jacob was wary and…
33:12-15 Despite Esau’s apparent magnanimity, Jacob was wary and cleverly avoided traveling with his brother. • I will meet you at Seir: Jacob’s lie manifests his old character, living by deception rather than by faith.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.