He instructed the first, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?’ then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my lord Esau. And moreover, he is behind us.’” He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, “You shall say the same thing to Esau when you find him, and you shall say, ‘Moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us.’” For he thought, “I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterward I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.” So the present passed on ahead of him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp.
The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. And Jacob was left alone.
Comment: We end this brief passage with Jacob sitting alone on one side of the River Jabbok (now called the Zarqua). His eleven children with his 2 wives and his wives servants are camped on the other side of the river between him and his approaching brother. Beyond them, stretched out over a considerable distance are five groups of very costly gifts meant as presents for the brother to divert any remaining feelings of anger and threatened murder! The people in charge of the moving ‘present/gift’ groups were told what to say if/when they met with brother Esau. Is he at peace? Is he fearful? Does he spend his time rethinking his plan? We shall see – tomorrow.
Prayer: Help me, no matter what situation I am in, to know that You are trustworthy, O my God.
As I read it! 