XXX.

YA'AQÔB PREPARES TO MEET HIS BROTHER.1

XXXII. 3 And Ya'aqôb sent messengers before him to 'Êsav his brother, unto the land of Sê'îr, the field of Edôm.

4 And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye say unto my lord 'Êsâv; Thus saith thy servant Ya'aqôb, I have sojourned with Lâbân, and stayed until now :

5 And I have oxen, and asses, and flocks, and male and female slaves: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.

6 And the messengers returned to Ya'aqôb, saying, We came to thy brother 'Êsâv, and moreover he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.

7 Then Ya'aqôb was greatly afraid and was distressed and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two companies;

8 And he said, If 'Êsâv come to the one company, and smite it, then the company which is left shall escape.

9 And Ya'aqôb said, O God of my father Abrâhâm, and God of my father Yiçe'hâq, O Yahveh, which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will do thee good:

1 The whole of this narrative is the Jehovist's own. He has not made any use of the older work he made use of in his account of Ya'aqôb. Verse xxxii. 7 in fact gives a different origin for the name of the locality of Mâ'hanâîm to that set forth in chap. xxxii. 2.

10 I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies, and of all the truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Yardên; and now I am become two companies.

11 Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of 'Êsâv; for I fear him, lest he come and smite me, the mother with the children.

12 And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

13 And he lodged there that night; and took of that which he had with him a present for 'Êsâv his brother;

14 Two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,

15 Thirty milch camels and their colts, forty kine and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and ten foals.

16 And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove.

17 And he commanded the foremost, saying, When 'Ésâv my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou, and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee?

18 Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Ya'aqôb's; it is a present sent unto my lord 'Êsâv: and, behold, he also is behind us.

19 And he commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto 'Êsâv, when ye find him; 20 And ye shall say, Moreover, behold thy servant

Ya'aqôb is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept me.

21 So the present passed over before him and he himself lodged that night in the company.

22 And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two handmaids, and his eleven children, and passed over the ford of the Yabbôk.

23 And he took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that he had.

XXXI.

YA'AQOB WRESTLES WITH ELOHIM.1

XXXII. 24 And Ya'aqôb was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.

25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Ya'aqôb's thigh was strained as he wrestled with him.

26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.

27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Ya'aqôb.

1 It is not possible to doubt that this narrative was part of the Jehovist's document, but he has taken it bodily from that older document which is sometimes called the work of the second Elohist,' sometimes of the theocratical narrator.'

28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Ya'aqôb, but Yisrâêl, for thou hast striven with Elôhîm (ki saritha 'im-Elôhîm) and with men, and hast prevailed.

29 And Ya'aqôb asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.

30 And Ya'aqôb called the name of the place PenyÊl; for, said he, I have seen Elôhîm face to face, and my life is preserved.

31 And the sun rose upon him as he passed over Peny-Êl, and he halted upon his thigh.

XXXII.

MEETING OF YA'AQÔB AND 'ÊSÂV.1

XXXIII. 1 And Ya'aqôb lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, 'Êsâv came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Lêâh, and unto Ra'hêl, and unto the two handmaids.

2 And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Lêáh and her children after, and Ra'hêl and Yoseph hindermost.

3 And he himself passed over before them, and

1 Here again the Jehovist has used the older document, in which God is called Elôhîm, and has preserved the greater portion of the narrative. The passages in which peculiarities of language place the preservation of an older text (emanating from a different writer to the Jehovist) beyond doubt, are printed in italics.

bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

4 And 'Êsâv ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.

5 And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are these with thee? And he said, The children which Elohim hath graciously given thy servant.

6 Then the handmaids came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves.

7 And Lêâh also and her children came near, and bowed themselves; and after came Yôsêph near and Ra'hêl, and they bowed themselves.

8 And he said, What meanest thou by all this company which I met? And he said, To find And he said, To find grace in the

sight of my lord.

9 And 'Êsâv said, I have enough; my brother, let

that thou hast be thine.

10 And Ya'aqôb said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand; forasmuch as I have seen thy face, as one seeth the face of Elôhîm, and thou wast pleased with me.

11 Take, I pray thee, my gift that is brought to thee: because Elohim hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it.

12 And he said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee.

13 And he said unto him, My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and that the flocks and herds with me

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