| Genesis 33:1
| And Jacob lifting up his eyes,* saw Esau coming, and with him four hundred men: and he divided the children of Lia and of Rachel, and of the two handmaids.
| Year of the World 2265.
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| Genesis 33:2
| And he put both the handmaids and their children foremost: and Lia and her children in the second place: and Rachel and Joseph last.
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| Genesis 33:3
| And he went forward and bowed down with his face to the ground seven times, until his brother came near.
| Forward, before his family; like a good father, exposing himself to the greatest danger. (Menochius) --- Seven times, to testify his great humility and respect for his brother. How, then, can any one find fault with Catholics, if they bow down before the cross thrice on Good Friday, to testify their great veneration for their expiring Lord?
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| Genesis 33:4
| Then Esau ran to meet his brother, and embraced him: and clasping him fast about the neck, and kissing him, wept.
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| Genesis 33:5
| And lifting up his eyes, he saw the women and their children, and said: What mean these? And do they belong to thee? He answered: They are the children which God hath given to me, thy servant.
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| Genesis 33:6
| Then the handmaids and their children came near and bowed themselves.
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| Genesis 33:7
| Lia also, with her children, came near and bowed down in like manner; and last of all Joseph and Rachel bowed down.
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| Genesis 33:8
| And Esau said: What are the droves that I met? He answered: That I might find favor before my lord.
| Favour. Esau had already heard from the servants. But he asks again, meaning to excuse himself from receiving them. (Haydock) --- This civil and unexpected behaviour, filled the breast of Jacob with such gratitude and love, that he made use of an hyperbole, I have seen, etc. ...of God. Chaldean, "of a prince," Syriac, "of an angel," Elohim. See 2 Kings 19:27; Esther 15:16. (Calmet) --- A little present. Hebrew monee, or mincha, calculated to shew the subjection of the giver. (Menochius)
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| Genesis 33:9
| But he said: I have plenty, my brother, keep what is thine for thyself.
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| Genesis 33:10
| And Jacob said: Do not so I beseech thee, but if I have found favor in thy eyes, receive a little present at my hands: for I have seen thy face, as if I should have seen the countenance of God: be gracious to me,
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| Genesis 33:11
| And take the blessing which I have brought thee, and which God hath given me, who giveth all things. He took it with much ado at his brother's earnest pressing him,
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| Genesis 33:12
| And said: Let us go on together, and I will accompany thee in thy journey.
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| Genesis 33:13
| And Jacob said: My lord, thou knowest that I have with me tender children, and sheep, and kine with young: which if I should cause to be over-driven, in one day all the flocks will die.
| Young, boves foetus, giving milk, having calved lately, Seputagint. (Bochart.) (Calmet)
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| Genesis 33:14
| May it please my lord to go before his servant: and I will follow softly after him, as I shall see my children to be able, until I come to my lord in Seir.
| In Seir; not immediately, but as soon as it might be convenient. This time perhaps never arrived. (St. Augustine, q. 106.)
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| Genesis 33:15
| Esau answered: I beseech thee, that some of the people, at least, who are with me, may stay to accompany thee in the way. And he said: There is no necessity: I want nothing else but only to find favor, my lord, in thy sight.
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| Genesis 33:16
| So Esau returned that day, the way that he came, to Seir.
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| Genesis 33:17
| And Jacob came to Socoth: where having built a house, and pitched tents, he called the name of the place Socoth, that is, Tents.
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| Genesis 33:18
| And he passed over to Salem, a city of the Sichemites, which is in the land of Chanaan, after he returned from Mesopotamia of Syria: and he dwelt by the town.
| The town of Salem, which was the first town of Chanaan that he came near since his return. It was afterwards called Sichem, and Sichar, John 4:5, and Naplosa. Salim, mentioned John 3:23, was probably more to the east. Some translate, "He came quite sound to the city of Sichem;" where, Demetrius says, he dwelt ten years, Eusebius, praep. 9:21, having stopped at Socoth six months. (Calmet) --- This seems very probable, as Dina met with her misfortune a little before he left the country; and as she was six years old when she came from Haran, she would be about 15 when she began to go a visiting, etc., Genesis 34:1. (Haydock)
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| Genesis 33:19
| And he bought that part of the field, in which he pitched his tents, of the children of Hemor, the father of Sichem, for a hundred lambs.
| Lambs. Hebrew, Kossite, or Kesita, a word which occurs also, Josue 26:32[xxiv. 32?], and Job 42:11; and may signify lambs, or a species of money, marked perhaps with their figure. It may also denote pearls, coral, a vessel, or purse of good money. St. Stephen, Acts 7:19[16?], mentions the price of money. But he probably speaks of the bargain made by Abraham with Ephron, son of Heth, for which some have substituted Hemor, the son of Sichem. Kista in the Chaldean means a vessel or measure; and we learn from Herodotus 3:130, that the Persians were accustomed to keep their money in this manner. In the Chaldean, Syriac, and Arabic languages, there are words derived from the same root as Kesita, which mean purity, perfection; and thus what Jacob gave was good current money; (Calmet) or such things as were received among merchants.
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| Genesis 33:20
| And raising an altar there, he invoked upon it the most mighty God of Israel.
| The most, etc. El Elohe Yisrael. By this name he dignified the altar, consecrating his field and all his possessions to God, and acknowledging that all was his gift. (Haydock)
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