Genesis 32:7 Commentary and Bible Study

Esau is approaching with four hundred men. This is ominous; it was enough to throw Jacob into panic. It could have been an honourable welcome, but he fears the worst. He was afraid and distressed – the Hebrew is ‘narrowed’. What should he do?Immediately he resorts to what was a reasonable method of survival: he divides the group into smaller parties. He could have turned tail and run from Esau. Yes they would have caught up, but he might have run. However he has been told by the Lord to return, and promised that God will keep him. He is not so faithless as it seems. He is evidently determined to go back to the homeland. He might have prayed first but at least he didn’t turn back. The plan is designed to save some while still obeying the Lord. In the first party he puts the maids so that if Esau acts with violence and destroys the first group, his own wives and their children, and especially Rachel, will be further back and will be able to escape. Perhaps Jacob thought that the seed royal was Joseph, but it was Judah. Is this cowardice and no faith? Splitting up this present in the hope that Esau’s attitude will be satisfied with wave after wave? Is it the callous sacrificing of others? No. He makes provision, but he is doing what he could. Jacob is praying but making whatever provision he can.