Please let my lord pass over before his servant, and I will lead on gently, according to the pace of the livestock that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord to Seir.”
Parallel Translations
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Please let my lord pass over before his servant, and I will lead on gently, according to the pace of the livestock that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord to Seir.”
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Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure, until I come unto my lord unto Seir.
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Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant; and I will journey on gently, according to the pace of the cattle that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come unto my lord unto Seir.'
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Genesis 33:14 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 32:3 Jacob sent messengers in front of him to Esau, his brother, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom.
- Isaiah 40:11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.
- Romans 15:1 Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
- Deuteronomy 2:1 Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea, as Yahweh spoke to me; and we encircled Mount Seir many days.
- Judges 5:4 “Yahweh, when you went out of Seir, when you marched out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the sky also dropped. Yes, the clouds dropped water.
- 2 Chronicles 20:10 Now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned away from them, and didn’t destroy them;
- Ezekiel 25:8 “ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Because Moab and Seir say, ‘Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations;’
- Ezekiel 35:2-3 “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it, and tell it, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you. I will make you a desolation and an astonishment.
- Mark 4:33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it.
- 1 Corinthians 3:2 I fed you with milk, not with meat; for you weren’t yet ready. Indeed, you aren’t ready even now,
- 1 Corinthians 9:19-22 For though I was free from all, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He promised that which (as seemeth) his mind was…
He promised that which (as seemeth) his mind was not to perform.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 33:14 Let my lord, I pray thee, pass…
Gen 33:14 Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure, until I come unto my lord unto Seir.
Ver. 14. Until I come unto my lord, unto Seir.] Which yet he never meant, say some: it was but an officious lie, saith Tostatus. Others think that he did go to Seir, though it he not recorded. It is like he purposed to go, but was otherwise warned by God; as the wise men were, {Mat 2:12} or necessarily hindered, as St Paul was in many of his intended journeys.
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 We do not read that Jacob did according to…
We do not read that Jacob did according to this promise or insinuation go to Seir; either therefore he changed his first intentions for some weighty reasons, or upon warning from God; or he used this only as a pretence, which we should not too easily believe of so good a man, especially after such dangers and deliverances; or rather he did perform this promise, though the Scripture be silent of it, as it is of many other historical passages, and as it is here concerning Jacob’s visiting of his father Isaac, which is not mentioned till ten years after this time; and yet it is utterly incredible that Jacob should be so near to his dear and worthy father for so long a time together, and not once give him a visit.
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 Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before…
Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant,.... He desired in a very respectable manner that he would not keep his pace in complaisance to him, but proceed on in his journey, and go on with his men, and he with his family and flocks would follow after as fast as he could, and their circumstances would admit of:
and I will lead on softly; slowly, gently, easily, step by step:
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according as the cattle that goeth before me, and the children be able to endure; or "according to the foot" (s) of them; of the cattle, whom he calls the "work" (t), because his business lay in the care of them, and these were the chief of his substance; and of the children, as the feet of each of them were able to travel; or because of them, for the sake of them, as Aben Ezra, consulting their strength, he proposed to move on gently, like both a wise, careful, and tender father of his family, and shepherd of his flock:
until I come unto my lord unto Seir; whither, no doubt, he intended to come when he parted with Esau; but for reasons which after appeared to him he declined it: or more probably he did go thither then, or quickly after; though the Scripture makes no mention of it, he might go with some of his servants directly, and send his family, flocks, and herds, under the care of other servants, forward on their journey, and quickly come up to them again; for that he should tell a lie is not likely, nor does he seem to be under any temptation to it: and besides, it would have been dangerous to have disobliged his brother when on his borders, who could easily have come upon him again with four hundred men, and picked a quarrel with him for breach of promise, and destroyed him and his at once.
(s) "ad pedem", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius, Cartwright. (t) "operis", Montanus, Munster, Fagius, Drusius, Cartwright, Schmidt.
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. Until I come unto my lord unto…
Verse 14. Until I come unto my lord unto Seir.] It is very likely that Jacob was perfectly sincere in his expressed purpose of visiting Esau at Seir, but it is as likely that circumstances afterwards occurred that rendered it either improper or impracticable; and we find that Esau afterwards removed to Canaan, and he and Jacob dwelt there together for several years. See Ge 36:6.
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 33:14. Until I come unto my lord, to…
Gen 33:14. Until I come unto my lord, to mount Seir — As no mention is made of it, many writers think, that, for some reasons, Jacob never went to mount Seir to see Esau. Certainly it is very doubtful whether he ever did. It cannot be supposed however, that he would delay so long as the time mentioned in the twenty-fifth chapter before he went to see his father.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain In Seir; not immediately, but as soon as it…
In Seir; not immediately, but as soon as it might be convenient. This time perhaps never arrived. (St. Augustine, q. 106.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain until I come unto my lord--It seems to have…
until I come unto my lord--It seems to have been Jacob's intention, passing round the Dead Sea, to visit his brother in Seir, and thus, without crossing the Jordan, go to Beer-sheba to Isaac; but he changed his plan, and whether the intention was carried out then or at a future period has not been recorded.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 14. I will lead on softly — That is,…
14. I will lead on softly — That is, I will proceed gently.
According as the cattle — Hebrews, according to the foot of the work; that is, the possessions acquired by my work. The English version, though not literal, gives the real meaning.
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Until I come… unto Seir — These words naturally give the impression that Jacob promises to move steadily along until he should reach Mt. Seir; but as soon as Esau departs, he proceeds to Shechem, and never went to Seir at all. But a little reflection will show the impropriety of construing his action thus. Esau was probably not yet settled in Mount Seir, (see note on Gen_32:3,) but, during this interview, had told Jacob of his acquisitions and of his purpose to remove thither; and Jacob’s promise to visit him there was necessarily indefinite as to time. The brothers met again at the burial of their father Isaac. Gen_35:29.
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 14. softly] Lit. “according to my gentleness,” i.e. at…
14. softly] Lit. “according to my gentleness,” i.e. at a quiet and leisurely rate.
according to the pace of the cattle] Lit. “of the property” in herds and flocks (m’lâ’cah, as in Exo_22:7; Exo_22:10; 1Sa_15:9).
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unto Seir] Jacob here implies that he was intending to visit his brother in Seir. He has no intention of settling there, and at the most he expresses a courteous hope of a temporary sojourn.
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) According as the cattle . . . —Rather,…
(14) According as the cattle . . . —Rather, according to the pace—Heb., foot—of the cattle that is before me, and according to the pace of the children. Joseph was only six or seven years old; and Leah’s two younger sons, and probably Zilpah’s, were too tender to endure much fatigue.
Unto Seir.—This implies a purpose of visiting Esau in his new acquisition, not carried out probably because Esau did not as yet settle there, but returned to Hebron to his father.
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 Let my lord, I pray thee, it is perhaps…
Let my lord, I pray thee, it is perhaps too much to explain Jacob"s obsequious and deferential address to his brother (my lord) as the sign of a guilty conscience (Kalisch, Alford), when possibly politeness and humility will sufficepass over not cross the Jordan (Afford), since Esau was not journeying to Canaan; but simply pass on, as in ver. 3before his servant: and I will lead on softly (literally, I will go on at my slow pace), according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure, literally, according to the foot, i.e. the pace, of the property (here, cattle), and according to the foot of the children; i.e. as fast as flocks and children can be made with safety to traveluntil I come unto my lord unto Seir. It is apparent that Jacob at first intended to accept Esau"s invitation to visit him at Seir, either immediately (Clericus, Kalisch), or, as is more probable, afterwards (Keil, Murphy, "Speaker"s Commentary"), though, if afterwards, the historian has preserved no record of any such journey, while, if presently such was his intention, he must have been providentially led, from some cause not mentioned, to alter his determination (Bush, Inglis, Clarke), unless we either think that he really went to Seir, though it is not here stated (Patrick), or entertain the, in the circumstances, almost incredible hypothesis that Jacob practiced a deception on his generous brother in order to get rid of him, by promising what he never meant to fulfill, viz., to visit him at Mount Seir (Calvin), or leave it doubtful whether it is the old Jacob or the new Israel who speaks (Lange).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.