“But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept.” Genesis 33:4
The more literal Hebrew text of Genesis 33:4:
וַיָּרָץ עֵשָׂו לִקְרָאתוֹ וַיְחַבְּקֵהוּ וַיִּפֹּל עַל־צַוָּארָיו וַיִּשָּׁקֵהוּ וַיִּבְכּוּ׃
"But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept."
"Fell On His Neck"
“Fell on his neck” is a Hebrew idiom that appears other times in the Old Testament (for example, Genesis 45:14, Genesis 46:29) and Luke 15:20 in the parable of the prodigal son in the Gospels. It conveys:
- Physical closeness: A full, heartfelt embrace, not a formal or distant greeting.
- Emotional intensity: The action is spontaneous and passionate, showing that Esau’s anger had melted away and was replaced by brotherly affection.
- Reconciliation: It’s a visible sign that the relationship is restored and that Esau has forgiven Jacob.
If you recall, When Jacob sent messengers ahead to Esau, they returned with the report: “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you—and four hundred men with him.”
When Jacob heard that Esau was coming to meet him with four hundred men, he was greatly afraid and distressed. He immediately took several precautionary and strategic actions:
- Divided his people and possessions: Jacob split his family, servants, and flocks into two camps, reasoning that if Esau attacked one group, the other might escape.
- Prayed for deliverance: Jacob earnestly prayed to God for protection, reminding God of His promises and expressing his fear of Esau's potential revenge.
- Prepared a large gift: Jacob assembled an enormous gift of livestock to send ahead to Esau, hoping to appease him and soften his approach.
- Arranged his family by importance: As Esau approached, Jacob positioned his maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel with Joseph last, placing those dearest to him farthest from potential danger.
- Humbled himself: Jacob went ahead of his family and bowed to the ground seven times as he approached Esau, showing humility and respect.
These actions show Jacob’s deep anxiety, careful planning, and reliance on both practical measures and divine help in the face of a potentially hostile encounter with Esau and his men.
However, when the brothers finally met, Esau’s actions were unexpectedly warm and forgiving— Esau ran to Jacob, embraced him, and wept, showing that his intentions were not hostile at that moment.
This response—running, embracing, kissing, and weeping—shows a genuine softening of Esau’s heart. Despite Jacob’s fears that Esau might still be angry or vengeful, Esau responds with open affection and forgiveness, not hostility. Many commentators and interpreters highlight this moment as evidence that Esau’s anger had dissipated and his heart was moved with compassion and love toward his brother before they actually got together.
If Esau's original intentions were to show forgiveness and love to his brother, he would have forwarded a reassuring message to his brother Jacob through either his own messengers or with the messengers that Jacob sent.
In addition, Esau would not have needed to show as much military strength. Surely Esau had advance scouts who reported back to him that Jacob wasn't traveling with a force of armed soldiers.
Esau’s Heart Was Supernaturally Made Tender
Esau’s actions tell me that his heart was made tender JUST before he arrived. Not years before, but possibly just days before. What happened just before the brothers met up that could have caused Esau’s heart to soften?
Jacob received the famous pivotal blessing and God named Israel, signifying “he who struggles with God.”
In addition, Jacob's hip was damaged so he could run no longer from his fear, more specifically the fear of his brother. This spiritual transformation marked a turning point in Jacob’s life, preparing him for the reconciliation with Esau that followed the next day.
This episode is seen as both a literal and symbolic preparation for Jacob’s meeting with Esau. This supernatural episode reflects Jacob’s internal struggle, his repentance and his readiness for a new chapter in his life and relationship with his brother.
We must remember that Esau was transformed too. He went from have decades of hate for his brother Jacob, who stole his birthright blessing, to feeling forgiveness and love for Jacod.
I think Esau’s tender heart was the supernatural result of Jacob’s repentance. I looked for any deeper clues hiddened in the bible to affirm this connection. I looked for a cipher coded in the text after Jacob received the blessing and before he got to his brother. That is when I think Esau’s heart was made soft and tender. Was there something in the word that God was fulfilling Jacob’s prayer? That led me to this piece of scripture:
Genesis 32:13-16 (ESV):
"So he stayed there that night, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau, two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. These he handed over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, 'Pass on ahead of me and put a space between drove and drove.'
By "spacing" out the "droves," Jacob made the gift appear even larger and more impressive to Esau, hoping to gradually soften his brother’s heart with each successive group. I figured the separation of the droves was also another piece of the clue. I thought maybe God hid the clue in the numbers. Numbers are letters, so first I converted the numbers to letters:
Each letter corresponds directly to it's number as follows:
20 = כ (Kaf)
10 = י (Yud)
40 = מ (Mem)
Then I sequenced them to correspond to the scripture. The sequence in Hebrew letters is:
ר כ ר כ ל כ י מ י
לכי L'chi (Go! /Feminine)
מי Mi (Who?/ Waters)
Who/Water? Go! Soft/Tender
Affirmation
Then I looked for an affirmation of the connection between Jacob recieving a blessing and the blessing of Esau's tender heart. I looked in the text at the time Jacob gave his gifts and Esau recieved them. Is there an indication that Esau’s heart was made tender by God, rather than being bought by Jacob's material possessions? I believe that is found clearly in these verses:
Genesis 33:8-11 (ESV):
"Esau said, 'What do you mean by all this company that I met?' Jacob answered, 'To find favor in the sight of my lord.' But Esau said, 'I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.' Jacob said, 'No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me. Please accept my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.' Thus he urged him, and he took it."
Jacob's struggle with God was an incredible act of repentance. Surely, Jacob sought forgiveness for how he treated his brother Esau. In the process of his repentance he saw God’s face and he recieved the blessing he saught.
Jacob himself declared, “I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered” (Genesis 32:30, ESV). He named the place Peniel (or Penuel), which means “face of God,” to mark this extraordinary
Jacob wrestles with God in repentance with the intention to recieve a blessing in order to be a blessing, and he recieved his brother’s forgiveness. Esau, whose heart was filled with rage, was softened. This is a blessing to Esau! God's blessing was brotherly love!
Jacob and Esau’s reunion coincides with Jacob’s name being changed to Israel. These events are a sign to the world. Israel will be a great blessing to the world.
After their emotional reunion, Jacob and Esau did not fully restore their relationship or live closely together. While Esau forgave Jacob and their meeting was marked by genuine affection and a dramatic embrace (Genesis 33:4), the reconciliation was not complete in the sense of renewed closeness or ongoing partnership.
Conclusion
Through Jacob the twelve tribes were born. The stage is set for the nation of Israel to be created. God would lead the nation of Israel out of bondage. The people would pass through the water at the sea!
ISRAEL has gone on to be a blessing and light to the nations of the world. Israel preserved the Torah for thousands of years. Then the Romans destroyed the temple and the Jews were scattered throughout the world, facing persecution in country after country wherever we went.
The conclusion that I reach is that there is still more work to done before the world can come together in brotherly love. We are still a world in need of the Messiah.
But we know that God keeps his promises. And that includes the rebirth of the fig tree we call Israel.
“For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,” from 1 John 3:11 (ESV).
