Book of Jasher, Chapter 32 — Jacob's Message and Prayer; the Angel Camps Terrify Esau; the Present; Jacob Wrestles; the Brothers Meet in Peace
1And at that time Jacob sent messengers to his brother Esau, toward the land of Seir, and he spoke to him words of supplication.
2And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall you say to my lord, to Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, Let not my lord imagine that my father's blessing, with which he blessed me, has proved beneficial to me.
3For I have been these twenty years with Laban, and he deceived me and changed my wages ten times, as it has all been already told to my lord.
4And I served him in his house very laboriously, and God afterward saw my affliction, my labor, and the work of my hands, and he caused me to find grace and favor in his sight.
5And I afterward, through God's great mercy and kindness, acquired oxen and donkeys and cattle, and men servants and maid servants.
6And now I am coming to my land and my home, to my father and mother, who are in the land of Canaan; and I have sent to let my lord know all this, in order to find favor in the sight of my lord, so that he may not imagine that I have of myself obtained wealth, or that the blessing with which my father blessed me has benefited me.
7And those messengers went to Esau, and found him on the borders of the land of Edom, going toward Jacob; and four hundred men of the children of Seir the Horite were standing with drawn swords.
8And the messengers of Jacob told Esau all the words that Jacob had spoken to them concerning Esau.
9And Esau answered them with pride and contempt, and said to them, Surely I have heard, and truly it has been told to me, what Jacob has done to Laban, who exalted him in his house and gave him his daughters for wives, and he fathered sons and daughters, and abundantly increased in wealth and riches in Laban's house through his means.
10And when he saw that his wealth was abundant and his riches great, he fled with all belonging to him from Laban's house, and he led Laban's daughters away from the face of their father, as captives taken by the sword, without telling him of it.
11And not only to Laban has Jacob done thus, but also to me has he done so, and has twice supplanted me — and shall I be silent?
12Now therefore I have this day come with my camps to meet him, and I will do to him according to the desire of my heart.
13And the messengers returned and came to Jacob and said to him, We came to your brother, to Esau, and we told him all your words, and thus has he answered us; and behold, he comes to meet you with four hundred men.
14Now then, know and see what you shall do, and pray before God to deliver you from him.
15And when he heard the words of his brother which he had spoken to the messengers of Jacob, Jacob was greatly afraid, and he was distressed.
16And Jacob prayed to the Lord his God, and he said, O Lord God of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, you said to me when I went away from my father's house, saying,
17I am the Lord God of your father Abraham, and the God of Isaac; to you do I give this land, and to your seed after you; and I will make your seed as the stars of heaven, and you shall spread forth to the four sides of heaven, and in you and in your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
18And you established your words, and gave to me riches and children and cattle; as the utmost wishes of my heart did you give to your servant; you gave to me all that I asked from you, so that I lacked nothing.
19And you afterward said to me, Return to your parents and to your birthplace, and I will still do well with you.
20And now that I have come, and you delivered me from Laban, I shall fall into the hands of Esau, who will slay me, yes, together with the mothers of my children.
21Now therefore, O Lord God, deliver me, I pray you, also from the hands of my brother Esau, for I am greatly afraid of him.
22And if there is no righteousness in me, do it for the sake of Abraham and my father Isaac.
23For I know that through kindness and mercy have I acquired this wealth; now therefore I beseech you to deliver me this day with your kindness, and to answer me.
24And Jacob ceased praying to the Lord, and he divided the people that were with him, with the flocks and cattle, into two camps; and he gave the half into the care of Damesek, the son of Eliezer, Abraham's servant, for a camp with his children, and the other half he gave into the care of his brother Elianus the son of Eliezer, to be for a camp with his children.
25And he commanded them, saying, Keep yourselves at a distance with your camps, and do not come too near each other; and if Esau comes to one camp and slays it, the other camp at a distance from it will escape him.
26And Jacob stayed there that night, and during the whole night he gave his servants instructions concerning the forces and his children.
27And the Lord heard the prayer of Jacob on that day, and the Lord then delivered Jacob from the hands of his brother Esau.
28And the Lord sent three angels of the angels of heaven, and they went before Esau and came to him.
29And these angels appeared to Esau and his people as two thousand men riding upon horses, furnished with all sorts of war instruments; and they appeared in the sight of Esau and all his men to be divided into four camps, with four chiefs over them.
30And one camp went on, and they found Esau coming with four hundred men toward his brother Jacob; and this camp ran toward Esau and his people and terrified them, and Esau fell off the horse in alarm, and all his men separated from him in that place, for they were greatly afraid.
31And the whole of the camp shouted after them when they fled from Esau, and all the warlike men answered, saying,
32Surely we are the servants of Jacob, who is the servant of God, and who then can stand against us? And Esau said to them, O then, my lord and brother Jacob is your lord, whom I have not seen for these twenty years; and now that I have this day come to see him, do you treat me in this manner?
33And the angels answered him, saying, As the Lord lives, were not Jacob, of whom you speak, your brother, we would not have let one remain from you and your people; but only on account of Jacob we will do nothing to them.
34And this camp passed on from Esau and his men, and it went away; and Esau and his men had gone from them about a league when the second camp came toward him with all sorts of weapons, and they also did to Esau and his men as the first camp had done to them.
35And when they had left off, to go on, behold, the third camp came toward him, and they were all terrified, and Esau fell off the horse, and the whole camp cried out and said, Surely we are the servants of Jacob, who is the servant of God, and who can stand against us?
36And Esau again answered them, saying, O then, Jacob my lord and your lord is my brother, and for twenty years I have not seen his countenance; and hearing this day that he was coming, I went this day to meet him — and do you treat me in this manner?
37And they answered him, and said to him, As the Lord lives, were not Jacob your brother, as you said, we would not have left a remnant from you and your men; but on account of Jacob, of whom you speak, being your brother, we will not meddle with you or your men.
38And the third camp also passed on from them, and he still continued his road with his men toward Jacob, when the fourth camp came toward him, and they also did to him and his men as the others had done.
39And when Esau beheld the evil which the four angels had done to him and to his men, he became greatly afraid of his brother Jacob, and he went to meet him in peace.
40And Esau concealed his hatred against Jacob, because he was afraid for his life on account of his brother Jacob, and because he imagined that the four camps that he had come upon were Jacob's servants.
41And Jacob stayed that night with his servants in their camps, and he resolved with his servants to give to Esau a present from all that he had with him, and from all his property; and Jacob rose up in the morning, he and his men, and they chose from among the cattle a present for Esau.
42And this is the amount of the present which Jacob chose from his flock to give to his brother Esau: he selected two hundred and forty head from the flocks, and he selected from the camels and donkeys thirty each, and of the herds he chose fifty cows.
43And he put them all in ten droves, and he placed each sort by itself, and he delivered them into the hands of ten of his servants, each drove by itself.
44And he commanded them, and said to them, Keep yourselves at a distance from each other, and put a space between the droves; and when Esau and those who are with him meet you and ask you, saying, Whose are you, and where do you go, and to whom belongs all this before you? — you shall say to them, We are the servants of Jacob, and we come to meet Esau in peace, and behold, Jacob comes behind us.
45And that which is before us is a present sent from Jacob to his brother Esau.
46And if they say to you, Why does he delay behind you, from coming to meet his brother and to see his face? — then you shall say to them, Surely he comes joyfully behind us to meet his brother, for he said, I will appease him with the present that goes before him, and after this I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.
47So the whole present passed on in the hands of his servants, and went before him on that day; and he lodged that night with his camps by the border of the brook of Jabuk; and he rose up in the midst of the night, and he took his wives and his maid servants, and all belonging to him, and he that night passed them over the ford Jabuk.
48And when he had passed all belonging to him over the brook, Jacob was left by himself, and a man met him, and he wrestled with him that night until the breaking of the day; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was put out of joint through wrestling with him.
49And at the break of day the man left Jacob there, and he blessed him and went away; and Jacob passed the brook at the break of day, and he limped upon his thigh.
50And the sun rose upon him when he had passed the brook, and he came up to the place of his cattle and children.
51And they went on till midday, and while they were going, the present was passing on before them.
52And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was at a distance, coming along with many men, about four hundred, and Jacob was greatly afraid of his brother.
53And Jacob hastened and divided his children among his wives and his handmaids; and his daughter Dinah he put in a chest, and delivered her into the hands of his servants.
54And he passed before his children and wives to meet his brother, and he bowed down to the ground; yes, he bowed down seven times until he approached his brother; and God caused Jacob to find grace and favor in the sight of Esau and his men, for God had heard the prayer of Jacob.
55And the fear of Jacob and his terror fell upon his brother Esau, for Esau was greatly afraid of Jacob because of what the angels of God had done to Esau, and Esau's anger against Jacob was turned into kindness.
56And when Esau saw Jacob running toward him, he also ran toward him and he embraced him, and he fell upon his neck, and they kissed, and they wept.
57And God put fear and kindness toward Jacob in the hearts of the men that came with Esau, and they also kissed Jacob and embraced him.
58And also Eliphaz, the son of Esau, with his four brothers, sons of Esau, wept with Jacob, and they kissed him and embraced him, for the fear of Jacob had fallen upon them all.
59And Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women with their offspring, the children of Jacob, walking behind Jacob and bowing along the road to Esau.
60And Esau said to Jacob, Who are these with you, my brother? are they your children or your servants? and Jacob answered Esau and said, They are my children, which God has graciously given to your servant.
61And while Jacob was speaking to Esau and his men, Esau beheld the whole camp, and he said to Jacob, From where did you get the whole of the camp that I met last night? and Jacob said, To find favor in the sight of my lord — it is that which God graciously gave to your servant.
62And the present came before Esau, and Jacob pressed Esau, saying, Take, I pray you, the present that I have brought to my lord; and Esau said, For what purpose is this to me? keep that which you have to yourself.
63And Jacob said, It is incumbent upon me to give all this, since I have seen your face, that you still live in peace.
64And Esau refused to take the present, and Jacob said to him, I beseech you, my lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, then receive my present at my hand; for I have therefore seen your face, as though I had seen a god-like face, because you were pleased with me.
65And Esau took the present, and Jacob also gave to Esau silver and gold and bdellium, for he pressed him so much that he took them.
66And Esau divided the cattle that were in the camp, and he gave the half to the men who had come with him, for they had come on hire, and the other half he delivered into the hands of his children.
67And the silver and gold and bdellium he gave into the hands of Eliphaz his eldest son; and Esau said to Jacob, Let us remain with you, and we will go slowly along with you until you come to my place with me, that we may dwell there together.
68And Jacob answered his brother and said, I would do as my lord speaks to me, but my lord knows that the children are tender, and the flocks and herds with their young that are with me go but slowly; for if they went swiftly they would all die, for you know their burdens and their fatigue.
69Therefore let my lord pass on before his servant, and I will go on slowly for the sake of the children and the flock, until I come to my lord's place, to Seir.
70And Esau said to Jacob, I will place with you some of the people that are with me, to take care of you on the road, and to bear your fatigue and burden; and he said, What need is there of it, my lord, if I may find grace in your sight?
71Behold, I will come to you to Seir, to dwell there together as you have spoken; go then with your people, for I will follow you.
72And Jacob said this to Esau in order to remove Esau and his men from him, so that Jacob might afterward go to his father's house, to the land of Canaan.
73And Esau listened to the voice of Jacob, and Esau returned with the four hundred men that were with him on their road to Seir; and Jacob and all belonging to him went that day as far as the extremity of the land of Canaan on its borders, and he remained there some time.