Genesis 32:16-18
Authorized (King James) Version
16 And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove. 17 And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee? 18 then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob’s; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is behind us.
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Genesis 32:16-18
New English Translation
16 He entrusted them to[a] his servants, who divided them into herds.[b] He told his servants, “Pass over before me, and keep some distance between one herd and the next.” 17 He instructed the servant leading the first herd,[c] “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘To whom do you belong?[d] Where are you going? Whose herds are you driving?’[e] 18 then you must say,[f] ‘They belong[g] to your servant Jacob.[h] They have been sent as a gift to my lord Esau.[i] In fact Jacob himself is behind us.’”[j]
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- Genesis 32:16 tn Heb “and he put them in the hand of.”
- Genesis 32:16 tn Heb “a herd, a herd, by itself,” or “each herd by itself.” The distributive sense is expressed by repetition.
- Genesis 32:17 tn Heb “the first”; this has been specified as “the servant leading the first herd” in the translation for clarity.
- Genesis 32:17 tn Heb “to whom are you?”
- Genesis 32:17 tn Heb “and to whom are these before you?”
- Genesis 32:18 tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive; it has the nuance of an imperfect of instruction.
- Genesis 32:18 tn The words “they belong” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Genesis 32:18 tn Heb “to your servant, to Jacob.”
- Genesis 32:18 tn Heb “to my lord, to Esau.”
- Genesis 32:18 tn Heb “and look, also he [is] behind us.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
KJV reproduced by permission of Cambridge University Press, the Crown’s patentee in the UK.
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