Genesis Chapter 32 verse 3 Holy Bible
And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the field of Edom.
read chapter 32 in ASV
Now Jacob sent servants before him to Esau, his brother, in the land of Seir, the country of Edom;
read chapter 32 in BBE
And Jacob sent messengers before his face to Esau his brother, into the land of Seir, the fields of Edom.
read chapter 32 in DARBY
And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
read chapter 32 in KJV
And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother, to the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
read chapter 32 in WBT
Jacob sent messengers in front of him to Esau, his brother, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom.
read chapter 32 in WEB
And Jacob sendeth messengers before him unto Esau his brother, towards the land of Seir, the field of Edom,
read chapter 32 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 3. - And Jacob sent messengers (with the messengers of Jacob, the messengers of Elohim form a contrast which can scarcely have been accidental) before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, - vide on Genesis 14:6. Seir, nearly equivalent in force to Esau (Ewald), and meaning the rough or bristling mountain (Gesenius), was originally occupied by the Horites, but afterwards became the seat of Esau and his descendants (Deuteronomy 2:4; 2 Chronicles 20:10), though as yet Esau had not withdrawn from Canaan (Genesis 36:5-8) - the country (literally, plain or level tract = Padan (male Hoses 12:13) of Edom, as it was afterwards called.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English ReadersJACOB'S RECONCILIATION WITH ESAU.(Genesis 32:3 to Genesis 33:16.)(3) Jacob sent messengers.--As Jacob travelled homewards to Hebron the news somehow reached him that Esau, at the head of a large body of retainers, was engaged in an expedition against the Horites. These, as we have seen on Genesis 14:6, were a miserable race of cave-men, utterly unable to cope with Esau and his trained servants. We learn from Genesis 36:6 that Esau's home was still with Isaac at Hebron, and probably this was a mere marauding expedition, like that against the people of Gath, which a century later cost Ephraim the lives of so many of his sons (1Chronicles 7:21); but it revealed to Esau the weakness of the in habitants, and also that the land was admirably adapted for his favourite pursuit of hunting. He seems also to have taken a Horite wife (Genesis 36:5), and being thus connected with the country, upon Isaac's death he willingly removed into it, and it then became "the country," Heb. the field of Edom. Its other name, Seir, i.e. rough, hairy, shows that it was then covered with forests, and the term field that it was an uncultivated region. It was entirely in the spirit of the adventurous Esau to make this expedition, and on his father's death to prefer this wild land to the peaceful pastures at Hebron, where he was surrounded by powerful tribes of Amorites and Hittites. The land of Seir was a hundred miles distant from Mahanaim, but Esau apparently had been moving up through what were afterwards the countries of Moab and Ammon, and was probably, when Jacob sent his messengers, at no very great distance. At all events, Jacob remained at Mahanaim till his brother was near, when he crossed the brook Jabbok, and went to meet him. . . .
