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Genesis 33:3
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Jacob and Esau Meet

1 Now Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and there, aEsau was coming, and with him were four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants.  
2 And he put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children behind, and Rachel and Joseph last.
3 Then he crossed over before them and abowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.  
4 aBut Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, band fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.  
5 And he lifted his eyes and saw the women and children, and said, “Who are these with you?” So he said, “The children awhom God has graciously given your servant.”  
6 Then the maidservants came near, they and their children, and bowed down.
7 And Leah also came near with her children, and they bowed down. Afterward Joseph and Rachel came near, and they bowed down.
8 Then Esau said, “What do you mean by aall this company which I met?” And he said, “These are bto find favor in the sight of my lord.”  
9 But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.”
Commentaries:


No entry exists in Forerunner Commentary for Genesis 33:3.

Genesis 33:3-7

Keep in mind that this was before Benjamin was born.

There is an order there. You cannot miss the difference. The way Jacob arranged the family with the maidservants and their children, then Leah and her children, then Rachel and Joseph. And Joseph is at the very end. Now, when they stepped forward to meet Esau, it is reversed. It is Joseph and Rachel.

Why a change in that order? It is so easy to miss unless you are analyzing it as we are right now. Why would Joseph step out of the order in which Jacob had placed him? Joseph stepped forward to protect his mom, most likely. He was worried that Esau might not receive them peacefully. He was a young man at this point, and so the message was “Look, but don’t touch.” He wanted to protect her. Joseph is exhibiting, right from the beginning there, leadership qualities.

Excerpted from Outside the Normal Pattern of Order

 
<< Genesis 33:2   Genesis 33:4 >>

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