For the sake of the children?

(12) And [Esau] said, “Let us start on our journey, and I will proceed at your pace.” (13) But he said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail and that the flocks and herds, which are nursing, are a care to me; if they are driven hard a single day, all the flocks will die. (14) Let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I travel slowly, at the pace of the cattle before me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.” (15) Then Esau said, “Let me assign to you some of the men who are with me.” But he said, “Oh no, my lord is too kind to me!” (16) So Esau started back that day on his way to Seir. (17) But Jacob journeyed on to Succoth, and built a house for himself and made stalls for his cattle; that is why the place was called Succoth. (18) Jacob arrived safe in the city of Shechem which is in the land of Canaan—having come thus from Paddan-aram—and he encamped before the city. (19) The parcel of land where he pitched his tent he purchased from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred kesitahs. (20) He set up an altar there, and called it El-elohe-yisrael.

(4) And the fear and terror of Jacob fell over his brother Esau; for Esau was in great fear of Jacob ‎on account of what the angels of God had done unto him, and Esau’s anger against Jacob ‎became turned into kindness. And when Esau saw Jacob running towards him Esau too ran to ‎meet him and he embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him; and they wept. And the ‎Lord filled the hearts of the men that came with Esau with fear and kindness, and they also ‎kissed and embraced Jacob. And Eliphaz the son of Esau, with his four brothers, the sons of ‎Esau, wept with Jacob, and kissed and em braced him; for the fear of Jacob had come over ‎them and Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and the children of Jacob, following ‎Jacob and bowing down before Esau on their way, and he said: Who are those with thee my ‎brother, are they thy children or thy servants? And Jacob answered: The children which God ‎Whath graciously given thy servant. And while Jacob was speaking with Esau and his men, Esau ‎beheld the entire camp and he asked him: Whence didst thou get all the camp that I met ‎yesterday? And Jacob answered: To find grace in the eyes of my lord, the Lord graciously gave ‎it to thy servant. And when the present came before them Jacob urged Esau saying: Take, I ‎pray thee my blessing that is brought to thee, my lord! But Esau said: What is it good for, my ‎brother? Keep that thou hast unto thyself, for it was my duty to give a gift unto thee, after ‎that I have seen thy face and thou art still alive and in peace. Thus Esau refused to accept the ‎gift, but Jacob pressed him, saying: I beseech thee my lord, if now I have found grace in thy ‎sight then receive my present at my hand; for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I have ‎seen the face of God and thou wast pleased with me. And Esau took the present, and Jacob ‎further gave unto Esau silver, and gold, and bdellium, for he urged him so much that he had to ‎accept. And Esau divided the cattle that was in the camp, giving one-half to the men that came ‎with him, for they came on hire, and the other half to his sons. And the silver and gold and ‎bdellium he delivered into the hands of Eliphaz his oldest son. And Esau said unto Jacob: Let ‎me take our journey with thee and we will go along slowly until thou comest to my place and ‎there we can dwell together. And Jacob answered unto his brother: I should gladly do as my ‎lord speaketh unto me, but my lord knoweth that the children are tender, and the flocks and ‎herds with their young are with me; and if men should overdrive them one day all the flock ‎would die. Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant, and I will lead on softly ‎according to what the cattle, that goeth before me, and the children be able to endure, until I ‎come unto my lord into Seir. And Esau said: Let me now leave with thee some of the men that ‎are with me, to take care of thee on the road, and to bear thy burden and fatigue. And Jacob ‎said: Why should I find such grace in thy eyes, my lord? Behold I will come unto Seir to dwell ‎with thee together, as thou hast spoken, only pass thou on with thy people, and I shall follow ‎thee. And Jacob said these words unto Esau simply to free himself from Esau and his men, that ‎he might be allowed to go to his father's house, unto the land of Canaan. And Esau listened to ‎the voice of Jacob and he departed with the four hundred men that. were with him to return ‎on their road towards Seir; and Jacob with all belonging to him went on that very day to the ‎extreme boundaries of the land of Canaan, and he remained there for some time.‎

(1) כי הילדים רכים, “for the children are frail;” when speaking of the flocks, Yaakov had expressed the fear that they die if rushed;” we find reference to something like this in Job 21,11: וילדיהן ירקדון, “and their children skip about.” Yaakov’s wives and children were riding slowly on camels. (Compare 31,17.) (2) עד אשר אבוא אל אדוני שעירה, “until I shall join up with my lord in Seir. Yaakov meant that once he had settled his wives and children and had made suitable arrangements for his flocks and herds, he would visit his brother in his homeland, Seir. At that time there would be an opportunity to celebrate their reunion with joy. (1) וישב ביום ההוא עשו, “on that day Esau returned;” according to Rashi, from this verse we derive that the four hundred men who had formed Esau’s entourage had simply melted away, seeing Esau is described as returning alone. They had clearly still been with him in verse 15. (1) ויבא יעשב שלם, “Yaakov arrived intact at Shalem; he arrived at a town named Shalem, a suburb of Sh’chem, named after the ruler of that region. We find similar examples of capitals being identified with the names of their respective rulers, such as in Numbers 21,26, Sichon and Cheshbon. A different interpretation: The place called Shalem was actually the city Sh’chem. As long as Yaakov had not suffered the indignity of Dinah’s rape, his return to the land of Canaan, had been shalem, perfect, without incident. The “Shalem” mentioned here is not the same as the one we have heard about in Genesis 14, i.e. Jerusalem, over which Malki Tzedek was king, but it is identical with Sh’chem, a town never called Jerusalem. (2) ויחן את פני העיר, “he encamped next to the city.” One reason was that he had too many possessions to be absorbed inside the city, and he did not feel comfortable about mingling with the inhabitants of that city.

(3) ודפקום, if they were to be pushed (rushed), Yaakov explained that if his shepherds were to rush these animals even for a single day the sheep would all die from exhaustion. [the author understands Yaakov as telling Esau that “too much can be too little, sometimes.” This is why he quotes Isaiah 30,20. Ed.] In that verse the prophet explains that when G’d provides לחם צר ומים לחץ, “meager bread and scant water,” this is a promise and not a punishment. Too much of a good thing would be counterproductive, would ruin the health of recipient. Hence it is better for the sheep not to travel too fast.