but not by inflicting death himself. (228) He saw them coming, so he split up the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maids. He put the maids group in front, then Leah and hers, and then Rachel and hers. He went out in front to meet Esau, bowing seven times, but his brother ran to him, embraced him, fell on his neck and wept. Esau asked who these people were with him, and he said these are the children whom god has graciously given your servant. (Gen 33:4)(529) Then all of his group came by and bowed. Esau asked what Jacob meant by all this company for Esau, and Jacob answered that he wanted to please Esau, but Esau said that what he had was enough, and that what was Jacobs could stay Jacobs. But Jacob pleaded with Esau to take the gift from his hands, that seeing Esau is like seeing god, since he is still not angry about what happened before Jacob left, so Esau took the gift. Esau beckoned Jacob to walk with him, but Jacob said that his family and herds have had a long trip, and that he will walk with them slowly, at their pace, until they get to Esaus house in Seir. Jacob then traveled to Succoth and built a house with areas for his herds.Jacob got to Shechem, from Paddan-aram, and he camped before the city. From the sons of Hamor, he bought some land where he pitched his tent. He also created an altar to god there, and called it El-Elohe-Israel. Leah and Jacobs daughter, Dinah, explored the city and met with the girls of Shechem, and the son of Hamor, also called Shechem, prince of the region, raped her. Shechem loved her, and was nice to her afterwards, and asked his father to get her this girl in marriage. Hamor went to speak with Jacob about the topic, and when Jacobs sons heard, they were not happy. Hamor spoke on behalf of his son, offering Jacobs group the land to live and trade in for Dinah to be Shechems. Shechem also said to Jacob that he could set the marriage present and gift as high as he liked, as long as he could ...
