1 Jacob looked up and, behold, Esau was coming, and with him were four hundred men. Jacob divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants. 2 Then he put the female servants and their children in front, followed by Leah and her children, and followed by Rachel and Joseph last of all. 3 He himself went on ahead of them. He bowed toward the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. 4 Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, hugged his neck, and kissed him. Then they wept. 5 When Esau looked up, he saw the women and the children. He said, “Who are these people with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” 6 Then the female servants came forward with their children, and they bowed down. 7 Next Leah also and her children came forward and bowed down. Finally Joseph and Rachel came forward and bowed down. 8 Esau said, “What do you mean by all these groups that I met?” Jacob said, “To find favor in the sight of my master.” 9 Esau said, “I have enough, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.” 10 Jacob said, “No, please, if I have found favor in your eyes, then accept my gift from my hand, for indeed, I have seen your face, and it is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me. 11 Please accept my gift that was brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” Thus Jacob urged him, and Esau accepted it. 12 Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way. I will go before you.” 13 Jacob said to him, “My master knows that the children are young, and that the sheep and the cattle are nursing their young. If they are driven hard even one day, all the animals will die. 14 Please let my master go on ahead of his servant. I will travel more slowly, at the pace of the livestock that are before me, and at the pace of the children, until I come to my master in Seir.” 15 Esau said, “Let me leave with you some of my men who are with me.” But Jacob said, “Why do that? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.” 16 So Esau that day started on his way back to Seir. 17 Jacob traveled to Succoth, built himself a house, and made shelters for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth. 18 When Jacob came from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan. He camped near the city. 19 Then he bought the piece of ground where he had pitched his tent from the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, for a hundred pieces of silver. 20 There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel.
Genesis · Unlocked Literal Bible
Genesis 33 Unlocked Literal Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Hamor
A Hivite, the prince of the region and father of Shechem, from whose sons Jacob bought the plot where he pitched his tent; he and Shechem agreed to circumcision in order to…
Cited in the guide: Genesis 33:19; Genesis 34:2; Genesis 34:6
Jacob
He wrestled with God through the night and rose as Israel, father of twelve tribes.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25–35; 46–49
Rachel
Jacob's beloved wife, mother of Joseph and Benjamin, who died in childbirth.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 29-35
Cross references (16)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Genesis 32:6–7; Genesis 27:41–42; Genesis 32:16
- 2 Malachi 3:17; Genesis 30:22–24; Genesis 37:3; Genesis 29:30
- 3 Genesis 42:6; Luke 14:11; Genesis 18:2; Genesis 43:26; Ecclesiastes 10:4
- 4 Genesis 45:14–15; Psalm 34:4; Luke 15:20; Genesis 32:28; Genesis 45:2
- 5 Psalm 127:3; Isaiah 8:18; Genesis 48:9; 1 Chronicles 28:5; 1 Samuel 1:27
- 8 Genesis 32:5; Genesis 39:5; Genesis 32:13–20; Esther 2:17
- 9 Genesis 27:39; Philemon 7; Proverbs 16:7; Acts 9:17; Judges 20:23
- 10 Job 33:26; Revelation 22:4; Genesis 32:30; Jeremiah 31:2; Exodus 33:12–13
- 11 Philippians 4:18; 1 Samuel 25:27; Genesis 33:9; 2 Kings 5:23; Genesis 30:43
- 13 Isaiah 40:11; Ezekiel 34:15–16; John 21:15–17; 1 Chronicles 22:5; Proverbs 12:10
- 14 Isaiah 40:11; Genesis 32:3; Romans 15:1; Ezekiel 35:2–3; Mark 4:33
- 15 Ruth 2:13; Genesis 34:11; Genesis 47:25; 1 Samuel 25:8; 2 Samuel 16:4
- 17 Psalm 60:6; Judges 8:5; Joshua 13:27; Judges 8:8; Judges 8:16
- 18 Judges 9:1; Joshua 24:1; Acts 7:16; John 4:5; Genesis 25:20
- 19 Acts 7:16; John 4:5; Joshua 24:32; Genesis 34:2–31; Genesis 23:17–20
- 20 Genesis 35:7; Genesis 21:33; Genesis 32:28; Genesis 8:20; Genesis 12:7–8
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… to have so come to pass; for those blessings which say, "Be lord over thy brother, and let thy father's sons worship thee," had no accomplishment in himself (how could they, he being in fear and trembling, and worshipping his brother over and over again? ), but in his offspring they had.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
… threescore and fifteen souls," he says, "Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he and our fathers, and were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem." (v.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 11 (1889)