βAnd he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.β
Forward, before his family; like a good father, exposing himself to the greatest danger. (Menochius) β 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?
βAnd he said, What meanest thou by all this drove which I met? And he said, These are to find grace in the sight of my lord. What: Heb. What is all this band to thee?β
Favour. Esau had already heard from the servants. But he asks again, meaning to excuse himself from receiving them. (Haydock) β 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, &c. β¦of God. Chaldean, βof a prince,β Syriac, βof an angel,β Elohim. See 2 Kings xix. 27; Esther xv. 16. (Calmet) β A little present. Hebrew monΓ©e, or mincha, calculated to shew the subjection of the giver. (Menochius)
βAnd he said unto him, My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and the flocks and herds with young are with me: and if men should overdrive them one day, all the flock will die.β
Young, boves fΕtus, giving milk, having calved lately, Seputagint. (Bochart.) (Calmet)
βLet my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure, until I come unto my lord unto Seir. according: Heb. according to the foot of the work, etc., and according to the foot of the childrenβ
In Seir; not immediately, but as soon as it might be convenient. This time perhaps never arrived. (St. Augustine, q. 106.)
βAnd Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padanaram; and pitched his tent before the city. Shechem: Gr. Sychemβ
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 iv. 5, and Naplosa. Salim, mentioned John iii. 23, was probably more to the east. Some translate, βHe came quite sound to the city of Sichem;β where, Demetrius says, he dwelt ten years, Eusebius, prΔp. ix. 21, having stopped at Socoth six months. (Calmet) β 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, &c., chap. xxxiv. 1. (Haydock)
βAnd he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for an hundred pieces of money. Hamor: Gr. Emmor pieces: or, lambsβ
Lambs. Hebrew, Kossite, or Kesita, a word which occurs also, Josue xxvi. 32[xxiv. 32?], and Job xlii. 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 vii. 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 iii. 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.
βAnd he erected there an altar, and called it Elelohe-Israel. Elelohe-Israel: that is God the God of Israelβ
The most, &c. 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)